Our Year-End Celebration on June 28 represented the last meeting chaired by President Dave Verbeke.
Dave led our club in exactly the manner we needed at this stage of our growth - building upon the traditions of Rotary and the accomplishments of our previous presidents Mike Ferber and Eric Swanson while at the same time putting his personal stamp on the club with new accomplishments.
Those include:
- Growing club membership from 35 to 39 members. The club now has more women members and more members under age 50 than ever before.
- Tracking 670 service hours by club members including monthly volunteering at The Open Door.
- Increasing the Rotary Foundation contribution to $7000.
- Pinning three new Paul Harris Fellows.
- Raising $1500 for Polio Plus through the weekly 50/50 raffle.
- Establishing the Eagan Kick-Start Rotary Foundation as a 501(c)(3) organization and growing its balance to over $10,000.
- Engaging in three joint grant projects with other clubs.
- Securing a district grant for the Lexington-Diffley tree planting project.
- Receiving the Rotary Presidential Citation for the third consecutive year.
- Leading the club with good humor and a tireless work ethic.
In appreciation of Dave's leadership, his successor, Karen Dare, presented him with a token of appreciation.
And lest anyone underestimate the rigors of leadership, even in a community service organization like Eagan Kick-Start Rotary, we uncovered the following pictures of Dave, the left one taken in June 2017, and the right one in June 2018.
Thanks Dave, for all you have done and will continue to do!