Membership Meetings April 4, 2023

  Eric Cherches started with a prayer, the Tikkum Olam. It spoke about mending and repairing the world. This month is Maternal and Child health month. We received thank you notes from Three Village Meals on Wheels and Welcome Friends. There were fourteen members in attendance. 

  Brian asked us to share on Facebook the collection for the Food Pantry. Getting the word out that a collection is being held will increase the people who stop by and donate. Nancy Uzo shared with us that the groundbreaking for Northwell Mather Hospital's new building will be on May 4th. The membership was reminded that there is a budget vote for the Port Jefferson library. There will be a Dump the Junk at the library on May 6th. 

  The spring weekend for RYLA will be the 23rd and 24th. Debbie Engelhardt might be able to attend. The Habitat for Humanity will be on the 28th in Riverhead. The Gift of Life gala will be on May 10th at Flowerfields. On May 21st, the Northwell Mather Hospital will hold its Walk for Hope (formerly Families Walk for Hope). We discussed setting up a table to talk about Rotary. Some of our members are signed up for the walk. 

  Nancy brought us up to date on the gift that Judi Betts left to our club. Her estate will be in probate for nine to twelve months. We do not know the size of the donation at this time. Nancy recommended that the club put this towards the Rotary Exhange program. Judi was a host for several students. She stayed very close to Wensel and Elizabeth. 

  Nancy proposed that the request for dues should go out at the end of April. We are paying for members that do not renew membership. 

  The speaker was Susan Miller. She spoke about Alzheimer's Disease and CART (Coins for Alzheimer's Disease and Trust). She gave a handout titled Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures. Six million Americans are living with Alzheimer's Disease. One in three seniors dies with Alzheimer's or another dementia.  Over 11 million Americans provide unpaid care for people with Alzheimer's or other dementias. These caregivers provide more than 18 billion hours valued at nearly $340 billion. It kills more than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. The lifetime risk for Alzheimer's at age 45 is one in five for women and one in ten for men. Between 2000 and 2019, deaths from heart disease have decreased by 7.3% while the deaths from Alzheimer's disease have increased 145%. While only 4 in 10 Americans talk to their doctor when experiencing early memory or cognitive loss, 7 in 10 would want to know early if they have Alzheimer's disease if it could allow for earlier treatment. There is no cure for Alzheimer's disease currently. 

  CART (Coins for Alzheimer's Research Trust) was started in one SC Rotary club in district 7770 in 1995 by a Rotarian named Roger Ackerman (Sumter, SC). CART has been adopted to-date by 23 Rotary districts in the United States. Assistance from the American Federation of Aging Reasearch was invaluable in validating CART as a legitimate funding source for Alzheimer's research. More than $11 million has been award to research grants since the inception of CART. Grants have been  from $50 thousand to $300 thousand. CART Funds by-laws require that 100% of all donated funds must go to A.D. research. All contributions are tax deductible. CART is a 501(c)(3) organization. Tax ID #is 31-1466051. While the name CART stands for "Coins for Alzheimer's Reasearch Trust," they also welcome contributions of currency, checks or credit cards. Ronkonkoma club gathers the coins weekly and sends in a check quarterly. A check for $500 was given by our club. Donations can be made at C.A.R.T.Fund.org. 

  They have a program called Lunch A la CART. Previous CART researchers speak about their research. Registration is open to Rotarians in the DACDB calendar (click on multi-district events to find them). 

  From Life's Little Instuction Book by H. Jackson Brown Jr. #213 - Don't waste time grieving over past mistakes. Learn from them and move on. #511-Call your mother. 

  Editor's note. My mother had Alzheimer's Disease. Thinking about this disease is heart wrenching for me. I would do anything else in my home rather than type up the notes for this meeting. I could not type any other notes before I typed up these notes. My mother would have been appalled. I apologize to the club for my prolonged avoidance of this task.