Rotattler for the Meeting of February 20, 2020
 
President Jeremy welcomed the room full of members and guests and announced the activities which will make this a busy late-winter/early-spring, including 1) the Food Pantry on March 5th (please come and help - we are a bit short-handed this month), the Eliot Bicentennial Bean Supper where we will be helping out in many ways (serving, cleaning, set-up, baking pies), the dictionaries project happening sometime during March where we will be delivering these books to students at Central School, Eliot Elementary School and the Seacoast Christian School, the Geography Quiz Night on April 3rd to raise funds for Haiti's Life and Hope School's global grant, the electronics fundraiser on May 2nd at the Eliot Commons, the Eliot seniors dinner on May 13th at the Congregational Church, and the lobster rolls sales at Strawberry Festival in the end of June.  Kind of takes your breath away how much we have in store with all the good works we are doing.  Of course, there is also the fun gathering on April 30th at our Rotary After Hours meeting at the home of Wes and Pat Kennedy (thanks soooo much!).
 
Program
 
We were grateful to hear from Mike Eunice (sp?), the Executive Director of Options in Dover, a faith-based non-profit which supports women in crisis, the only such center in our area.  This wonderful organization also has a medical facility and provides help at no cost to patients and clients.  It has a new location in Rochester, NH and offers 1) pregnancy tests, 2) ultrasounds from 5-27 weeks of pregnancy, and 3) STD testing. It's shocking to learn that in the 15-24 year old age group over half of them experience STDs which can lead to life-threatening conditions.  Their place offers breathing room and space for women to make the best decisions for themselves when dealing with a crisis.  In January they moved to Rochester and are doing business as Together Family Services.  Their Baby Steps program helps women to learn about life and children so that all can thrive.  They offer 161 classes that people can take, and those who participate earn points which they can accumulate and redeem for items in their boutique (clothing and other supplies).  In addition they learn life skills and can participate in counseling programs, including programs dealing with loss.  They are funded through their own fundraising efforts.