Elijah Ndoye (El) was born and raised in Senegal, West Africa. Back in 1995, he relocated to the United States. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a degree in Operations Management. He has served as a volunteer at Casas De Los Ninos, a not-for-profit shelter for children in abusive households. He also volunteered at Big Brothers and Sisters. He is very active in his community and currently has affiliations with the Greater Oro Valley Chamber of Commerce as Past Chairman.  In 2010 El created The Forgotten Children, a non-profit geared towards helping the street children in Senegal by achieving goals of self-sufficiency.

 

El is the Director of Business Development for CorporateCare Solutions. As a new member of the CCS team, El is excited to bring the concept of National Backup Child and Adult Care to the forefront of employee benefit discussions. 

 

El has more than 20 years of banking experience in the local Tucson area. He is a University of Arizona Alumni and a Wildcat through and through. Prior to joining CorporateCARE Solutions, he served as the Market Executive and Senior Vice President of Canyon Community Bank.

WELCOME Rotarians announced PRESIDENT MARGARET HIGGINS to this Wednesday’s meeting.  PRESIDENT MARGARET rang the bell at 12p to officially get the meeting started then made the announcement on the buffet, we will have fellowship then at 12:15p we will start the presentation by LEE OLITZKY on “The Results of The RCOT 17^th TCCS”.

 

After some fellowship time and lunch, PRESIDENT MARGARET HIGGINS started the meeting.  We were led in the pledge and song by SANDY MCCASLIN.  Today’s song was “God Bless America”. 

 

The inspirational moment was given by MITCH PISIK who challenged us to invite like-minded guests during March Madness so we can work towards beating the largest Rotary Club; The Rotary Club of Oklahoma City who has over 600 members! He wants to be the biggest so we can have enough talented members to deploy at any time. 

 

Seargeant at Arms DAN KALM stepped up to the podium to introduce our guests for this Wednesday luncheon.  Welcome all Rotarians and guests.  It’s great to see all of you here.   

 

PRESIDENT MARGARET introduced LEE OLITZKY to talk about the 17^th Tucson Classics Car Show Results.  LEE presented a slide show with great pictures of the event, before, during and after so we can see all the work that goes into this annual event.  Before LEE’s slide show he took the time to say thanks to all the members and volunteers who make this event such a success; without you, the Car Show would not be possible.  LEE then recognized several members who have been instrumental in creating and championing this wonderful event.  Special thank you to the following members: ARNIE JACOBSON and JON WANG, KANDIE VACTOR and DREW VACTOR and, Strategic Leadership Team, these members have been the backbone of the Car Show.  Next was the slide show, this included event ticket sales, a list of the advertising and media partners, pictures of the Gregory School field and the work that goes into preparing beforehand and cleaning up the field afterwards.  Also included were pictures of the various cars, guests, special guests, pictures of the field being staged with the cars and pictures throughout the day of the events.  LEE wrapped up with some final thoughts; we had an estimated 20,000+ people come through over 400 cars were on display for the event and, LEE thanked all the sponsors and the Executive Committee, DORINNA, and ERICA and, the Tactical Leadership Team.  LEE gave the update of all the total funds raised. 

 

Finally, LEE announced the net proceeds of $161,421, the charities received their checks; Pima Community College Foundation Workforce Development/Gospel Rescue Mission will receive a check for $80K and, both Big Brothers Big Sister and Old Pueblo Community Services will receive a check for $41K. Over the 17 years the car show has raised over $2.6 million, making the average per year $151K! 

 

Various members stood up to announce some final thoughts and announcements about who and where they could use additional volunteers for the 18^th TCCS.  JENNIFER and SEAN HOFFMAN are the 18^th TCCS Chairs, we look forward to their leadership this next year.  Both JENNIFER and SEAN came up to the podium to announce how excited they are for next year’s 18^th TCCS.  They also presented LEE with an amazing trophy for all his hard work and dedication as the Chair during the 17^th TCCS. 

PRESIDENT MARGARET HIGGINS announced the book “Race Car Count” will be added to our Make Way for Books Library.  LEE OLITZKY will sign the book before it is added to the library as we continue to support children’s literacy in Tucson. 

 

There were three Rotary Birthdays announced this week.  Happy birthday to: JIM ENGEL (1/15), LEA MARQUEZ PETERSON (1/19) and, CLIFF BOWMAN (1/27).  A very happy birthday to all of you!

 

The Raffle and King of Clubs game presented by DAN KALM.  The King of Clubs card was not drawn.  Better luck to all club members next meeting. 

 

Next up…Rotary Announcements:

PRESIDENT MARGARET HIGGINS began today’s announcements by reminding the members she is still collecting children’s books for the Make Way for Books Library.  Please continue to bring books each week. 

PRESIDENT MARGARET directed our attention to the screens to view the slide about the Ignite Art Museum.  A show of hands went up to express interest from the members for the 2^nd week of a month at the museum.  The committee and MARGARET will work on organizing that for a future event. Now onto the next replacement mixer, remember to register for Tesoro Latin Kitchen (Oracle Rd) on 2/7/2024. 

VICKIE JACOBS was next up on the announcements to introduce the Coaches for March Madness.  Start bringing your prospects to help your team.  Then DON RIEGGER wrapped the announcements up with a Happy Jackson about Eagle Recognition Dinner on Feb. 10, 2024; to register go to CatalinaCouncil.org to attend or sponsor an Eagle Scout.  

 

PRESIDENT MARGARET HIGGINS closed by thanking all our members, guests, and virtual attendees for being here today.  MITCH PISIK gave the final toast before PRESIDENT MARGARET HIGGINS rang the bell to adjourn the meeting.

Good afternoon everyone,

 

Our next group hike is just over two weeks away and I wanted to remind you of the date.  Also, the hiking calendar is updated for the first half of 2024 and is posted on the Rotary Website.  This hike is always a winter favorite in Tucson Mountain Park!

 

This hike is categorized as moderate and can be completed either as a loop or an out and back on the ridge.  We will meet at the Brown Mountain Picnic Area to assure adequate parking.  The hike should take about 2 hours covering 4.2 miles with 688 feet of vertical gain.  Additional details will follow as we get closer and the weather forecast is available.

 

I look forward to seeing you on the trails!

 

Here are the details for the next Whisky Fellowship:

 

Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Start: 5:30

Ends:  as late as you desire.

Location: Mitch Pisik’s home

 

RSVP: mitch@pisik.consulting

 

 

 

Good luck and thanks for your service to Rotary!

 

Diana Madaras

We will be streaming our weekly meetings live via our YouTube Channel.  We are encouraging you all to subscribe to our Channel in order to receive notices of when the meetings are streaming live.  After the live meeting, this video will become a recording and immediately posted on our YouTube Channel.  To view live CLICK HERE.   You can also go to our Home Page of the Club website and click on the YouTube link on the right hand side of the page, or go to YouTube and search Rotary Club of Tucson.