The "Manhattan Optimist Club Bulletin": Vol. 2024 #28: 4-10-24
VOLUME 2024 April 10, 2024 NUMBER 28
President Bill Wisdom welcomed the membership and guests, and Jerry Bananka gave the following reflection. Try to be surprised by something every day. It could be something we see, hear, or read about. Stop to look at the unusual car parked at the curb, taste the new item on the menu, actually listen to our colleagues. How is this different from others? What is its essence? Be open to what the world is telling us. Life is nothing more than a stream of experiences—the more widely and deeply we swim in it, the richer our life will be. The most fortunate are those who have a wonderful capacity to appreciate again and again, freshly and naively, the basic goods of life, with awe, pleasure, wonder.
The flag salute followed.
Thad Hall outlined the Manhattan High School Student of the Month Program. The program recognizes Manhattan High School seniors who make a difference in their community through volunteerism and leadership of activities that have a positive impact on the MHS or Manhattan community. The goal of the program is to inspire and encourage youth to get involved in their community in an effort to benefit others. Applicants submit a résumé and are judged by a committee. Recipients receive $100 to donate to the organization of their choice and are eligible for a $1,000 scholarship as the overall yearly winner. Marlia Jimenez was introduced as Manhattan High School Student of the Month.
Marlia thanked the Optimist for choosing her Student of the Month and introduced her parents, her father Benjamin Jimenez, Manhattan High School Assistant Principal, and her mother, Jennifer Jimenez, Speech Therapist at Via Christi. Marlia loves paddle boarding in the summer. She sings and is in the Pops Choir at MHS and was part of the group that sang at the last Christmas Breakfast. She is also in the Chamber Choir, and they are currently preparing for contest on Saturday. She is in Student Council (STUCO) and the National Honor Society. She has learned to compromise in STUCO. They just finished with club volleyball. She also participates in basketball. It takes up a lot of time, but she really enjoys it. She shared a collage of her basketball career at MHS with the Club. She has a lot of respect for Coach Mall.
Heather Peterson introduced Michelle Sink, with Big Brothers/Big Sisters serving Riley County for about four years.
To be a mentor, there is a two to three hour-long interview, a biographic, and references from five specific people. They must hear back from all five before they approve a Big. During the first year the Bigs, the Little’s, the Little’s parents, and the match specialist meet each month to see how things are going. After the first year they meet quarterly until they are no longer in the program.
Most grants don’t support operations and that is a major part of Big Brothers/Big Sisters, so funding is difficult to find. Providing this program and mentoring these young people is an investment in the future of Manhattan. The average age of our wait list is 5 to 13. They do have four students who have been in the program for a long time and are graduating from high school this year, which is very exciting.
You can be a mentor in different ways. An individual can be matched with a Little, or a couple can be a mentor to a Little. They do request that a couple’s match be a Little Brother as 75% of the wait list are boys. Many are from single parent homes headed by a female. Mom is often looking for a positive male influence in the boy’s life. One can also be a community match and be able to pick up the Little and take them out into the community twice a month for one to two hours or become a site-based match and meet with their little at school for lunch and often an activity for their lunch time. One business is allowing employees to stay on the clock while meeting with their Little for lunch at school. Big Brothers/Big Sisters want to make the program fit into the Big’s schedule.
They have served 168 youth year-to-date and have made 20 new matches so far this year. In earlier years, they would make 100 new matches, but they were college students and about a third of those matches closed because the students left the community, which wasn’t good for the Littles. Thus, they now put all of the college students into site-based matches and focused on recruitment of community members for community matches.
Michelle thanked the Optimist for having her speak today.
Greg McCune presented our member spotlight today.
Jean attended the University of Texas where she received a degree in Journalism, specializing in Public Relations. She said that she was unaware until she moved to Kansas, that many people are not big fans of the University of Texas. After college, Jean worked for a brief period in the field of journalism, mall promotions, and public relations. Early in her career she shifted to gift and home décor sales when most products were still being manufactured in the US. Over the past 25 years that morphed into sourcing and importing from Europe, India, various places in the Middle East, and Australia. She has helped develop products for many major retailers, including Hobby Lobby, Bed Bath and Beyond, Farm and Home Stores, Michaels, Container Store, and many others.
She came to Manhattan two years ago this month because of her husband Mario Klassen. They met 10 years ago through an online dating service after both of their daughters strongly encouraged them to try it. Between the two of them, they have four children and seven grandchildren. Jean’s 35-year-old daughter passed away five years ago from Neurofibromatosis, Type II, a nasty disease.
Jean says she is trying to retire though that is a work in progress. In semiretirement, she is discovering a life of newfound freedom that includes gardening, cooking, enjoying the companionship of family and friends, reading, making the gym part of her regular routine, traveling and simply indulging in this fabulous season of life with Mario.
Jean said Manhattan, Kansas is one of the best kept secrets in the US. The interesting people gathered here, the opportunities the University provides for sports and cultural events and the wonderful opportunities the town offers are a blessing. Jean, welcome to the Club!
President Wisdom introduced MHS Student of the Month, Marlia Jimenez and her parents, and today’s speaker, Michelle Sink.
Jim Franke noted Bruce Bidwell’s surgery last Friday went very well, they said he would be in the hospital for five days; he stayed four, and he is recovering at home.
Signup sheets were on the back of the agenda for volunteers for the Bill Snyder Half Marathon May 25th. We need at least 10 volunteers to help keep the runners safe and on the course.
Soon there will be some information about the Optimist Park Volunteer Program to organize assistance with the maintenance of the park.
Grow Green Day is April 22, 7:00 am to 6:00 pm. Grow Green Link
Dime a Day donation sheets were on the tables. Dime a Day Link
Ed Kilmek announced the IPS essay contest update: the judges have completed their work and have picked four of our winners for the essay contest this year. An IPS senior student and an IPS disabled student work together to create the essays. Friday at the IPS class at MHS they will announce the four team winners and have some donuts for the class to celebrate. At the May 8th Optimist lunch meeting we will have the winning students at the meeting to read their essays to the group.
Save these dates: May 8, IPS Celebration; May 9, New Member Dinner; May 25, Bill Snyder Half Marathon; October 19, Aggieville Chili Crawl.
Adjourned with the Optimist Creed
April 17 – Breakfast Meeting: Program: Greg Spaulding, KSU Department of Mechanical Engineering: Topic: “KSU Department of Mechanical Engineering”
April 24: Noon Meeting: Ronnie Grice, Head of Security-KSU: “KSU Sports & Security"