President John Moffat welcomed us and warned us that we had a busy meeting ahead.
He successfully sought volunteers for an October 27 evening meeting with WWU Rotaract Club at WWU. The Rotaract Club has set an agenda that includes small-group discussions with RCOB members, spread across different tables. They are calling it a Career Networking Roundtable.
Guests:
George Halsell speaker Andrew E. Heinz with North Sound Law Group.
Sue Parsons introduced our Exchange Student, Janka Eszik
Riannon Bardsley with Max Higbee introduced herself.
Visiting Rotarian: David Lukov, Past District Governor
Members on Zoom: Monty McAllister and Dick Tucker
Club Events and Committee Announcements
Important Announcements:
Meeting Location
Aaron Booker announced the final Meeting Location vote. The board's position was to follow the results of the voting. Whatcom Community College received the most votes, followed by moving to the Bellingham Golf & Country Club. Here is the link to take a look at the vote: https://app.rankedvote.co/rv/bvuzhq4ryzt9ld9sud/results
Raffle
The RCOB Foundation board met October 21st and will not be proceeding with consideration of conducting the raffle. Based on the information from their accountant, the Foundation is not qualified to hold a raffle as they do not have members and therefore do not qualify for the unlimited members-only raffle.
Food Pantry
Ward Naf announced that the WCC Orca Food Pantry is in severe shortage of food. Someone has agreed to match donations up to $10,000 so let’s help!!
More students are relying on and using the Orca Food Pantry
In Fall 2024, 306 individual students accessed the pantry, with many students visiting every week. This is up 9% from Fall 2023, despite more limited hours.
Winter 25 enrollment is up 8% over Fall 24 and Fall 24 enrollment was up 4% over Fall 23.
This Fall 25, the food pantry is seeing as many as 60 students per day, despite being open for only 4 hours
Supporting Students, Bolstering Engagement
Students benefit from the availability of healthy, culturally relevant, shelf-stable foods at the pantry, which combat hunger and allow them to devote more time to their schoolwork.
When students are struggling with food insecurity, it can be hard to focus on school. By providing students with this critical resource, we are further enabling their success.
The Orca Food Pantry is a welcoming space that is open to all students. This helps create a sense of belonging for all while also reducing stigma. It promotes the idea that no one should be denied basic needs resources due to their background or life circumstances.
When all students can access vital food and hygiene supplies at the Orca Food Pantry, it improves equity across the student body.
How can we help?
$50 Feeds a student for one week
$100 Restocks pantry staples
$250 Fills the pantry for a busy week
$500 Provides meals for dozens of students
Please write a check payable to “WCC Foundation” with “Matching Funds Food Pantry” in the memo line and mail to:
Whatcom Community College Foundation 237 W. Kellogg Rd., Bellingham, WA. 98226
Or Venmo Donation to Sandee, and we will make sure the donation is matched.
October 27th Evening Meeting with the Rotaract and Interact Clubs at WWU.
Many members will participate in the Career Networking Roundtable event! The idea is for our club members to sit at various tables (grouped like ours, with 4 people per pod) and introduce themselves and their work experience at the start of the meeting. The meeting will be interactive with the students talking (in a small group) to someone of interest to them for 5-7 minutes and then move on to someone else. At the end of 45 minutes or so we will break for pizza supplied by the club. The meeting is in the Academic West Bldg #302 at 259-333 21st Street at 5:00 pm with free parking near by. Please register if you can attend. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TO ATTEND
Larry Halgren made an announcement regarding the November 18th joint Brainstorming Club meeting:
Larry told us that there will be an important meeting of Whatcom County Rotary Clubs on November 18 from 5 pm to 9 pm at the Hotel Bellwether. All are invited. The topic will focus on the reduced membership of Rotary Clubs everywhere. The agenda will be to have a serious discussion about recruitment and possibly the consolidation of one or more Clubs. The meeting will include members of the Clubs from Whatcom North, Bellingham Bay, Sunrise, Mt. Baker, Ferndale and RCOB. The meeting will have a question-and-answer format, with no plans to make final decisions that day. Larry urged us to sign up through Clubrunner Events. CLICK HERE FOR LINK
QR Code for November 18th
Shauna Naf encouraged members to buy tickets for the MountainFilm Event, November 15, 2025. Some impressive donations have been gathered for the silent auction, including some darling Christmas stockings, Evil Bike’s rental passes, and a Community Boating Center donation. She encourages members to get out there, build support for this program, and spread the word about Mountain Film.CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS
Board Briefs for October 16, 2025
Aaron Booker attended the meeting and reported on the final vote regarding meeting location preferences. Aaron and Bob Kuenzel will give a report to the membership on Monday, October 20th.
A donation was received from Peoples Bank, recommended by Steve Gray, to the RCOB in the amount of $1,000 to do whatever the club chooses. Thanks Steve!
RCOB Foundation Raffle update. The RCOB Foundation is meeting on October 21st and will decide if they are interested in running the raffle.
New Standard By-Laws and Rotary Club Constitution format from RI update are being studied by George and Bob Kuenzel and will report back to the board when finished with their recommendations.
Event and meeting updates:
November 22, 2025 Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner has been postponed due to many factors. They are hoping to hold it in March or April.
The December 15th meeting will be an evening meeting including spouses with no program. Location will be the Holiday Inn at the Airport at 5:30. President John will be gone so Nathan Twining will run the meeting. The Social Committee has been asked for some ideas for this end-of-the-year celebration.
Newly arrived exchange student, Janka Eszik, from Szeged, Hungary, introduced herself with a lovely presentation and slideshow, which included photos of her family, her hobbies (volleyball, cooking and baking, skiing, which she has done since she was 3 years old, and reading). She has traveled in Europe and the US and hopes to visit countries on most continents. Photos of her favorite foods made us wish we had a Hungarian restaurant close by. The Rotary Club with which she is affiliated is active, with a major event, Rotary Advent, where Rotarians and Rotaractors stage a special holiday celebration and fundraiser. Her club works on projects that address needs for medicine, food, and education. Janka mentioned that Hungary has only one Rotary District, which some of us many already know from conversations with Hungarians at the recent RCOB President's Picnic.
Her home school is a historical building, and her town is a popular tourist stop, with many festivals and two Nobel Prize winners.
Right now she is staying with Felicity, but will move around during the exchange.
Weekly Payment Reminder
VENMO:
@RCOB- Bellingham.
Give Sandee a call if you need help. 360-734-5532.
CASH / CHECK:
Yes, we still take these and saving on fees is appreciated.
Andy Heinz alerted us to and shared the current WA tax table, which went into effect in 2025. He distinguished between Washington and US Estate taxes, providing a history of WA tax laws and their critical role in funding education. He talked about the benefits of and vehicles for charitable giving (e.g., donor-designated funds, community foundations), and the ways strategic advance planning can increase a donor’s impact. He shared reasons we should attend to marital deductions and bypass trusts. He reminded us that in WA Capital Gains Taxes support early education, with 7% tax rates up to the first $1M (and lower after that). He (and others in the audience) recommended consulting an expert to develop strategies to safeguard our well-being, that of our beneficiaries, and our desired legacies.
Closing:
President John ended this jam-packed meeting with a thank you to those who played important roles and were about to help with the cleanup.
RCOB apparel, including polo shirts, dress shirts, vests and hats is now available. These are items that every Club member simply must have in his/her wardrobe! Besides looking great, Club members will be contributing to branding for the RCOB as well as supporting our Club's Foundation, which will receive part of the proceeds.
Click on the button below for the the clothing catalogue, with the Order Form on the last page. Fill out the order form, turn it into Vinson Latimore at a meeting or email a scanned copy to embroidery@choicesscrubs.com.
