Home Page | Rotary Club of Needham

Welcome to Needham! We are a great group of 30 members strong and growing. Men and Women, young and old – we meet for lunch every Tuesday. Our projects focus on giving back to both our community here and beyond.

JOIN US FOR LUNCH!
Tuesdays, 12:00-1:30pm
Needham Sheraton: 100 Cabot Street

With interesting speakers and an energized group
every week, you will come away inspired.

Elevator Pitch Coach Andy Winig

Posted on Nov 12, 2019

Rotary Club of Needham Newsletter November 12, 2019

Volunteer Opportunities

High Tunnel Construction at Needham Community Farm

Saturday November 16th at 10:00 and

Saturday November 23rd at 10:00. Bring cordless drills (if you have one) and help complete construction of the greenhouse that will extend the farm's growing season by a month at either end.

Needham-Wellesley High School Football Dinner

Monday November 25th at the Wellesley College Club at 6:00pm.

Thanksgiving Day Dinner (free!) provided by the Rotary Club of Needham, the Needham Community Council and the Needham Masons

on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 28th at the Masonic Hall, 1101 Highland Ave. Doors open at 11:30 with dinner served at noon. To attend, call: 781-444-2415. Volunteers should register at the Community Council: office@needhamcommunitycouncil.org

Ringing Bells/Collecting for the Salvation Army

Saturday December 7th at Sudbury Farms

Wrapping presents at the Walker School

Thursday December 12th 6-8pm. Seven volunteers are needed to wrap, and they'll have an opportunity to purchase gifts for the children.

Construction of the sensory room at Joseph Tynan School (reserve some time over Christmas school break)

Reserve time to help us assemble this year's most important community project: the sensory room for the Tynan School in South Boston.

In the Community

Rotary Club of Needham Christmas Party

Friday December 13th at 6:30 at Scott and Kathy MacFarlane's house.

Meeting

Andy Winig staged an interactive presentation that he calls the "Elevator Pitch Handbook". It's a step-by-step guide to starting unique and memorable conversations. An effective elevator pitch starts business conversations that lead to leads. It's not a monologue listing your skills, because that's all about you and other people want to talk about themselves. Most introductions lead into three typical questions: "How's it going?"; "What do you do?"; and "How do you do that?" Specific answers about personal or business successes start conversations. Conversations started on shared interests are more likely to lead to connections and further conversations. It's important that the answer to the third typical question, a client success story, is shared after a connection is made (otherwise: not interested). So, having planted some seeds, how do you stay top of mind for when your services are needed? Offer something of value (examples follow) in exchange for their contact information; it's a natural reason to follow-up: invite them to join your newsletter or webinar or offer a free phone consultation.

Business networking success starts with the Elevator Pitch, gains momentum with effective follow-up, then hits its stride with professional referrals and opportunity spotting. The Elevator Pitch is the first of five skills of the trusted advisor. Visit Andy's online course catalogue to learn more: http://courses.improvandy.com.

Pancake Breakfast, Reach Beyond Domestic Violence

Posted on Nov 05, 2019

Rotary Club of Needham Newsletter November 5, 2019

Volunteer Opportunities

High Tunnel Construction at Needham Community Farm

Saturday 11/16 at 9:00. Many hands will be needed to help stretch the plastic skin safely over the frame.

Needham-Wellesley High School Football Dinner

Monday November 25th at the Wellesley College Club (reserve the date, further details TBD)

Ringing Bells/Collecting for the Salvation Army

Saturday December 7th at Sudbury Farms (time TBD)

Wrapping presents at the Walker School

Thursday December 12th 6-8pm. Seven volunteers are needed to wrap, and they'll have an opportunity to purchase gifts for the children.

In the Community

Pancake Breakfast

Attendance was up on a beautiful Fall Saturday, helping to raise an incremental $700 over last year. In addition to serving lots of flapjacks and playing games, we drew the two winning tickets for our Lottery Scratch Ticket Raffle. Winner of the First Prize ($1000 face value of scratch tickets) was Marcus Hannay of Marlborough; 2nd Prize ($100 face value of scratch tickets) was won by Dan Colino (picture below).

Collaboration with the Needham Exchange Club: providing socks and underwear for homeless veterans (see photo below).

The Rotary Club of Needham gave 180 pairs of thermal socks, 60 pairs of women's underwear and 150 pairs of men's underwear to support an initiative of the Exchange Club to give clothing to homeless veterans. Joe Burns, President of the Exchange Club, outlined the club's signature local (the Needham Fourth of July Celebration) and national projects (Child Abuse Prevention).

Connect with Local Business while learning how to answer the question: "What do you do?"

Tuesday 11/12 from 12-1:30 at the Sheraton Needham. $10 (free for Needham Rotarians) includes lunch, a presentation and a handbook by Elevator Pitch Coach Andrew Winig. Register on-line: RotaryMeeting.EventBrite.com

Joseph Tynan School

The most pressing priority among our community projects is the need to raise money to construct a sensory room for the Tynan School in South Boston.

Meeting

Our speaker was Lauren Montanaro (see photo below), from Reach Beyond Domestic Violence. REACH is an acronym for: (R)efuge; (E)ducation; (A)dvocacy and (C)hange. Reach Beyond works with survivors of domestic violence to foster safety and support, while engaging communities to promote healthy relationships. They provide these services in 27 Metrowest communities, including Needham. Needham is one of five communities served more intensively: it has a Domestic Violence Action Council coordinated by the Public Health Department and the Police. It has trained service personnel at the Council on Aging, Housing Authority and the Police Department. Reach Beyond needs our help to deepen their work in our community: they'll speak and work with your church or civic group to fight domestic violence. For more information: www.reachma.org.

Needham Food Pantry

Posted on Oct 29, 2019

Volunteer Opportunities

High Tunnel Construction

Construction will continue in November, dates TBD.

Pancake Breakfast

Saturday November 2nd from 7 to 11am at Needham High School cafeteria. Lots of volunteers will be needed for setup, cooking, games and cleanup.

Needham-Wellesley High School Football Dinner

Monday November 25th at the Wellesley College Club (reserve the date, further details TBD)

Ringing Bells/Collecting for the Salvation Army

Saturday December 7th at Sudbury Farms (time TBD)

Wrapping presents at the Walker School

Thursday December 12th 6-8pm. Seven volunteers are needed to wrap, and they'll have an opportunity to purchase gifts for the children.

In the Community

Connect with Local Business while learning how to answer the question: "What do you do?"

Tuesday 11/12 from 12-1:30 at the Sheraton Needham. $10 (free for Rotarians) includes lunch, a presentation and a handbook by Elevator Pitch Coach Andrew Winig

Joseph Tynan School

The most pressing priority among our community projects is the need to raise money to construct a sensory room for the Tynan School in South Boston.

Meeting

A team, including Bill, Dan, Jim D, Holly, and myself sold the remaining 120 Lottery Raffle tickets in the monsoon before the Patriots-Browns game (see the soggy sales-folk photo below). Thanks to all for braving the elements!

Our speaker was Sue Biasizzo (see photo below), Coordinator of the Needham Food Pantry. The Pantry has existed since the Great Depression to offer free food assistance to Needham residents whose lives have been disrupted by divorce, illness or job loss. Currently, 215 households with 438 residents are receiving help. The Pantry is open three days per week, staffed by Sue and a team of volunteers. Cans donated at the Town's Recycling and Transfer Station support free milk at the Pantry. Partnerships with "Hope and Comfort" and Lovin' Spoonfuls" provide free toiletries and a source of rescued food. The Needham Community Farm provides produce in season.

Rotary Raffle - Time Running Out

The Rotary Club of Needham's scratch ticket raffle has one month left. You could win $1000 or $100 worth of scratch tickets! There is still time for you to get your tickets though. You can get them in person at Bagel's Best, Bin Ends, or Condon Realty. You can also mail in your money using this page. Also - we will be selling them at the Rotary Club of Needham table at the Needham Harvest Fair Oct 6th on the town common.

Needham Medical Reserve Corps needs Volunteers

Posted on Oct 22, 2019

Volunteer Opportunities

High Tunnel Construction

Construction will continue in November, dates TBD.

Selling Lottery Raffle Tickets (see photo below)

Sunday 10/27 sell to tailgaters at the Patriots home game vs the Browns. We expect to gather at my house at 829 Webster St., Needham around 12:45 to drive to Libby Pero's house near the stadium, where she has graciously agreed to allow us to park. Selling team still TBD, and we could use your help!

Pancake Breakfast

Saturday November 2nd at Needham High School. Lots of volunteers will be needed for setup, cooking, games and cleanup.

Needham-Wellesley High School Football Dinner

Monday 11/25 (reserve the date, further details TBD)

In the Community

Connect with Local Business while learning how to answer the question: "What do you do?"

Tuesday 11/12 from 12-1:30 at the Sheraton Needham. $10 includes lunch, a presentation and a handbook by Elevator Pitch Coach Andrew Winig

Joseph Tynan School

The most pressing priority among our community projects is a push to raise money to construct a sensory room for the Tynan School in South Boston.

Meeting

Prior to the meeting, we labelled 100 blankets that were given to the Needham Medical Reserve Corps (NMRC) to be used in the event of a local emergency (see photo below). Speaking on behalf of NMRC, were Rebecca Ping, Needham's Emergency Administrator, and Tiffany Zike, Needham's Public Health Nurse. Local Medical Reserve Corps were set up in response to 9-11 in order to improve emergency preparedness and to promote disease prevention. The Boards of Health of the eight towns in Norfolk County-8 region work collaboratively to prepare for a range of emergencies.

Volunteers are needed! Residents with medical expertise and those with other important skills are needed to assist the local Boards of Health in the event of an emergency. Volunteers can also help with other local health events, like flu clinics. Volunteers will be invited to training sessions to develop skills such as CPR, dispensing and setting up emergency shelters.

Another important initiative of NMRC: the Town of Needham Rave Alert System. Also called a "reverse 911" system, it's the Town's mass communication system used in the event of an emergency. Residents, people with local jobs, and folks with loved ones residing here should subscribe to the system. NMRC notes that while all the Needham landline phone numbers have been pre-loaded into the system, the system will become more effective if affected parties add their cell phone numbers and email addresses to the system. To subscribe to the Rave Alert System: www.needhamma.gov/emergencynotification. To volunteer for NMRC, contact the Needham Public Health Division: www.needhamma.gov/ (781-455-7940).