Rotary Club of Needham Newsletter January 7th, 2020
Volunteer Opportunities
Circle of Hope emergency coat drive
They're currently looking for coats for all ages. There will soon be a coat sorting event (date TBD).
In the Community
Construction of the sensory room at Joseph Tynan School
On December 30th, our volunteers assembled the sensory room for the Tynan School in South Boston (please see the picture of the finished room below). Why did we take on this project? According to the Center for Disease Control, one in 59 children have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. The resulting difficulties with communication, social interaction and comprehension make it difficult for these children to thrive in everyday settings. By providing a sense of calm and comfort, sensory rooms help children with sensory disorders, like autism, learn to self-regulate their behaviors, which ultimately improves focus.
This was our largest project year to date, the focus of our fund-raising. Other organizations and people helped by contributing generously to our funding: Capron Lighting and Sound Company, the Perfect Peace Project, the Weston-Waltham Rotary Club and Libby Pero. If our members remain interested, this project could serve as a template to help other schools with large populations of children on the autism spectrum. During the project, we learned that there are at least two similar schools in the Boston district.
Meeting
Speaker: Paul Good, founder of the membership-based, private coaching practice: "The Power of Intentional Living" and the Needham Community Revitalization Trust Fund
Paul is the founder of a private coaching practice called the Power of Intentional Living (TPOIL). It addresses the question: how do we decide what we should be doing with our lives? He points out that we start off following a path that others create for us, and then, randomly discover things that we like to do. We intuit that we possess unique competitive advantages, but sometimes they remain undiscovered. Once you identify the natural gifts that you have to work with, then you need to decide where to go on your journey. By building your own "owner's manual" you can start to create your own life, intentionally. TPOIL is a membership-based coaching service that helps its members identify their natural gifts and the experience of life that they will find most fulfilling.
The Needham Community Revitalization Trust Fund (NCRTF) has completed more than 30 public space revitalization projects in Needham since its founding in 1999. The Rotary Club of Needham has contributed to funding for NCRTF's beautification projects. In my, admittedly subjective, review of the projects, I discovered that NCRTF sponsored the iconic sculptures on the town common called "Once Upon a Time" and the "Circle of Peace" (see the picture of Paul completing the circle below). NCRTF has also sponsored decorative banners, elegant trashcans, commemorative benches and bike-racks. It has obtained pre-approvals for projects that only require funding to be realized. For example: an art gallery for Eaton Square (the side of the Rice Barn facing the train) consisting of five, stainless steel frames to hold digitally imprinted panels with smaller frames below offering contact information with the artists. Then there's the "All Aboard" Locomotion Wall Mural Project for the rear walls of Kumon and CMC Systems (117-119 Chapel Street) to show a digital image of the original H.H.Richardson-designed train station (a space now occupied by The James) before it burned.
For more information on TPOIL and NCRTF, please review the business cards for both shown below.
