MT Sunrise Rotary 25th Anniversary Celebration- Jun 06, 2015
This week’s at MTSR:
This week we are meeting at the Logeman Center and our speaker will be the End of year presentation by Mapong.
I am out of town, traveling for business and Mike Kim will be managing our meeting this week.
Have a great meeting, day and weekend.
As always, the schedule for Greeter, Thought of the Day and Rotary Minute are accessible (click here). Please be prepared when it is your turn and find a replacement if you are unable to attend when you are scheduled.
Last year, my two older children launched an endeavor called the All Stars Animal Clinic. With the help of their friend Fiona, Josie, 8, and Judah, 6, devoted themselves to the veterinary care of creatures ranging from earthworms to injured birds. I’ve been privy to the All Stars’ various medical interventions because their headquarters is under the porch stairs outside my office.
Several months ago, the founders expanded their mission. As Josie explained it to me, rather breathlessly, “We’re going to make money and give it to poor people!”
I have no clue where they got this idea. I suspected that Fiona, who comes from a family of regular church goers, had put them up to it. But the kids insisted the plan was conceived spontaneously. Whatever the inspiration, All Stars has become a thriving charitable organization with multiple revenue streams. The kids have sold lemonade and healing crystals. They’ve babysat. They’ve scratched the backs of itchy parents.
I was so inspired by their good intentions and industry that I pledged to contribute $100 for every $1 they raised. A few weeks ago, the All Stars solemnly presented me with their endowment: $26. Gulp.
But a promise is a promise, particularly when that promise was issued to three child philanthropists. Our charity of choice was Doctors Without Borders.
As my wife will tell you, I am a devout cheapskate, the kind of guy who can spend 20 minutes anguishing over whether to purchase a cup of yogurt for $1.39 – before deciding not to. The strange thing about writing that check for the All Stars is that I never suffered a moment of regret. On the contrary, seeing my children act on their altruistic impulses has led me to think that I’ve been too selfish all along.
Mequon entrepreneur Anna Zuckerman expands children's clothing empire By Jeff Rumage
Mequon - Having created a booming jewelry business, two children's clothing stores and her own clothing line, Mequon resident Anna Zuckerman traces her constant entrepreneurial energy back to her days as a young girl in Russia.
The Russian government sent her family kidnapping threats, she said, because her family ran a small goldsmith business from their basement. When she was 14, she said the KGB burned the family's house to the ground. She fled in the middle of the night to the American consulate in Moscow, where she was granted refugee status.
Within 48 hours, her family left to start a new life in America with only $160, her father's jewelry tools and the clothes on their backs.
"We immigrated from Russia because of the fear of being persecuted," she said. "In Russia you could not have a private enterprise, so moving to this country clearly gave me this opportunity."
As new immigrants in Milwaukee, her parents both struggled with minimum wage jobs, so Anna contributed to the household by working as a babysitter and newspaper carrier. By the time she was a sophomore at Nicolet High School, she raised $5,000, which was enough money to make a down payment on their first house in Fox Point, she said.
Learning from her father, she started designing jewelry at a very young age — a hobby she continued during her days at Nicolet. Her father's jewelry business had caught the attention of several Green Bay Packers players, so when she wasn't busy with her other jobs, she said she would make delivery runs to Green Bay.
Zuckerman went on to attend University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, but she dropped out early to start her own jewelry store, AC Zuckerman Jewelers, in 1997 at the age of 21. Starting with a $6,000 budget in a 900-square-foot storefront in Mequon, she still remembers her first big sale — for $400 — which she delivered to a Packers player in Green Bay on Christmas Eve.
Eighteen years later, her business seen considerable growth at its current location at 1340 W. Mequon Road.
It is time to register for Tri-Con, the multi-district Rotary conference for the State of Wisconsin! We are planning two full days (Friday, May 15 and Saturday, May 16) of Rotary fun and fellowship, with a closing breakfast on Sunday, May 17. More Information …
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