Kemp A. Boyd, has been married for 15 years to Stacy and together they have six beautiful children.
Kemp, has over a decade of leadership experience and a passion for motivating others.
He is a diligent networker and connector, who has forged relationships across the city Akron over the years, from churches and non-profits to profit organizations alike. Kemp’s mission is to empower those around him to reach their full potential, including the City of Akron, where he serves as Executive Director of Love Akron, a Christian-based nonprofit organization, that seeks the welfare of the city through Listening, Learning and Leading.
He is also head football coach, at Kenmore-Garfield High School and his passion is to see these young men grow into maturity thru the platform of football. These young men have become an extension of Kemp's family as he seeks to create that kind of atmosphere within the team and the city.
The Akron Urban League is part of an initiative with all Urban Leagues in the State of Ohio to assist with the distribution of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for those in need in our community. We have received hand sanitizer and over 7,000 masks to give away. The corporations of Proctor & Gamble and Cleveland Whiskey teamed up with The Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network (MAGNET) and the Greater Cleveland Urban League, to manufacture and provide these needed items to cities across Ohio served by Urban Leagues. All of that is wonderful news and this is where you come in!
This week, the staff will fill 500+ 12 oz. bottles with hand sanitizer so that we can distribute to households, but we also have gallon containers that will be distributed to minority businesses, churches, non-profit agencies, etc.
DISTRIBUTION DAYS: We will distribute the PPE on Tuesday, August 28th and on August 1from 11am – 3pm in the AUL parking lot. Sanitizer kits will be loaded into car trunks that pull in so that there is “no touch”. A flyer will be distributed this week to WFD clients, minority businesses, barber shops, hair salons, day cares, AMHA, Head Start, non profits and churches, inviting them to register and plan to drive through and get their FREE PPE.
VOLUNTEERS: We are recruiting volunteers to assist with the distribution from our Rotary Club. If you are interested in volunteering please sign up in one hour shift increments. If you have questions, please reply - jbrandle@metisconstruction.com or 330.858.6672
The purpose of Rotary Cares is to show our support for Akron Rotary members and their families when dealing with the loss of a loved one, the hardship of illness and also to celebrate the joy of a new baby, job, marriage or other events in their lives. Please be sure to email me (click here) with any news you would like placed here.
Extending our thoughts & prayers . . .
Laura Horovitz has been caring for her father who took an extremely bad fall and has been in the hospital.
Jeff Sheeks took a tumble at home and broke a couple ribs. He is recovering at home.
We hope they will both have a complete and speedy recovery!!
President Rob inducted Richard Fry at our July 21st meeting. Rich was sponsored by PDG John Reyes.
Rich is an attorney at Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, LLC, specializing in the area of Taxation. He recently became Office Partner in Charge at the Akron office.
He is a native of Northeast Ohio and currently lives in Stow. He is a graduate of Kent State University and the University of Akron.
Rich is active in a number of community groups, including Boys and Girls Club of America, Stewart’s Caring Place and various bar associations and legal associations. He has a long history of interest and involvement in community service especially involving youth.
Rich has recently been selected to be part of this year’s Leadership Akron class.
Do you shop on Amazon? If yes, AmazonSmile is an easy way to support Rotary Camp with every purchase. Just takes a few minutes to set up.
At no cost to you, Amazon will donate 0.5% of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases
If you are not already an AmazonSmile member, sign up on your web browser. Simply select Rotary Camp for Children With Special Needs Inc to start generating donations.
AmazonSmile customers can now support Rotary Camp for Children With Special Needs Inc in the Amazon shopping app on iOS and Android mobile phones. Simply follow these instructions to turn on AmazonSmile and start generating donations.
Open the Amazon Shopping app on your device
Go into the main menu of the Amazon Shopping app and tap into 'Settings'
Tap 'AmazonSmile' and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process
If you do not have the latest version of the Amazon Shopping app, you will need to update your mobile app. Click here for instructions.
If you have questions or need assistance, please contact Mella Castner, director of development at Rotary Camp (330) 644-4512.
John was our speaker on Tuesday, July 21st and enlightened our members about Royal Family KIDS (RFK) which aims to intervene in the lives of children in foster care. RFK transforms communities by interrupting cycles of neglect, abuse and abandonment of children in the foster care system. They provide an array of programs, all directed toward changing the trajectory of young lives which usually include a combination of academic failure, drug abuse, teen pregnancy, sex trafficking, homelessness, and incarceration.
In 1985, an assistant pastor named Wayne Tesch and his wife, Diane, saw a need to provide hope to local foster children in Costa Mesa, California. They created a week-long summer camp held in the mountains, the “cathedral of the outdoors,” in order to create moments that matter for foster children ages 6-12.
When John Schwider started a summer camp for foster children in Chicago Southland in 1994, he found his niche. His whole focus became developing healthy supporting relationships for foster children. He transitioned from volunteer to a full-time position as Field Representative with Royal Family KIDS in 2005. Although he works nationwide, his concentration is in the Great Lakes Region which includes Ohio.
Royal Family KIDS mobilizes churches to begin summer camps for foster children. Currently there are 239 camps nationally and internationally. There are 10 camps in Ohio but are limited in their activities currently because of COVID-19. The organization expanded to include mentoring clubs, Teen Reach Adventure Camps (TRAC) and the teen mentoring component, TRAC Life. Through these four passages the church can be the one organization in a foster child’s life that can maintain consistent relationships from age six to eighteen.
When children age out of foster care at age 18, RFK still maintains contact with many of their “kids” via their Facebook page. Over the 30 years of RFK’s existence 106,000 children have been served. Last year RFK served 9,00 children. Serving these children were 14,000 volunteers. The week at camp is magical. The sponsoring church pick up the children via coach buses. Children arriving at camp are greeted with a poster board welcoming each-and-every child. Each day there is a choice of activities that campers can choose from. At the end of their week of camp, the students plant a silver maple tree. Before planting the tree, each camper writes a note about a traumatic event in their life. The note is buried in the hole as the tree is planted, as a way of “letting go” of that traumatic event and moving on with their life. The camp ratio is 30 kids and 50 volunteers. The closest camp for Summit County is in Canton. This camp has been in operation for 20 years.
Haven of Rest will be hosting a canned food drive (see below or click here to open a flier) August 20th from 11 am -7 pm at Chick-fil-A locations: Canton/Dressler Road; Montrose/Flight Memorial Drive and Chapel Hill/Howe Avenue. You can also visit https://www.havenofrest.org/ for more information.
Jennifer Jones, of the Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland, Ontario, Canada, is the selection of the Nominating Committee for President of Rotary International for 2022-23.
Binish Desai began working on an eco-friendly brick made out of recycling and waste, when he was 11. The former Rotary Youth Exchange student, inventor, and entrepreneur credits Rotary with giving him the support to pursue his dreams. Now he’s giving back through a new Rotary club.