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Interact / Herman Miller Pop-Can Sign Up
The following is a link to sign up to volunteer to help pick the pop cans up from Herman Miller and drop them off for our interact kids. 
 
 
If you can help, please click the link and sign up!  Thank you!! 
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Last Weeks Speaker

LIGHTHOUSE IMMIGRANT ADVOCATES

 

Lighthouse Immigrant Advocates (LIA) is a law firm which was founded in 2015 and is located in Holland. David Lee is not a lawyer but is employed by LIA. Davis is Korean born but educated in this country. He assists LIA in many ways through the services they provide to their clients, but principally he Raises funds for the organization. He came to tell us about LIA and its unique approach to immigrant issues in our community.

LIA is more than a law firm. While it has 2 attorneys on staff, including firm founder Sarah Yore-Oosterhout, 2 paralegals, and 3 other staff members besides David, it seeks to utilize the groups talents to provide a holistic approach to All the problems their clients face related to immigration. This includes issues and paperwork related to the client’s immigration status, education, language services, advice in support of benefits available to support family stability, and advocacy related to immigration not only locally but at seats of government. Of course, they also represent their clients in court. As David put it, “there is lots of legal conduct that preys upon the immigrant population.”

The numbers related to the Immigrant population are notable. Foreign born residents of Ottawa County comprise 5.4% of the County’s population compared to 8.8% statewide. The gross number exceeds 15,500 representing over 60 countries of origin. Statewide that translates to about 150,000. About 1/3 of LIA’s clients are undocumented refugees whose status may still be unresolved. The staff biographies on the LIA website show a common thread that they believe everyone in the world should be able to live in a safe and stable environment. 90% of their clients live below 200% of the poverty level. The average case takes about 250 days to resolve. Last year they served 630 clients with a 97.3% positive approval rating. In the future LIA is looking to add another full-time attorney in the area of refugee advocacy. In the meantime, they welcome the volunteer assistance of Licensed Attorneys and anyone else moved to support the broad range of charitable endeavors of the LIA,

On the financial side, LIA’s annual budget is about $450,000.00. In 2021, 21% came in through fees which are structured based upon the client’s income; 45% came from corporate donations, and about 34% came from grants and subsidies. David is involved in the latter 2 categories and noted that the money received from grants was higher due to COVID related government payments and that this area is normally about 24%. LIA is 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization. David welcomes all forms of volunteerism.

Randy White

 

No Raffle- Zoom Meeting

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Author's Bulletin Extra!
This week's snippet - Missing those who are missing!  I know COVID threw a monkey wrench into our well-oiled Rotary machine, but I sure do miss seeing so many of you at our weekly meetings.  If you can make it this week, make it a point to stop by.  I'm hoping we can double our attendance number from last week!
 
This week joke - Did you hear about those new corduroy pillows that just came out? They're making headlines!
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Upcoming Speaker
 
Speaker DateTopic
Gary NelundApril 29, 2022City of Norton Shores updates
 
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Rotary Merchandise
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Birthdays & Anniversaries
Member Birthdays
Douglas Heins
May 6
 
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May 6
 
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May 7
 
James Humphrey
May 15
 
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May 10
 
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May 16
 
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Lori
May 14
 
Dave Stocking
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May 28
 
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Tanya Kval
May 31
 
Join Date
Brad MacLachlan
May 31, 2013
9 years
 
Lisa Ashcraft
May 31, 1996
26 years
 
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