Angie Cox (center left), chair of the LNR Service committee, presented LISD Student Activities Director Allison Stamey (center right) with a gift from the Lewisville Noon Rotary. (Click image to open full-size photo.)
 

Members of the Lewisville Noon Rotary donated more than $7800 in support of the Lewisville ISD Angel Tree this year, to help make the holidays brighter for low-income students and their families. The club is also sponsoring the new Food Pantry to serve underprivileged students at Huffines Middle School. A ribbon cutting ceremony will take place at the school on Tuesday, December 14th, at 9:00 a.m. The school is located at 1440 N Valley Parkway in Lewisville, and all are invited to attend.

 

Retired Air Force Colonel Pat Smith, a member of Lake Cities Rotary club and CEO of Serve Denton, was the featured speaker at last week's club meeting. A graduate of Denton High School, Smith holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering and two master's degrees, and built an illustrious career in the Air Force that took him from Saudi Arabia to the Pentagon. He returned to Denton in 2004 and retired from the Air Force in 2008, and in 2010 became the Director of Local Outreach for Denton Bible Church. It was in this role that Smith helped bring to life the vision to turn an unused church property into a hub for local charities to operate under one roof. Today, he is the CEO of Serve Denton, the organization borne out of the church's efforts.

 

Serve Denton provides quality space at a reduced cost to nonprofit organizations on its five-acre campus. This arrange enables charities to allocate more of their funding toward their mission, instead of overhead costs, and provide services that help individuals and families become self-sufficient. The model has proven wildly successful, with 19 nonprofits currently operating at one location under the Serve Denton umbrella. The campus serves as a one-stop-shop, where local residents in need can find help with everything from food and clothing to housing, life skills training, education, legal assistance, and employment. Serve Denton had more than 59,000 client visits last year and is on track for 70,000 visits in 2021. Smith is now spearheading the effort to evaluate whether the same structure could work in Lewisville, creating a single touch-point for services that equip and empower people to obtain gainful employment and provide for their families.

 

“The nonprofit world is a complicated system that can be hard to navigate when you’re in need,” Smith explained. “The problems of Denton County are large and they’re growing,” he added, noting that 80 people move to Denton County every day, and one million people will relocate to the DFW Metroplex between now and 2030. Working together with city officials and other stakeholders, Serve Denton has started a three-phase discovery project with the city of Lewisville to determine the viability and impact of a nonprofit center similar to the Denton campus. If it comes to fruition, Serve Lewisville will provide access to several nonprofits under one roof, so people can find help and be treated with dignity and respect. “I think Lewisville has all the makings to have a very successful nonprofit center,” Smith said. 

 

The new facility will focus on five areas of support for local residents: Adult healthcare, Mental health, Rent and utilities, Childcare, and Food. The discovery team currently is in discussions with local nonprofits on the benefits of collaborating to share resources and operational systems to reduce costs and improve efficiencies, so they can better serve the local community. To learn more about the work of Serve Denton and the plans for a potential Lewisville outreach center, visit www.servedenton.org.

 

L to R: LNR Membership committee chair Terry Russell, sponsor Rich Muller, new LNR member Dwayne Middleton, LNR Club president Dirk Dahlke
 

The Lewisville Noon Rotary Club last week extended a warm welcome to its newest member, Dwayne Middleton, who was sponsored by Rich Muller. Dwayne and his wife relocated to Texas from California earlier this year to be closer to their grandchildren. Now retired, Dwayne previously worked for AT&T for 40 years. He noted that his father was a Rotarian and he has happy memories of visiting meetings as a Boy Scout when he was young. Dwayne learned about the Lewisville Noon Rotary from Rich Muller, who lives across the street from the Middletons, and said he was impressed with the club’s connection to the community. We are excited to have him join our Rotary family.

Be sure to mark your calendars for several fun and exciting events coming up this month!

 

December 8th - Denton County Toy Drop-off, sponsored by Sam Pack's Five Star Ford Lewisville and Denton County First Responders. Bring a new, unwrapped toy to benefit low income families of Denton County, and say hello to your favorite first responder! If you can't make the toy drive, please stop by the dealership during business hours to drop off your donation. Contact LNR Youth committee chair Sue Bowman for details.

Time: 4-8pm

If you want credit for a make-up, contact LNR Membership chair Terry Russell to let him know when and where you attended another Rotary club meeting, or the date and service activity that you participated in to count as a make up. You have two weeks before and two weeks after a missed meeting to make up for your absence. Make-ups are a great way to meet Rotarians from other clubs and become more engaged with the outreach activities we do in the local community!