On the final day of the month our club had 205 Active Members. All membership information is pulled from ClubRunner statistics. Attendance for March’s meetings was 31% (the same as the previous month). Average attendance at each meeting was 62 members and 9 guests. Our Engagement Ratio for the month was 59% (up 1% from last month).
Membership gained three members in March: Leslie Pinney, Jon Strite and Mark Schirmer.
New Badges!
New RCAA badges are coming soon. A new badge printer has been purchased, and the test badges look good. We will eventually be getting rid of our large wooden badge storage cabinet. If anyone has ideas on where this could go, the board is happy to hear them.
Treasury Update
Our club financial highlights include Foundation total assets of $3,696,003.43; and Club operating cash balance of is $79,548.22. Net income was declined in March, primarily due to regular, continuing expenses.
Policy Review
Initial policy updates have been made, and the board has started reviews. The goal is to approve the policies in the May board meeting and follow with membership communication in June. The intent is to create succinct policies that membership can refer to and actually use.
District Training Assembly
- We had a great turnout at the District Training conference in Howell this past weekend.
- Attendees from our club included: Dawn Johnson, Roy More, Leo Shedden, John White, Larry Gray, Dennis Burke, Susan Shipman and Kathy Waugh
- Satellite or Companion Clubs were also discussed. They mentioned that 4 or 5 club members would be required to keep these clubs resilient.
Strategic Plan Work Group and Process
- Dawn is working up a format, so we have resiliency on the Strategic Plan in future years.
- She already has a handful of people who would like to be part of the work group
- Past President and President should be included (great if PE can participate, but led by PP and attendance by President mandatory)
Community Allocations
- Funds were approved for the new CAC Recipients. This is the culmination of the annual Helping Kids Succeed grant program funded by the AARF and implemented by the RCAA Community Allocations Committee under the leadership of Chair Marsha Chamberlin and Carolina Typaldos.
- There were 52 non-profits applying for the funds, 21% more than in any prior year, requesting a total of over $252,000.
- There were 17 reviewers and each reviewed on average, 24 applications.
- The Committee members deserving of recognition for their commitment of time and talent to review and score the applications are in alphabetical order:
- Meghan Armstrong*, Walker Barnes*, JoAnn Barrett, Matt Boylan, Marsha Chamberlin*, Michael Field, Melissa Foster*, Fernando Leon*, Tom Millard, Roy More*, Jennifer Richard*, John Sepp, Ingrid Sheldon*,Rob Shiff*, Susan Shipman*, Carolina Typaldos*, and Kathy Waugh*
*Denotes 12 Committee members who also participated in the 2026 Grant Review Meeting on April 9, 2026
- The Board of Directors approve the recommendation of the RCAA Community Allocations Committee to distribute $63,000 in AARF funds to the following 12 grant recipients:
| Name of Organization | Project Name | Amount |
| 826michigan | 826michigan’s Summer Writing Programs in Washtenaw County | $ 5,000 |
| Apple Playschools | Apple Playschools Scholarship Fund: Expanding Early Education Access in Washtenaw County. | $ 3,000 |
| Children’s Literacy Network | BookPALS: Meeting Students After School and from Home | $ 5,000 |
| Community Action Network | CAN Deep Dive | $ 5,000 |
| Ele’s Place Ann Arbor | Grief Backpacks and Toolkits for Washtenaw County School | $ 5,000 |
| Food Gatherers | Healthy School Pantry Program, 2025-2026 School Year | $ 2,000 |
| Foundation Preschool of Washtenaw County | Childcare Stability Initiative | $ 5,000 |
| Judson Center | Parent Education Training Program to Support Children with Autism | $ 5,000 |
| Neutral Zone | Neutral Zone After School Programs for Safe, Supportive, Creative and Educational Youth-Driven Programs | $ 5,000 |
| Ozone House, Inc. | Project Ignition | $ 5,000 |
| SOS Community Services | SOS Parents as Teachers for Washtenaw | $ 5,000 |
| Student Advocacy Center of Michigan | Check & Connect- Washtenaw County | $ 5,000 |
| Washtenaw Camp Placement | The Ann Arbor Rotary Summer Camp Partnership | $ 3,000 |
| Washtenaw Elementary Science Olympiad | The 24th Annual Washtenaw Elementary Science Olympiad | $ 5,000 |
| $ 63,000 |
- An additional $600 of the total $63,600 approved for CAC will be used to cover the costs of an event to announce and present the winners to the RCAA membership.
