State Government Update

NYS Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, a member of our club, was the speaker at this morning's Zoom meeting.
While the coronavirus health crisis has now passed, she said, and the Capital Region is starting to reopen, large fiscal problems have yet to be addressed.
Uncertainty remains about whether there will be a second wave of infections, but there is also hope for effective treatments and vaccine. On the fiscal front, federal aid may alleviate the state's plight. One of the issues she is working on is strengthening the local elements of the food supply chain.
Carrie hopes the state Legislature will come back into session to provide more vetting of government decisions.
 "I am hopeful, but I don't minimize the challenges in front of us," she said.

Masks and Meetings

The town will distribute masks tomorrow (Friday) morning from 10 to 12 at Malta Town Hall, said Councilwoman (and Malta Rotarian) Cynthia Young at this morning's Zoom meeting. You won't have to get out of your car. Next week, she added, the Zoom speaker will be another elected official and member of our club, state Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner.
        This week's speaker was Adam Horowitz, an investment officer for Glens Falls and Saratoga National Bank(s), and a former Malta resident and volunteer firefighter. He said about a third of the world economy is currently shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic. He expects stocks of big technology companies to continue to do relatively well, whereas companies such as Boeing will need government bailouts.

Schools and other biz

We've been meeting by Zoom at the usual time and day, helping the town distribute face masks, and, on Thursday this week, voted to OK a $200 contribution to a Ballston Spa Rotary program to recognize student athletes with banners. Most Malta residents are in the Ballston Spa School District, but we have also been active in supporting the Chango Elementary School, which is located in Malta but in the Shenendehowa district, and our scholarship program, on which work proceeds, is open to any student of high school senior age who lives in town.

News from Lesotho, in southern Africa

Our Rotary club has for the past six years helped support the work of  Qholaqhoe Mountain Connections (QMC) in a rural area of Lesotho, a small country in southern Africa. Through QMC, we sponsor students and help fund a feeding program.
A March 21 letter from QMC brought news about improvements in conditions there, including the apparent end of a long drought which has made possible the renewal of agriculture, and ongoing work on a road project which employs local people and will improve transport connections.
The package included two letters from sponsored students, with whom two of our members have been corresponding.
According to the QMC letter (from Linda and Roger Gorham, who visited in March):
 "Everyone in the Qholaqhoe Mountain area (about 50 square miles) uses the same post office box located in Butha-Buthe 50 km away. The principal, Me Mosaase, uses the school truck to pick up the mail every weekend and delivers it to a cardboard box on the school porch. The box is checked by anyone who might be expecting a letter, which is rare, except for the QMC scholarship students who are excited and hopeful that there will be a letter from you.
"Our annual parent meeting was attended by mothers, fathers, grandparents, neighbors, and extended family. There were speeches made by parents, administrators, and students. Parents were served cookies and juice, and school uniforms and shoes were distributed. It was a wonderful occasion with great gratitude expressed for your help in making it possible for a child to attend school.
"... Many of the students talked about Cultural Day in their letters. This event held at the high school every 2 years celebrates Basotho culture. The students were very excited about the event and were preparing songs and dances when we were there. We hoped to attend the celebration, but we were forced to leave a couple of days early due to increasing bad news about the coronavirus."

Rotary Still Rolls (2)

Following up Wednesday’s post on coronavirus-related news, the Malta Sunrise Rotary Club on Thursday (yesterday) delivered $300 in grocery cards to the Malta Community Center food pantry, and another $300 worth to Chango Elementary School to supply needy students, using grant funds from the Town of Malta/GlobalFoundries Foundation and a matching dedicated donation through our club. (We had previously directed $200 of grant money through Chango for transportation to medical services.)

In other business, our scholarship committee is deciding this year’s winners, whose names will be announced later this spring according to school district schedules.

Rotary Still Rolls

Schools are closed this week, and will probably stay closed for some time due to the coronavirus epidemic. For the same reason, we are no longer holding weekly meetings at the Malta Diner. But that doesn't mean we're out of the action. For the past several years, a volunteer from our Rotary club has delivered food to qualified students in the Bountiful Backpacks program. Normally, he picks it up from the main Shenendehowa School District campus in Clifton Park, NY, and delivers it to the Chango Elementary School in Malta. This week, the program has rebooted, and volunteers are being asked to make home deliveries. So that's what our guy did today, bringing supplies to 11 students at six residences, where everyone was gracious.

Blue Shield; Coronavirus

Stephanie Krieger, who is Medicare sales center manager, consumer markets, at the new Blue Shield of Northeastern New York office in the Shops of Malta plaza, was our speaker yesterday.
She said her office fits health insurance to the individual's needs, including their popular Medicare Advantage plans.

In other business, it was decided to indefinitely postpone the scheduled March 29 pancake breakfast, due to public health concerns about coronavirus.

In other, other business, the board voted last week to donate $50 to the Ballston Spa School District after-prom party, and $50 to The Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention Council of Saratoga County.