Mike Norcia called the meeting to order at 12:30 and Henry Vitkovich led the flag salute.
Inspiration
Dan Snyder shared some more dad jokes to give us all a laugh.
Guests
Tsovo Massena - She is interested in joining our club. Her mom was one of the first members of Rotary back in Armenia.
Maria Kouzmenka - She heard about us through work and came today to check us out. She is interested in volunteering in the community.
New Member
Lisa Cheskin introduced our newest red badge member, Laura Douglas. Laura says she is ready to roll up her sleeves! Welcome!
Announcements
- Rise Against Hunger on April 8 at Saratoga HS We need a set up crew with at least 5 people who are able to lift 50 lbs from 6:30-8am, other shifts start at 8:00, 10:30 and 12:30 Sign up at http://events.riseagainsthunger.org/SaratogaRotary2023 This is a great event to bring your children or grandchildren.
- Our First Tuesday Social will be at Double Ds on April 4th 5:30-7:30
- The Great Race! It’s an all hands on deck event! There are so many tasks to do. Do you have a pickup truck? Contact Paul Christiansen. If you can’t be there Saturday, please sign up for something earlier. We need everyone! Lisa needs people to hand out flyers at the farmers market or the LG Creek trail. Contact her if you can do that.
- The Los Gatos High School Interact club is making tie blankets for an animal shelter on Wed 3/22 at 2:30. Contact Tina Orsi-Hartigan if interested in helping.
- Paul Johnson showed a video of a massive shipping container that left LG and is now on the water headed to Guatemala, thanks to our club. It’s filled with student desks and chairs. All the computers for RACHEL are being transported by the US Army. Thanks to the generosity at the CrabFest we added a 6th recipient school in Guatemala! Thank you!
- Bobbi Bornstein shared info on the big fundraiser for our partner West Valley Community Services: Chefs of Compassion on 3/31 at 6pm. Three chefs make a dinner and guests get to judge who did the best job. https://www.chefsofcompassion.org/
- March Madness themed eggs for the homeless this week!
- Inner Wheel update: They raised $570 from our club the other week to provide prosthetic limbs to children in need. Thank you!
- Marty Fishman gave our Rotary Foundation update: Our club has raised over $38K this year so far, with 102 people contributing. Haven’t yet? Contact Marty. These make the global humanitarian efforts of Rotary possible!
- The spring Rebuilding Together Day conflicts with our Great Race, but Los Gatos Morning Rotary is asking for our help to do a preparation clean-up this Saturday 3/25. Contact Kirsten Bridges if you can help.
30 for 30
-Henry Viktovich is back after his heart procedure. He told the story of his echocardiogram in January that led to his open-heart surgery to fix his calcified aortic valve. He now has a cow valve and is doing great! So, he rang a cow bell for his donation and for a good laugh. We are so glad to see you back on your feet Henry!
-Erin Harnett opened a second office and healing center. Congratulations!
-Sue Heller announced her Singin’ Safari concert Sat 4/29 and Sun 4/30. See Sue for tickets.
-Laura Douglas thanked our club for the ELC program and read a thank you note from her daughter who attended. She thanked Mike, Doug, David, Ramon, Andrew, Gordon, and the whole ELC team.
ELC Presentation
The Enterprise Leadership Conference is a Rotary program to inspire the next generation of leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs. Sponsored by Los Gatos Rotary, Los Gatos Morning Rotary, and San Jose Rotary, we take high school juniors to Asilomar for 3 days to learn about what it takes to run a business: finance, HR, sales and marketing, the works. Then, on the last day, the kids present a business plan! We received 250 applications for 96 spots.
ELC took place last weekend, the first time back since 2019 due to the pandemic.
They started with team building at San Jose Rotary and then got on the bus for Asilomar for 2 1/2 days of intense learning, mentorship, and growth.
This is one of the best things Rotary does!
After this overview by Mike Norcia, the second place team, consisting of about 9 kids, then presented us their winning business pitch: Cinco Solar, a company that makes transparent solar windows for a greener community. The kids did an amazing job. I think we were all ready to invest!
Doug, Mike, and Gordon said a few words as they were advisors at the weekend. Tina thanked those who go to the high schools to present and recruit kids for this great program.