Nicholas opened the meeting and thanked Gregg Butterfield for the improved sound system.
Tina Orsini Hartigan led us in the pledge of allegiance.
Gary Allison inspired us with quotes and stories about the importance of determination. 
 
There were no guests.
 
This week’s featured song was Michelle Myers Nelson’s pick:  Feeling Good by Michael Bublé (original recording by Nina Simone)
 

New member Stefka Bonev received her red badge.
She was introduced to Rotary through her kids - who were in Interact - but she fell in love quickly with our club and is happy to be here. Welcome Stefka! We are happy to have you too!
 
Ane Torger’s mom Fernanda presented our Los Gatos Rotary flag (from when she visited) to her club in Brazil. We are happy for the goodwill across the globe.
 
Mike Norcia gave a report on the Great Race and thanked all the helpers that made it possible. It was an unqualified success, even in a big transition year of moving the race to Vasona.
  • We had over 600 participants. There were over 80 kids at the fun run, including 23 kids from the Daves Ave Cheetah Club Runners. 
  • Two very fast runners averaged under 5 min miles! Two kids set world records for their age group. It was exciting.
  • Thanks to Christies Real Estate Sereno for being our top sponsor and all others: Baracuda, Cornerstone, Darling Fischer, El Camino Health, Physicians Medical Group, Sutter Health, Athletic Performance, The Club Los Gatos, Best Physical Therapy, Athlete, JCC, Juice, Stanford Chidrens Health, X20 Studio, Inikosoft, and ICS. In all, we got $33,000 from sponsors
  • The race results: Total revenue was $56,900 and we netted over $28,000 to give to our charitable causes. That doesn’t include over $3,000 we raised for Ukraine Shelter Box.
Many thanks to the team leaders: 
  • Paul Christiansen who will chair next year, Dan Snyder in parking, Paul Mudgett as course monitor, Mike Frangadakis and John Pencer as the start and finish line team, Tom Dodge and Eric Eberlee as the muscle crew, Lisa Cheskin who handled the fun and fitness fair, Marshall Smith in registration, and the boy scouts handling the water. 
  • So many others did so many small and large tasks. Thank you.
  • After some ribbing by Andrew Stearns, Nicholas donated $100 for having a bit of a wreck during the run with his wife in her wheelchair!
  • Thank you Mike Norcia for running this legacy Los Gatos Rotary event for so many years!
 
There are new Rotary Club of Los Gatos family and corporate membership incentives! Please look into that and bring in your coworkers and spouses. 
 
Marty Fishman gave a plug for Polio Eradication! We are this close to completely wiping polio off the globe but we cannot take the gas off the pedal yet or we will lose ground. Your donation goes toward vaccinations and surveillance in critical areas. Please, everyone give something even if just a little. Everything is matched 2 to 1 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
 
Tina Orsini Hartigan reminded us today is the last day to sign up for the Family BBQ. It’s this Friday May 20th 5pm at Oak Meadow. Bring a salad or side dish, we have plenty of desserts and appetizers. Main dishes and some drinks will be provided.
 
Avis LaGrone thanked our club for our support of the Vietnam Project, which is taking 8 kids this year. Two of them are repeat kids, one of whom is now studying human trafficking in college. We are making a difference.
 

Guest Speaker

 
Kurt Krukenberg of the Silicon Valley Humane Society. 
Animal Shelters: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
 
  • He discussed the ecosystem of animal sheltering and his goal for the future- saving lives and keeping families together.
  • The Silicon Valley Humane Society was originally founded in 1929 as a shelter for horses in this area. There are lots of animal welfare organizations. Humane society SV is not a chapter of national Humane Society. All are separate 501c3 orgs. 
  • Animal shelters started as animal control- the old school idea of taking nuisance animals out of community. It has evolved over the years to more of an effort to protect the animals.
  • Kurt summed it up as: Before- protect people from animals. Now- protect animals. Tomorrow- protect families (people and animals together).
  • WeCare is group of different animal shelters in Santa Clara County that work together and share resources to help homeless animals. They watch what zip codes they come from and target spade/neuter campaigns in those areas. They have made great success in reducing homeless animals and reducing animal deaths this way.
  • California is one of top states for homeless animals, partly because of the good weather- animals can have more babies.
  • One of the services they offer is shelter medicine - veterinary practice is vastly different than in regular vet practices. It’s more like epidemiology. 
  • Another service is to make sure no family has to give up a pet because they cannot afford to care for it.
  • They have a volunteer program to help socialize animals that need to be socialized. 
  • He shared success stories about Jean Luc Picat  the cat and Jaggar the dog. 
 
Keeping families together is the new trend in animal welfare. They want to make sure families with pets can continue to care for them even in economic hardships. Everyone deserves to have a pet. People who are struggling often need them even more. So, Humane Society offers:
  • Pet pantry- similar to food pantry but for pet food and pet care needs.
  • Vet care- provide vaccines and preventative health care for pets of homeless people. This can be hugely impactful. He gave an example of a homeless man, Jay, and his dog, Freckles.
  • They have a wellness wagon thanks to a generous donor, so they can go out and give vet care in the community. 
 
Mutual rescue. Why help animals when you can help people? By helping animals you do help people. You often rescue the person as much as the animal.
 

 
Nicholas closed out the meeting with a reminder for the family barbecue this Friday.
Next Tuesday’s meeting is long delayed Rotary recognition.