Michelle Myers Nelson led the meeting, filling in for Mike Norcia who is home with Covid.
Paul Johnson led the pledge of allegiance. David Hubbard gave the inspiration by celebrating the rain we enjoyed over the weekend. He spoke of his son’s joy experiencing the rain, the most we’ve had since January, and he shared a poem.
We have sad news. Tom Dodge’s son passed away. Our hearts go out to him and we held a moment of silence.
Judy Rodriguez introduced her visitor/daughter, Stacy Koelbel.
John Cowan stood up and gave his red badge bio. He grew up in Culver City CA and the Portland OR area, went to college at Bowdoin in Maine and then got his MBA at UCLA and a second masters at Berkeley. He works at El Camino Hospital as a director of community and government relations. He has a passion for non-profit healthcare. Three years ago, just before Covid, he married Shelly, an MD specializing in helping people with long-term workers comp injuries. He is passionate about CORO, a foundation designed to expose people across different sectors of the economy. To him, it signals community and how we can all intersect to solve problems. John also loves to travel and he does improv! He joined Rotary because he read a book, Bowling Alone by Robert Putman. He is happy to find a place where wonderful, committed people gather.There is no meeting at Shir Hadash next week due to Yom Kippur. Instead, we will meet at MetroEd. Please RSVP when you see the email and order your sack lunch. MetroED is both an adult ed program and a high school technical and career training program that serves 6 high school districts across South Bay. There, we will have our regular meeting, enjoy lunch, and then get a tour of the facility.
October 15 is Avenues of Service, put on by Rotary District 5170. Marty Fishman encouraged us to attend and see what service other clubs are doing. We can do more when we team together.
Shout-out to Kathie Benko and her creative decorated hard boiled eggs for the homeless at St Luke’s. Every week she provides both protein and a smile.
September 30th is our service project with Second Harvest Food Bank. We will be distributing food at St Lucy’s Parish in Campbell.
October 22nd is our annual Rebuilding Together service project, painting a house in San Jose. Please sign up by September 25. https://
30 for 30 - Andrew Stearns honored Paul Christiansen on his 69th birthday
Guest Speaker:
Oksana Tjupa joined us on Zoom from Western Ukraine. She is the charter president of Rotary Club of Kyiv International. (Please forgive any errors on the notetaker’s part. There was technical difficulty, which impacted the sound and visuals). She and her family and most of the club are displaced from their homes in Kyiv, having fled to the western part of the country where there is less bombing. She appreciates the letters of support from Rotarians all over the world as well as the financial contributions to her club’s efforts. Her club is now dedicated to supporting internally displaced people- and there are 1 million of them. Last weekend the snow started, ushering in the colder season, so they have a lot of work to do to house people. They have established shelter for 5,000 people so far. They provide beds (4-5 per room), a place to wash clothes, and facilities to cook food in their shelters. They plan to serve them until the war is over. They always involve the local Rotary clubs wherever the shelters are to help coordinate, assemble beds, and more. The goal is also to help displaced Ukrainians find jobs and get the kids in school until they can go back home. They work with UN Migration Organization, local authorities, and local communities. They have raised $1.5M and hope to help house 30,000 with these funds.
- While helping displaced families is their main focus, they also (with help from Rotary Clubs across the world)
- Help wounded people in hospitals (civilians are injured everyday)
- Help with home repairs from war damage (especially important coming into winter)
- Help treat water supplies after contamination from bombing
- Distribute food and medicine to the elderly still in Kyiv who were too afraid to leave their homes
- Supported the train workers who worked all of March with no days off because of the mass displacement
- Deliver food and medicine to the disabled
In summary, she thanks all the Rotary Clubs across Ukraine and across the world.