Monthly Archives: May 2020
NEXT MEETING: May 29, 2020Collaborative Communication: Skills for Every Day
For security reasons, our video conference meetings are by invitation only. The Zoom invitation will be sent to our members with the subject “Richmond Rotary Invitation.” If you didn’t get it last week, please check your spam. Rotary guests are welcome. To receive the Zoom link, request it by sending an email to info@richmondcarotary.org prior to our meeting on Friday.
MEETING OF May 22, 2020WelcomeAnnouncementsYour annual Rotary dues are now due. Please use the PayPal button on the right to make your payment of $200. A donation to the Rotary Foundation of $100 is encouraged but optional. Thank you for helping to keep our club an active force for good in our community. Happy and Sad DollarsOn this Memorial Day, Jan offered a remembrance of Elof Granberg, who passionately reminded Richmond Rotarians every year of the reason we honor this day in history. Elof served with the Canadian Regina Rifle Regiment in WWII and was part of the Normandy invasion. He often recalled his fellow comrades who paid ‘the ultimate price’ for peace, freedom and justice in the world. RecognitionsHappy and Sad DollarsNorm’s NonsensePROGRAMContra Costa College
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NEXT MEETING: May 22, 2020How is Contra Costa College responding to student needs?
For security reasons, our video conference meetings are by invitation only. The Zoom invitation will be sent to our members with the subject “Richmond Rotary Invitation.” If you didn’t get it last week, please check your spam. Rotary guests are welcome. To receive the Zoom link, request it by sending an email to info@richmondcarotary.org prior to our meeting on Friday.
MEETING OF May 15, 2020WelcomeAnnouncementsWith 50 Hygiene packets ready for delivery to GRIP and the homeless, our club has committed to another 50. Thank you to our generous donors, volunteers and organizers for this event. Community Chair Pam Jones, with Darlene Quenville, Jon Lawlis, Alan Baer, Tamara Shiloh, and you, were the force behind the effort. Thank you and good luck on the next 50! Using Amazon’s wedding registry, we have set up a Richmond Rotary Community Project to purchase hygiene gift bags for homeless people in the Richmond area. Visit the registry here, to choose the items you want to donate, or just go to Amazon and search for “wedding registry”, then in the next search field, “Richmond Rotary.” Thank you for your generosity! There’s a virtual Board Meeting this Thursday, May 20, at noon. Contact Jan if you’d like to attend. The Danville Rotary is conducting a fundraiser, A Virtual Lyyve Party to support Bay Area Food Banks. It’s on Sat. May 23 12pm-12am. Tickets start at $5. For more information, visit. Happy Sad DollarsWithout dedicated a team of scribes, Recognitions and Happy and Sad Dollars have become occasional treats: nice when we have them, too bad when we don’t. (Volunteers?) This week we have a few Happy and Sad Dollars, even reaching back a month to grab notes left in our PayPal donations page, where you can record the source of happiness and sadness when you chip in a few bucks. Last week Nakele was simply happy to attend online Rotary zoom meetings. Yes. Jan offered congratulations the UC Berkeley University & College Graduates of 2020. In honor of both this year’s grads and Cal’s alumni of 50 years ago, when commencement was canceled for different reasons (Kent State & Peoples Park unrest), Jan had happy dollars that this year’s canceled graduation was replaced by a 2020 Virtual Commencement via Minecraft. Go Bears! And last month, Darlene Quenville had happy dollars because her parents had a safe car journey from Florida to upstate New York. They drove because flights were cancelled due to the coronavirus. RecognitionsHappy and Sad DollarsNorm’s NonsensePROGRAMReflecting and Adapting
Each small group discussed any or all of three questions: How do you imagine Rotary meetings if we don’t have a place to meet? What partnerships could our club build that would promote service to the community? What is the most memorable program you’ve heard this year? After about 15 minutes of discussion within the smaller groups, everyone returned to the “main room” and shared their ideas. Despite having several separate conversations, we heard a lot of overlap. Using breakout rooms was effective because it enabled small group discussions. Some good ideas surfaced. And just as importantly, each of us had an opportunity for conversations with a small handful of other Rotary members. Almost like sitting at a table with a bunch of friends. |
NEXT MEETING: May 15, 2020To be announced.
Because our previously scheduled speaker will be unable to be with us on Friday, we are working on arrangements for another presentation. When we have this information, we’ll post it here. Stay tuned. For security reasons, our video conference meetings are by invitation only. The Zoom invitation will be sent to our members with the subject “Richmond Rotary Invitation.” If you didn’t get it last week, please check your spam. Rotary guests are welcome. To receive the Zoom link, request it by sending an email to info@richmondcarotary.org prior to our meeting on Friday.
MEETING OF May 8, 2020WelcomeAnnouncements
RecognitionsHappy and Sad DollarsNorm’s NonsensePROGRAMIn Pursuit of Peace
Gilda Bettencourt with the Nonviolent Peaceforce, gave an impressive overview of the global mission of of a group of special people trained in Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP). Their goal is to save lives by offering protection to isolated civilians. Rotary has supported training in Thailand and more recently, a new project in Northern Nigeria. Gilda offers these additional videos for those who may want to learn more: One-minute introduction to Nonviolent Peaceforce In 2012, the PBS News Hour produced a 9-minute video about Nonviolent Peaceforce: In 2016, NP was featured in a documentary called “In Pursuit of Peace”. |
NEXT MEETING: May 8, 2020In Pursuit of Peace
To learn more about the organization, you may visit its website. A one-minute introduction to its approach to saving lives and preventing bloodshed is available on YouTube. Nonviolent Peaceforce has received support from Rotary. MEETING OF May 1, 2020WelcomeAnnouncementsFor security reasons, our video conference meetings are by invitation only. The Zoom invitation will be sent to our members with the subject Richmond Rotary Invitation. If you didn’t get it last week, please check your spam. Rotary guests are welcome. To receive the Zoom link, request it by sending an email to info@richmondcarotary.org prior to our meeting on Friday. RecognitionsHappy and Sad DollarsNorm’s NonsensePROGRAMCompassion Has No Walls
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NEXT MEETING: May 1, 2020Compassion Has No Walls
Galatea King and Rev. Deborah Lee will describe their work to make the criminal justice system more just, and the immigration system more fair and humane. Learn more about this work at the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity. MEETING OF April 24, 2020WelcomeAnnouncementsFor security reasons, our video conference meetings are by invitation only. The Zoom invitation will be sent to our members with the subject Richmond Rotary Invitation. If you didn’t get it last week, please check your spam. Rotary guests are welcome. To receive the Zoom link, request it by sending an email to info@richmondcarotary.org prior to our meeting on Friday. RecognitionsHappy and Sad DollarsNorm’s NonsensePROGRAMThe State of the City
State of the City available on the City website, http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/3539/State-of-the-City
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If you wonder how to talk to someone across a political divide or how to stop having the same arguments–over and over–with your family and co-workers, join us for a lively and interactive discussion. Lisa Montana will provide an introduction to Collaborative Communication, which enables people to speak in ways that are both honest and respectful.
Dr. Mayra Padilla, Dean of Institutional Equity at Contra Costa College, reflected on the essential role of a community college. The Metas program prepares preschool through 12th-grade students in our community for college success by increasing their proficiency in reading, writing and math. One hundred percent of 12th grade students involved in Metas graduate from high school and go on to enroll in college. A Richmond High School graduate herself, Mayra shared inspiring stories of several students who came up through the program and launched successful academic or professional careers in STEM and beyond. Many graduates have returned to serve the West Contra Costa community and even as instructors and mentors through Metas. The Metas program receives generous support from outside donors.
After welcomes and preliminaries, we randomly divided our group of some 30 members into small breakout rooms of 4 or 5 per “room” (a “room”, now defined in physical terms as a packet of digital audio and video signals transmitted through space, to and from computers located somewhere and computers right here on our desks, or laps—back and forth—thereby creating the sensation of “being together.” Welcome to the 21st century.)
Just in time for Mother’s Day, Richmond Rotary’s 14th annual Teen Mom’s Care packages were sent to expecting young mothers and a young father enrolled in the Adolescent Parenting Program of the West Contra Costa Unified School District. This is a Rotary tradition of encouraging young parents to continue their education while juggling new family obligations. Darlene Quenville chaired this year’s effort. Care packages were made possible through the generosity of Project Linus, Burts Bees, and Rotarians.
In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Richmond Rotary Cares (organized by Pam Jones and Darlene Quenville) is completing its first 50 -100 Hygiene Kits for GRIP and homeless residents. Thank you to those who have given so generously. Alan Baer (pictured) is shown ready to receive the product in his lock shop. Tamara Shiloh is packaging them! Thanks all for the great effort.
At last week’s presentation we learned about the work of the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity. Galatea King described the organization’s work to bring greater justice and fairness to the U.S. immigration system. To learn more this work please 
Last Friday Mayor Tom Butt presented an overview of the actions the city is taken in response to the Coronavirus emergency, and the impact that it is having on the city’s budget. Mayor Butt provided a number of useful links, including a recording of the State of the City address, given earlier. Here they are: