NEXT MEETING: May 15, 2020

To 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.

MEETING OF May 8, 2020

Welcome

Announcements

• 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.
• Guest of Iris Alroy, Alicia Gallo of the Richmond Mainstreet Initiative urged Rotarians to check out the many opportunities to get involved in the life of Richmond’s Downtown business revitalization (https://www.richmondmainstreet.org)
• 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.
• Richmond Rotary was the recipient of funds from District 5160 as monies from canceled conferences were dispersed among the District’s clubs for immediate aid to clubs and community. In an informal poll, club members indicated a strong interest (80%) in supporting the grant for PPE for RotaCare Richmond staff as they prepare to reopen its free medical service to the public. Other options include expanding our homeless hygiene packages and considering local partnerships in supporting business and education needs. If you have comments let Jan or a Board member know.

Recognitions

Happy and Sad Dollars

Norm’s Nonsense

PROGRAM

In 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
This video is a short introduction in case you want to help others understand the organization’s work in a succinct way.

In 2012, the PBS News Hour produced a 9-minute video about Nonviolent Peaceforce:
Nonviolent Peaceforce in Mindanao, Philippines (2012)

In 2016, NP was featured in a documentary called “In Pursuit of Peace”.
The filmmaker appreciates NP’s work so much that he created a shorter version of the film that only shows our work in South Sudan. In this short film, you can “meet” Tiffany Easthom who is now in charge of all of NP.
It is 27 minutes long and can be watched here:  https://vimeo.com/332713180
Use password: “pursuit np”

NEXT MEETING: May 8, 2020

In Pursuit of Peace

Nonviolent Peaceforce is a global non-profit organization that protects civilians in violent conflicts through unarmed strategies. Gilda Bettencourt will discuss how the organization builds peace by working side by side with local communities. It advocates for the wider adoption of these approaches to safeguard human lives and dignity.

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, 2020

Welcome

Announcements

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.

Recognitions

Happy and Sad Dollars

Norm’s Nonsense

PROGRAM

Compassion Has No Walls

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 visit their website.

NEXT MEETING: May 1, 2020

Compassion Has No Walls

In 2018 the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors terminated their contract with ICE that allowed immigrants to be detained at the West County Detention Facility. What is the state of immigration detention in California today, and how can people of goodwill address this challenge?

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, 2020

Welcome

Announcements

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.

Recognitions

Happy and Sad Dollars

Norm’s Nonsense

PROGRAM

The State of the City

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:

State of the City available on the City website,  http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/3539/State-of-the-City
A Town Hall meeting on the emergency is also available on the City website The recorded video is available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWMantlr5yA
The City maintains a very helpful COVID-19 Dashboard, here:  http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/3914/Richmond-Coronavirus-Info.
The Contra Costa County Health Departmetn also provides useful links: https://www.coronavirus.cchealth.org/
The County has set up a call center to help small businesses and workers. The phone is: 833-320-1919, 8:30 to 5 pm., M-F. Information about it is in Supervisor Gioia’s E-Newsletter: https://conta.cc/2VT1kaN

NEXT MEETING: April 24, 2020

State of the City

Mayor Tom Butt will share with us his annual State of the City report at this meeting. Should be interesting. It is obvious that the challenges we face at this time are unlike anything we’ve encountered in the past.

Or maybe not. Please see the Announcements, below.

MEETING OF April 17, 2020

Welcome

Announcements

• 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.”

  You’ll see at the bottom of the box in which each item appears, an indication of how many units of that item are still needed. (Hand sanitizers were sold out when we checked. No surprise.)

  Just before completing the check out stage, you’ll be asked to select a shipping address. At the bottom of that page, you’ll see a section to add a new address. In that area, please enter:  Armor Locksmith Service 2801 Pinole Valley Road, Suite B, Pinole, CA 94564.

• Do you know of an event you want your Richmond neighbors to know about? We will post it on our community calendar. During this “shelter in place” time maybe you know of some great online events you’d like to share with the general public—lectures, online meet-ups, or volunteer opportunities. You can submit your events quickly with this online form. Iris will post them quickly for you!
• 

  Ignoring the orders of the health department, bar owners in Richmond refused to shut down during the pandemic. So the local public health authority had police officers visit and close down every single bar in the city.

  If you had not hear that news, you can be excused. It did happen here, but the year was 1918. Read about this and more events from our city’s archives in the Richmond Museum of History blog, written by its director, and Rotarian, Melinda McCrary.

  Even if history doesn’t exactly repeat itself, we can definitely hear some strong echoes.

Recognitions

Happy and Sad Dollars

Norm’s Nonsense

PROGRAM

Hiroshima: Bridge to Forgiveness

Takashi Tanemori, a survivor of the 1945 atomic bomb attack in Hiroshima, recounted his story of recovery through forgiveness.

NEXT MEETING: April 17, 2020

Hiroshima: Bridge to Forgiveness

Eight year-old Takashi Tanemori was playing hide and seek when the atomic bomb devastated his home and family in Hiroshima. Today he believes that forgiveness is the ultimate solution to dismantle a nuclear bomb. For forty years Tanemori struggled with revenge. In 1985 he experienced an epiphany, in a profound transformation of the heart, realizing that forgiveness leads to peace.

He remembered his samurai father’s dying words: “the greatest way to avenge your enemy is by learning to forgive”. Tanemori’s own path to forgiveness is a testament to the power and redemptive force of forgiveness. He has reconciled with history and his own painful past.

Tanemori believes forgiveness is the way to overcome the darkness of the human heart, to turn enemy to friend, to make the world a safer, peaceful place.

MEETING OF

Welcome

Announcements

• The City of Richmond will host an Online Town Hall this Friday, April 17, on Covid-19. The mayor, city manager, and public safety officials will provide updates on the pandemic’s impact on services and response, and ideas on how the community can help during this crisis.
  You must register to attend. Please submit full name, email address, and questions to Ruben Hernandez Story at Ruben_Hernandez@ci.richmond.ca.us. The link will be provided upon RSVP. Submit questions by Thursday, April 16, 12 PM.
• Do you know of an event you want your Richmond neighbors to know about? We will post it on our community calendar. During this “shelter in place” time maybe you know of some great online events you’d like to share with the general public—lectures, meetups, or even volunteer opportunities. You can submit your events quickly via this online form: https://bit.ly/rotary-rich-cal and Iris will get them posted for you!
• This week’s Board meeting is Thursday, April 16 at noon. Contact President Jan for more info.

Recognitions

Happy and Sad Dollars

Norm’s Nonsense

PROGRAM

The Need for US-Russia Rapprochement Today

Our guest speaker Sharon Tennison, discussed the “Need for US-Russia Rapprochement Today.” Although the nuclear threat each nation poses has dropped out of the national consciousness, the grave danger of nuclear war remains with us. Mr. Tennison offered her book, “The Power of Impossible Ideas: Ordinary Citizens’ Extraordinary Efforts to Avert International Crises,” free to Richmond Rotarians. If you are interested, please direct your request this week to jan@spokewise.com.