NEXT MEETING: February 17, 2017

The Hidden Genius Project: Cultivating Entrepeneurship and Leadership in Black Communities

The Hidden Genius Project trains and mentors black male youth in technology creation, entrepreneurship, and leadership skills to transform their lives and communities.
Oakland native Brandon Nicholson, founding Executive Director, will discuss the project, which seeks to reveal the true potential of black male youth and transform their communities from the inside out.
Brandon has dedicated his life to promoting equity in the public realm, particularly in the education space.  As a senior evaluator and consultant, he began to recognize the potential for technology to bolster the domestic and global economy as underrepresented populations gain more equitable access to growth sectors.

Brandon serves on the Board of Trustees/Directors of Marin Academy (San Rafael, CA); the San Francisco 49ers Academy (East Palo Alto, CA); Great Oakland Public Schools; and several others.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Nick took a poll of how many read the Flywheel, then announced that we need more scribes!

It was announced that Jerry Feagley is the Club’s President-Elect-Elect.

Aaron Gobler, from the Albany Rotary, brought the interclub bowling trophy to show off and to announce that there will be a BARSHEEP bowl-a-thon to raise money for Rotacare. We hope to raise $10,000. It will probably take place in mid-May at Albany Bowl.

Ken Courville presented the President’s Citation for 2015-2016 to Past President Alan Blavins. Only 20 Club Presidents out of 71 got the award!

Governor Fred presented a banner stolen from the Hawaii District as a prank at a PETS conference. I guess you had to have been there to understand what happened and why it was funny.

MEETING OF February 10, 2017

Welcome

The meeeting called to order by President Josh Surowitz.

The Pledge led by “our esteemed mayor” Tom Butt, who took a long minute to recognize that Josh was talking about him.

Invocation led by Herb Cole, who asked for, and got, a moment of silence for peace and freedom.

Syd had a Thought for the Day but, alas, it wasn’t loud enough to be heard above the shuffling of chairs following the moment or silence. Supply your own thought for today.

Visiting Rotarians

Pate Thomson from Berkeley.
Fred “the Governator” Collignon (emphasis on the second syllable), from Berkeley.
Ken Courville from Dixon.
Aaron Gobler from Albany

Rotarians with Guests

Jon Lawlis brought his frequent guest, his darliong Darlene. Alan Baer brought former Richmond Roatarian Edgar.

President Josh took a few moments to read the Governor’s report on the Richmond Rotary Club, in which Fred extolled the virtue of and quantity of our services internationally, to the community and to youth.

Recognitions and Happy and Sad Dollars

David Brown was happy he was off to Mexico tomorrow, and, just in case the Donald doesn’t let him back in, the Rotary checkbook is in his office credenza. Josh S says the secret password to be permitted back into the country is “Allah Ackbar!”

Josh S was happy he was going to Barcelona on business, but will miss next week’s meeting which will be chaired by Past Pres Alan Blavins.

Herb was sad about the funeral for Jan Brown’s mother, Betty. He was also happy that David was going out of the country.

PROGRAM

RotoCare Richmond

Shana Introduced Pate Thompson (a “beacon of light”), who introduced Daljeet Singh and Christina Tejada of Richmond’s Rotacare Clinic.

Richmond’s Rotacare Clinic is a BARSHEEP project, with support also from the Alamo Rotary Club. At the grand opening of the Pittsburg Rotacare clinic the Director of Contra Costa Health Services asked whether one could be opened in Richmond, and that was the impetus to do so. We are now coming up the third anniversary of Richmond’s clinic.

In those three years there have been a lot of changes:

• The Affordable Care Act got a lot of people insured, reducing the burden on the clinic.
• Doctor’s Hospital closed, but the impact of that is hard to determine.
• We changed partners from Brighter Beginnings to the Family Justice Center, which has increased synergies with the other services and agencies available from the Family Justice Center.

Rotacare is separate from Rotary, but gets a lot of support from Rotary. Not just money, but most volunteers and Board Members are Rotarians.

Dr. Daljeet Singh then invited any Rotarians to tour the clinic at any time. Just send an email to richmondclinic@rotacarebayarea.com.

The clinic has 80 volunteers and serves those with no health insurance. 72% of its patients are Hispanic. The biggest challenges are fund-raising and attracting enough volunteer professionals.

Christina Tejada then introduced herself as a Richmond native and recent graduate of UC Davis, and said that she was excited to be serving her home community.

- Josh Genser, Rotating Scribe