NEXT MEETING: January 8, 2016

A Visit from the Rotary District Governor

Richmond Rotary welcomes District Governor Ken Courville for his official Club visit. Ken was born in Fall River, Massachusetts. He received a degree in Public Service, Law Enforcement from Bristol Community College in Fall River. He received a degree in Public Service, Law Enforcement from Bristol Community College in Fall River.

Ken joined The Dixon Rotary Club in 2001, after attending a lunch meeting that impressed him with the Rotarians’ sense of giving and service. He has held various positions within the Dixon Club including Club President 2009/2010, Club Foundation Chair, District Foundation Representative for Solano County, and Assistant Governor for two years.  Ken was selected this year to become District Governor for District 5160 in 2015/2016. He will also serve as Chair of the Far West PETS in 2017.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• President-Elect Josh Surowitz reminded everyone that the Club would be dark the next two weeks due to Christmas and New Year’s, and would return again on January 8^th.       That will be an important meeting since the new District Governor Ken Courville will be doing his official visit to address the Club. He encouraged everyone to attend.
• In Pam Jones’ absence, Jon Lawlis announced that $13,000 was raised to buy bikes for kids, more than 275 in all!
• Alan Baer announced that the Richmond Rotary would be participating in bell ringing again at Macy’s on Saturday December 19^th. He noted that lots of Rotarians, including Interactors, would be present.       Alan also announced that on Tuesday, Dec. 22^nd, the El Cerrito Interact Club would be providing gift-wrapping for free at Barnes & Noble in El Cerrito Plaza, though donations are, of course, welcome! Finally, he announced that the Rotocare clinic is now officially housed at the Family Justice Center.
• Sid Chauvin announced that he had 11 copies only of the 2015-16 Richmond Rotary roster, first come, first served!

 

MEETING OF December 18, 2015

Welcome

President-Elect Josh S. called the meeting to order, since President Alan Blavins was recuperating from the flu. He asked Herb Cole to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. Sid Chauvin’s thought for the day was from Jay Leno: If God wanted us to vote, he would have given us candidates. Herb Cole called for a moment of silence for freedom and peace on earth.

Visiting Rotarians and Guests

Jon Lawlis brought his sweetie Darlene Quenville as his guest.

Special Events

Rather than be fined $50,000 for not wearing her badge, Mey Saechao opted to present her “Who Am I?,” even though she wasn’t prepared! Mey was raised in Richmond, and is the oldest of 8 kids. Her parents are Laotian refugees – her father fought against the Vietcong. Mey has been married for 7 years, and they have a cat named Ash, a recent rescue. Mey is a CPA and serves as Manager for Timpson Garcia in Oakland. She neglected to include information she had shared previously— that she was fortunate to receive a bike in the toy drive when she was a kid. Nice job, Mey, very interesting! President-Elect Josh was happy to give her her well-earned blue badge afterwards!

Recognitions and Happy and Sad Dollars

• Don Lau kicked off a long list of recognitions with Jerry Feagley’s birthday. Jerry had $100 for the Rotary Foundation, as penance for being 100 years old.
• Mike Winter celebrated a big birthday, his milestone 80^th, on 12/15. He went to Trader Vic’s for a fabulous diner, and had $100 for the Foundation
• John Wilson, Mike’s “older brother” also celebrated a birthday, on 12/13.       He spent it settling in to his new home in Granite Bay, which happens to have a 5-car garage!
• Hank Covell celebrated his wedding anniversary – in 1952 he started holding hands with Doreen, then they got married 57 years ago. Hank had money to support his 3^rd grandkid’s Paul Harris.
• Sid Chauvin had a double whammy to celebrate: on 12/2 he turned 77, and on 12/11 he celebrated his 37^th wedding anniversary to Zelpha (though they have 44 years together under their belts).
• Everyone gets to celebrate Alan Baer’s next birthday, on December 25^th! He had a gift for the Foundation.
• Jon Lawlis celebrated 20 years as a member of Richmond Rotary Club on 12/15, thanks to his sponsor Joe Nussbaum.
• Jan Brown had happy dollars for the incredible dinner at the Firehouse on December 10th – it was an elegant spread that gave a great preview of the holiday toy drive and the bike display.  She also had happy dollars for her new grandson, Alden Graham Brown born December 11 – a Richmond resident and future Rotarian
• Hank Covell announced the Annual Bagna Caude dinner. This event, on January 27th at 6 pm at the WCC Salesian Boys and Girls Club, features a delicious meal provided by Eddie Menosse’s cooking crew. Tickets are $40, tables of 10 are available. The event always sells out and nets $50K to $60K for the organization.
• Josh Genser had happy dollars for several reasons: 1) He was happy to help participate in the remodeling of the new Rotocare Clinic at Family Justice Center; 2) He is happy his daughter Janet is in town from New York City; 3) The Country Club bought him a drink! He had previously caught some typos on the RCC’s new menu, after which they thanked him and promised him a drink if saw any more typos. He caught one, so….
• Dan Tanita was happy to announce that he would be seeing kids at the new Coronado Elementary dental clinic on January 22.  It is the same as the program at Peres Elementary that has been a Rotary project.

PROGRAM

President-Elect Josh introduced Your Scribe today, Stacey Street, who was pinch-hitting for the previously scheduled speaker, who had experienced a bad fall and was unable to present. After a long career in the nonprofit world, Stacey has been Chief Development Officer for Richmond Community Foundation for the past year and a half. Though most club members are likely familiar with the organization’s name, or know a little about what RCF does, since Board Chair and Rotarian Josh Genser gave a great presentation in mid-2014, most people don’t know the full extent of RCF’s impact in the community.

Stacey led the group through a presentation, which gave an overview of community foundations, and in particular Richmond Community Foundation’s history, mission and programs. RCF harnesses the power of philanthropy to ensure healthy, sustainable communities in Richmond and surrounding communities of Contra Costa County. RCF does this through “3 C’s”:

• Coach: Provides capacity-building programs, workshops and grants that help local non-profit leaders – including several Richmond Rotarians! – and their staff better serve the needs of the community;
• Connect: Connects and leverages resources and expertise for the highest impact in the community by hosting convenings such as the Northern California Summit on Children & Youth, and by leading county-wide initiatives such as SparkPoint Contra Costa;
• Contribute: Works with donors to ensure maximum impact for their philanthropy. For example, Stacey is helping Menbe Aklilu increase fundraising and support for her “Menbe’s Way Fund,” and supported the Mayor’s Golf Tournament to raise funds for youth teams and leagues in Richmond.

RCF provides visionary leadership to foster collaboration, partnership and innovation, and has successfully created, expanded and broadened initiatives that have community-wide impact, such as its Social Impact Bond strategy for reducing housing blight. This strategy uses a new type of financing tool that leverages private capital for community impact, and has attracted recognition from both NBC News and The New York Times.

Visit richmondcf.org for more information.

Stacey Street, Rotating Editor