Crow’s Call for September 12, 2019 by Tom Port
Opening: Mark Daniel Maloney is R. I. President” says the “Grissley” as she opens the meeting. “Rotary Connects to the World” is this year’s theme.
Greeter: Judy Lewis led the “Pledge of Allegiance” and quoted the Persian poet, Rumi, which I will paraphrase as: “Try not to resist change. Let Life live through you, and don’t worry that your life appears to be turned upside down as it may be better that way”.
Welcome: Joel Goldstein as well as Judy Giles.
Patriotic Song: Don Jones led the group in singing “God Bless America”.
Interact: Kimi Shirai, co-District Governor and Communications director for Interact, advised of the Officers Assembly at the beginning of October. Also, The District Conference will be November 17 in Richmond from 10:00 am to 2:00pm. There will be a Warriors “End Polio” night in February, and a Bay Cruise Saturday, May 23. The Crayon Initiative is October 8, 3:30 to 5:30 PM. Open Heart Kitchen is Oct. 15 3:00 to 6:30; Park Clean-up is Oct. 19 from 9:00 to 12:00 PM; T-4 catering Fundraiser is Wed., Oct 2; Interact T-shirt Design contest is Aug 21 to Oct 2.
District Council Webinars will be held Sunday March 22 and Thursday March 26.
Septemberfest: September 21 at 2700 Camino Ramon. This Bike Ride and Community Festival will benefit the Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship Foundation.
T-Shirts will arrive next week.
District Governor Visit: October 10.
Service Star Awards; Marie Galbo, Glen Weber and Jeff Disch were honored.
Main Event: Kathy Gailey offered an updated briefing on the Uganda Wheelchair Project scheduled of July, 2021. She explained the single shipping container holds 280 wheelchairs and costs $42,000. The chairs will be shipped from China to the port of Mombasa, Kenya. The sponsoring local Rotary club, Kampala Nsambeya, will arrange to have the container delivered to the Karamuja region of North Eastern Uganda where the chairs will be distributed.
Our club and other participating local clubs will raise $7000 and the R. I. will grant an additional $14,000, equaling one half of the total cost. The remaining $21,000 will come from a matching grant from a private donor.
Rotarians who may wish to attend the distribution should let Kathy know as preliminary plans are being made. There will likely be a pre and post-trip to enable Rotarians to visit some of the famous wildlife in Uganda, notably the chimpanzees and gorillas as well as sights such as Murchison Falls, Lake Victoria and the charming capital, Kampala. The actual cost of the trip is not yet known, but Kathy says she will try to keep it under $6000 per person.
Raffle: Judy Fiedler won the Greeter’s Gift and Norbert won a chance at the Progressive.