Our club members are dedicated people who share a passion for community service and friendship. Becoming a Rotarian connects you with a diverse group who share your drive to give back.
For more information visit our website: www.sanramonrotary.org or
Ed Duarte was our greeter today, with an enviable background of a re-creation of his old car. After guiding us through the salute and 4-way test, he presented a thought about staying positive and dealing with the current situation, amidst all the news we hear on a daily basis. He wished “the best for all of us, that we stay safe and healthy, especially for those of us who are or who have family who are older citizens. Keep everybody in your thoughts.” Ed was born in the Central Valley and graduated from Fresno State, with a degree in Civil Engineering. He spent 8 years as a bridge engineer, and then joined and later took over his family construction business. He met Linda in 1987, the same year he joined San Ramon Rotary, and has been married to both for 33 years! Ed has 4 kids, and just turned a magical 81 years young! Happy birthday, Ed!
Guests and Announcements
We had a visiting Rotarian, Patty Hoyt, from Dougherty Valley. Patty will also be our speaker this week. Welcome, Patty!
Lady Grizzly reminded us of a few things going on. The first note was that… drumroll… we may be able to start meeting soon?! Until further notice, however, we will continue to meet on Zoom as usual on Thursdays, with weekly happy hours happening on Tuesdays at 5pm.
For our May virtual lunch drive, we raised $2760, which was distributed to the Trinity Center to provide meals. Speaking of the Trinity Center, their new building is built and looking wonderful. Glad to see the move and construction coming to completion!
Also, our annual Spring assembly is coming up via Zoom! Let Colette know if you’d like to sign up, and she’ll send you your own private link.
Program #2 - Stoles, by Gary Sloan
We were lucky enough to have a second program today: Gary Sloan awarded stoles to our Cal High students with over 50 hours of volunteer service, despite the shortened and unique school year they are facing. Most of the students were present for the program.
Here are the remarkable students who received stoles, along with the college/university they’re attending this fall:
UCLA, double majoring in Cognitive Science and CS/Linguistics
Kendra Lin
UCLA, Civil Engineering
Michelle Pham
UCLA, Biology
Jocelyn Gao
UC Berkeley, Business Administration, with a focus on Global Management
Surya Rajan
UC Berkeley, Computer Science
Gary ended the presentation with a beautiful reminder that Interact is not just a service club; it’s a place where students develop leadership skills and the values that they imbibe for the rest of their lives. Gary reminisced going back to this point in his life, when he was Senior (100 years ago), and when he felt that the possibilities were endless.
There were no ending announcements.
This week, Patty Hoyt from the Discovery Counseling Center will be our speaker.
Program #1 - April Rovero, Founder / Executive Director of National Coalition Against Prescription Drug Abuse
Our speaker today was April Rovero, whose personal story and work towards education on drug abuse was touching and motivational for our whole group. She delivered a presentation on prescription drugs: help or harm, and talked us through critical education, including the signs, the effects, and the impact.
The more opioid prescriptions there are, the more overdoses there are. In 2018, there were 641,374 opioid prescriptions in Contra Costa County alone. In 2010-2018, there were 29 drug related deaths in San Ramon Valley, but this number does not take into account people like April’s son, who went to college elsewhere. April knows families with 3 children who all died due to drug overdose. There is significant substance abuse in our community, and parents aren’t necessarily equipped to know what to do. However, there are community organizations where family members can get the support they need.
These are avoidable deaths. Also, a larger community-wide impact extends beyond the immediately impacted families - U.S. financial costs are $72+ billion per year. In addition, there are also legal risks and personal risks due to drug abuse, including contracting HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B & C, and substance abuse disorder.
April shared so much important education with us! To conclude the presentation, a donation was fittingly made, on behalf of April, to the Discovery Counseling Center of the San Ramon Valley.
An amazing and informative Q&A took place after our meeting was officially adjourned. Please spread the word and help address this epidemic.
