Rotary Club of Kent meeting minutes
The Rotary Club of Kent
February 18, 2020
President Roger called the meeting to order at 12:10. After singing “God Bless America,” and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, Rachel Kerns offered the invocation. Rachel Kerns was also the designated photographer for the day. Songleader David Dix led us in singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” in honor of the Indians’ opener at Spring Training in Arizona.
Visitors: There were no visiting Rotarians. Visitors were Gyorgyi Mihalyi-Jewell, guest of Alyssa Mazey and Laura Fechter, guest of Olivia Pilon. Brandy and Trey Harris, parents of our Roosevelt Student of the Month, were also guests.
Student of the Month: Theodore Roosevelt High School Student of the month was scholar/athlete Braydn Harris. She has maintained a 3.8 GPA during her High School career and is a student in the Engineering program. A member of the golf, bowling, and track teams, she plans to attend the University of Akron to further her study of engineering.
Announcements:
- President Roger noted that the the Kent Rotary Board will meet at Hometown Bank on Thursday, Feb. 20.
- Todd Kamenash reminded us that the annual Rotary Bracket Buster is coming up. Proceeds will support Rotary’s literacy efforts and we will begin collecting donations next week
- Rachel Kerns invited all to attend the upcoming April 18th fundraiser for Habitat.
- David McKeen announced that our first Happy Hour of the year was a success and that subsequent Happy Hours will be held on the first Friday of each month at venues to be announced
- Laura Fechter who works with developmentally delayed youth, is putting together a workforce development task force. She is looking for community members to meet with students to talk about jobs and the world of work. Contact her through Alyssa Mazey.
- Paul Organ noted that Rotary Foundation members will be accepting requests for funding to be considered at their April meeting.
Today’s Program:
Kathy Myers, Program Chair, introduced today’s speakers, Scott Simmons and John Tasco from Kent Fire Department. They presented information about Pulse Point, a program whose goal is to reduce the time it normally takes between a sudden cardiac arrest event and the victim receiving life-saving CPR and defibrillation.
Sudden cardiac arrest is a leading risk for mortality and recovery often depends on immediate treatment with CPR and the use of an AED – automatic external defibrillator. Typical response to a call for help by professionals is 5 to 8 minute or longer. Pulse Point reduces this time by empowering civilians through technology to arrive on the scene early and administer CPR. Pulse Point is an app that is downloaded to your phone and alerts you to any sudden cardiac arrest in a public place within a quarter mile of your location.
Started in Seattle Washington, the program is at work in 4000 communities with another 1000 in process. Over 2 million people have downloaded the app, which includes animated instructions in how to administer CPR and helps you locate the nearest AED machine. You can download the app at pulsepoint.org. Look for Pulse Point Respond.
Kathy Myers responded on behalf of the club and noted how important it is that we all get involved with this life saving program.
Respectfully submitted,
Thomas Hatch
