Rotareminder for October 24, 2023
Next week: Past District Governor Larry Lohman will talk about The Rotary Foundation.
Opening of the Meeting: President Asad Khan opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance. Our patriotic song played by David Dix was The Star Spangled Banner. Sue Hetrick provided the Invocation. David Dix chose Let There Be Peace On Earth for our second song.
Guests: Tom Hatch introduced the international guests joining us for lunch. The Fulbright Scholars will be in Kent for six weeks as they continue their studies. He introduced the 21 guests by country: Argentina, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Ghana, India, Jordan, Moldova, Nigeria, Peru, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uruguay and Uzbekistan.
Announcements: President Asad said Will Underwood was collecting the Halloween candy for the family friendly event in downtown Kent; Rotary Christmas Party will be December 1, and the Cookie Walk will be December 3.
Past District Governor Larry Lohman reminded the Club that today is World Polio Day, hence the purple decorations. He said there was only one case of wild polio last year and that was in Pakistan. He also reminded the club that the District Foundation Gala is coming up November 16.
Kathy Myers reminded everyone to vote and asked for support of issue 30. She also said Coleman was hosting a webinar on November 8, additional information was on the tables.
Speaker: Larry Lohman introduced Shelter Box volunteers Karen Lapso and Josh Mohr.
Karen said the purpose of Shelter Box is to provide temporary shelters for people who have lost everything through natural disaster or combat. The shelter boxes include housing and the essential tools and supplies needed to help after a disaster. Some of the items could be solar lamps, mattresses and tools.
She said she has been deployed six times. She also said there are 14 global partners with Rotary sustaining Shelter Box.
She then described seven facts that we probably didn’t know about Shelter Box (SB).
- SB uses regional procurement
- One size doesn’t fit all. SB decides what is needed for each disaster.
- SB utilizes pre-positioned aide centers for faster response times.
- The aid might not come in a box.
- In 2017 SB established an operational office in the Philippines
- Working with partners around the world means getting the help out faster.
- The impact of SB is greater than the output.
SB functions through four principles: humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality.Karen said the organization is constantly learning about what and how they perform.
She gave examples of the aid being provided to Ukraine and the aftermath of the earthquake in Morocco.
Response was given by Bill Childers.
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