We had a terrific program last week from Carina Van Vliet of the Cleveland Council on World Affairs. It was a good reminder for us to keep a global vision and embrace our roles as leaders who can help make connections here and around the world.
On Friday we had a wonderful evening kicking off the holidays for our club’s annual holiday party. Another big thank you to Rebekah Wright Kulis and her team that made it possible! We had a few distinguished guests including our District Governor Dave Jones and it was my pleasure and honor to present our Rotarian of the Year award to Amanda Senn!
We have three meetings this month before we take a short break for the holidays and the programs will be terrific! Thanks to Rachel Kerns and Nancy Whitehead for their work in lining them up. We will be off on December 27th and again on January 3 before returning on January 10th.
Guests included Linda Robinson, Carter Strang, and Anne Moneypenny.
Announcements:
Brad Ehrhart sent around a sign up sheet for volunteers to help with the cookie walk on 12/4.
Carol Crimi announced that there would be a friends of Cocoda trip to Central America next summer and if anyone has interest in making the trip to please see her for more information.
Bill Childers sent a sign up around for volunteers to help ring the bell and represent Rotary for the Salvation Army.
President Dave reminded everyone to participate in the Every Rotarian Every Year campaign.
Speaker notes:
Carina Van Vliet is the CEO of the Cleveland Council on World Affairs. She spoke on the importance of creating an environment of global engagement here in Northeast Ohio.
She said there was a lot of overlap between the missions of the CCWA and Rotary because they share the goal of promoting peace through understanding and cooperating with others around the world. She also pointed out that cities and regions that forge global ties are more resilient when faced with setbacks or downturns.
The CCWA focuses significantly on youth programming because future generations will inherit the social and economic infrastructure Northeast Ohio develops today. The programs are designed to increase kids' international competency and literacy. Those programs include model UN, international exchanges, training and professional development, as well as foreign speaker forums.
She said Northeast Ohio is a welcoming and diverse region. Diversity of thought breeds innovation. There are many organizations here that support and welcome immigrants and refugees. The Cleveland area has always been a magnet for people arriving from around the world, and it's important in an era of refugee crises to continue that legacy of welcoming. More diversity and global competency will help local businesses develop more competitive supply chains for example.
Van Vliet closed by talking about the ways Northeast Ohio is connected to global geopolitical issues. The pandemic illustrated this deeply, but another is climate change. She said that in the future Northeast Ohio is likely to become a climate refuge for many people who can no longer live in their home regions. Positioning ourselves to embrace that now would lead to rewards down the road. She said that because of our outsize impact as Americans, we can also have a large amount of influence on solving the climate crisis.
Information in this eBulletin comes primarily from the Rotareminder, board meeting minutes, and stories submitted by members.
If you have any Rotary stories, events or speaker information to benefit the Club, please submit it to info.rotarykentohio.org@gmail.com. We will add it to the next appropriate eBulletin.
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