Rotareminder for Sept. 12, 2023
The meeting began with the KSU Fight Song, led by Sandy Roeger, and an invocation by Mark Pennell. There were no visiting Rotarians, but Robin Lash, General Counsel of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, who is very interested in joining the Rotary Club.
Kathy Scott, principal of Stanton Middle School, introduced the student of the month, Ava Elliott. Ava is an eighth grade student at Stanton, and she's got an entrepreneurial spirit. “Ava and two of her friends decided they wanted to make their own money. So they started a baking business. They went door to door in their neighborhood and even offered pre-orders for their baked goods. This year they decided to take some of their profits and purchase school supplies to help out their community. They donated the supplies to the Kent Police Department or the Kent Police Department and Social Services’ fifth annual school supply drive.” Ava is already taking high school credit classes and wants to be a teacher like her mom.
Kathy Myers announced that Coleman Health Services’ fall fundraising event, Changing Destinies, would be held Thursday. Another fundraiser, Pints to End Polio, will be held at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 19 at Madcap Brew Co. The Sept. 19 Tap Talks at North Water Brewing Company will be about Davey Tree’s new SEED project..
Amanda Senn introduced Mary Beth Harper as this week’s speaker, continuing her program, Friendship by the Books, treating topics around friendship and wellbeing. This week’s program dealt specifically with loneliness and the ways a lack of meaningful connections with others can damage your health. Mary Beth shared tips and insights from the book, “Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World,” by Dr. Vivek Hallegere Murthy, a former U.S. Surgeon General.
“According to a recent Harvard study, one in three adults over the age of 45 are lonely,” Mary Beth said. “So among older adults, social isolation has been linked to an increased risk of dementia, and heart disease. It's also considered a root cause of many worldwide epidemics, from alcoholism, to drug addiction, to violence to depression, and anxiety.”
Mary Beth shared some advice to maintain human connections. Here are a few of her tips:
1. First, it’s important to simply acknowledge the vital need that all humans have for social connection. “Just as hunger and thirst are the body's way of telling us we need to eat, we need to drink. If we feel lonely, that's a natural signal that we need to connect with other people. But you have to admit, it's much more acceptable to say to folks, ‘I'm hungry’ than to say ‘I'm lonely.’”
2. Spend 15 minutes per day reaching out to people you care about. Texting or calling is great. Mary Beth keeps a calendar of people she needs to call.
3. Extend kindness to people around you. Say hello while standing in line at the store, or strike up a conversation with your neighbor at the mailbox.
4. Don’t wait for the perfect moment to make a connection. If you get an invitation, take it. Make an effort to put yourself out there, even when you feel like you don’t have the energy. If you say no, they might not call again.
5. Another idea is to find ways to help, such as volunteering or offering to give someone a ride.
The time to start reaching out to old friends or making new ones is right now.
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