Rotareminder, April 16, 2024
President Asad called the meeting to order. Club members sang the National Anthem. Nelson Burns offered an invocation with themes attributed to St. Francis of Assisi. Club members sang, “April Showers,” with Dominique Bollenbacher doing a good job of leading even if, as she said, she did not know the song.
Guests: Guests introduced included: Jeff Miller and Hunter Morris, and little Rohan who at three months attended with her mother, Nithya Venkatarman. Dale Smith, a member of the Kent Club from 2010 to 2013, attended in his capacity as District Governor-elect coming from the Mentor Club. Dale was transferred from Kent to South Carolina in 2013 and remained an active Rotarian. He eventually went to work for Avery Dennis and transferred back to Ohio. He retired from Avery Dennis and Rotary is an important part of his volunteer commitments.
Announcements:
*Brad Ehrhart reminded club members that we have The Lord’s Lunch this Saturday at Trinity Lutheran Church. Brad was circulating a signup sheet, but will gladly accept volunteers this Saturday also.
*Larry Lohman, former district governor and former Kent Rotary president, reminded us that our District Conference is April 26 and 27 at Sheraton Suites in Cuyahoga Falls. If Kent Rotary has 15 members attending, our club will receive $100 for its foundation, he said.
*Kent Rotary Auction: Stacy Richardson reminded us that our club’s annual auction is Tuesday, April 23, at 6 pm at Bell Tower Brewery. She said members need to sign up online or in person to receive their QR code for bidding. Doors open at 6 pm.
*No regular meeting April 23. Because our auction is the evening of April 23, our club will not hold its regular luncheon meeting the same day, President Asad reminded us.
*Beckwith Orchards history. Doug Fuller said Tap Talks Tuesday April 16 would present Sally Beckwith who will talk about the history of Beckwith Orchards.
Happy Bucks:
Jim Myers donated $5 to mark the 69th wedding anniversary he and Sally are celebrating. Paul Organ donated because his son completed a half marathon in Philadelphia. Laing Kennedy donated because of the U.S. Hockey college championships. Rachel Kern donated because her son and daughter in the 8th grade are doing well academically. Nancy White donated because she has been hired as an adjunct professor of advertising. Tom Myers donated $2 to honor Jim and Sally. Carol Crimi donated $1 for Kathy Myers and another $1 for Nithya Venkataraman for bringing Rohan at 3 months to the meeting. Amanda Senn donated for her son, Davey, who received a sports award at the age 5 . Asad donated to honor his daughter who has led her 8th grade team in lacrosse. He said she has scored more goals than his son who also plays lacrosse for Roosevelt.
Kathy Scott, Newest Rotarian:
Superintendent Tom Larkin introduced our newest Rotarian, Kathy Scott, who is principal of Stanton Middle School. He said she graduated from Kent State in 1984 and immediately joined Kent Schools teaching elementary school in Longcoy for 25 years. In 2009, she moved to Stanton Middle School as assistant principal. She is active in the community serving on the board of Kent Social Services and the Portage County Clothing Bureau. President Asad welcomed her as the newest Rotarian in the world explaining there are 46,000 Rotary Clubs in the world where she will be welcome.
Hands of Gratitude: Our Program
Introduced by Kathy Myers, Matt Campana talked to us about his Hands of Gratitude company, a not for profit, that manufacturers customized prosthetic hands using 3D printing. He said he connects with companies that want their employs in retreats to engage in team building by undertaking exercises that benefit society. Participants manufacture the hands and his company partners with nonprofits and other organizations that distribute the hands. Matt showed video testimonies of recipients receiving their hands and using them practically with no training. Matt said he got the idea to start his company after working in companies that did retreat exercises for employees that built interpersonal skills and teams. He discovered a worldwide need for prosthetic hands and that people using 3D printing could build the hands customizing their sizes. He said he holds employee retreats for large companies who create hands doing team building in the process. Participants have been including Google, Cleveland Clinic, Merck, YouTube, FedEx, Facebook, and Stryker. His company also partners with universities and colleges that want to do teambuilding for their students and other organizations. Prosthetic hand functions are limited to closing and opening, but as the technology improves so will the hands. Even limited functionality seems like a miracle to those receiving the hands, Matt said. Those building the hands include in their donation a card or video message personalizing their gift for the recipient. Matt’s company distributes the hands for free through charitable organizations in countries, where charity supplements inadequate health services in places like the Dominican Republic, countries in Central America, Malaysia, Kyrgyzstan, Ghana, and India. Dave Myers provided the response.
Respectfully submitted:
David Dix
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