Mountain View Rotary Club
Meeting Summary by Bruce
March 5, 2019
President Bert Raphael welcomed everyone to the meeting. Our Rotary International theme for this year is “Be the Inspiration.” Our Mountain View Rotary Club theme is “Have Fun Being the Inspiration.”
Jim Cunningham led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Thought for the Day: Bruce offered some quotes about Spring Training and the start of this year’s baseball season.
Joke of the Week: Bert gave us a history lesson about “Knock, Knock” jokes. It seems that the person who discovered them won a “NoBell” prize.
President Elect Tom introduced several guests who were visiting today:
Sofia Baryshera
Nataliie Vert
Sergio Criollo
Cathy Merrill
Maithili Shinde
Veronica Jacob
Nirrvana Nworide
Announcements
Thanks to Bruce for being our 4-fer today.
Crab feed report: Alan stated that we are very close to a $18,000 profit.
Polio Flash Campaign begins now—Monique talked about the campaign which is asking for a $50 donation from each member. The Gates Foundation will match all donations two to one. Checks need to be made out to the Rotary Foundation.
Sign up for Club social at Monique’s house on March 26th.
District Training Assembly on April 6th. This is for new members and future Club Officers. It is free to attend as the Club pays for all costs.
District Conference is May 17th to 19th on the Hornet in Alameda.
Jack has put together March Madness 50/50 brackets. The winner takes 50% and the remaining 50% goes to the Club’s Endowment.
Vocational Talk: Sanjay gave a very inspiring Vocational talk about his experiences working in Silicon Valley and how things have evolved since he started.
Speaker
Tom introduced our speaker, Evelyne Keomian. Evelyne was born and raised in Ivory Coast, West Africa. She was a little girl who was not given much chance at education and became a teen mom at the age of 16. At a very young age, she understands first-hand what it meant to live in poverty, to go hungry and be unable to go to school. She recognized early on that without a good education her options would be limited. Evelyne taught herself how to read, and when she grew older she was able to attend night school. She moved to the United States at the age of 26 where she continued her education.
In 2017 she founded the Karat School Project a direct service nonprofit organization with a mission is to provide education, meals, and other urgently needed necessities to children and women living in extreme poverty in the Ivory Coast. It is currently a 501c3 charity. The program started with 250 children teaching them reading and writing and providing meals. In 2018, a full time education center was opened.
The program has the following needs and they are looking for monthly donors:
Running water at $2,500
Meals 287 x 17
School supplies $500
Future Schedule:
March 12: Southern District 5170 Speech Contest
March 19: Diana Russell, a co-founder of the Silicon Valley North Chapter of Citizens' Climate Lobby.
March 26: Evening social at Monique’s (Sign up!)
Remember…“ Have Fun Being the Inspiration!”