Posted by Dora Dye on Sep 10, 2020
President JT Harold Forbus (Accounting | Bogdan & Frasco) celebrated International Literacy Day today. This day was founded by proclamation of The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and is in line with one of the areas of focus of Rotary International - supporting education and literacy. International Literacy Day has been celebrated on September 8 every year since 1967.
 
In today's meeting, President JT led us virtually to a dining room on the beach in Jamaica. He welcomed guest Kevin Schaefer, the father of member Neeraj Miglani (Hospitality: Restaurants | Zingari Ristorante), prospective member Liam Sheridan, Gwyneth Borden (today's speaker) and all members of our Club in attendance. Lynn Luckow (Development | LikeMinded.org) introduced Harmony Ma (pictured), the new Action Leadership Program for Students (ALPS) Program Manager.
 
Rotary Moment
President JT shared items handed down to him from some of our Club's past presidents. The items included thumb drives filled with historical documents, a RYLA flashlight, and a book with the Four-Way Test. There were also some memories from Camp Enterprise, and both Tim Hornbecker (Nonprofit Management | Retired) and Anita Stangl (Medical Services | Alliance for Smiles) provided some history on this Camp to the audience.
 
ALPS
Dan Joraanstad (Financial Services: Advising | Retired), president of the San Francisco Rotary Foundation, presented a $20,000 grant to the ALPS Program. Lynn Luckow accepted on behalf of ALPS and highlighted one of ALPS' projects with a group called the Bored Bread Heads. The audience watched a video clip of the work of this group to see how the project has enriched not only the participants including Rotarians, but the community as well. 
 
$20 for Twenty Seconds
Those pledging today included: 
  • Anita Stangl (Medical Services | Alliance for Smiles) to remind everyone to participate in the Alliance for Smiles Pet Project.​​​​​​
  • John Mathers (Management Consulting | eVo Associates) who was happy that the Rotary Climate Action Team and the Environmental Sustainability Rotarian Action Group are working together.
  • Lynn Luckow who donated to celebrate the new ALPS Program Manager Harmony Ma. Joining Lynn to celebrate Harmony's arrival were Sally Swanson (Engineering, Architecture, and Construction | Sally Swanson Architects), Lisa Christian (Development | Community Housing Partnership), and President JT.
Guest Speaker
Neeraj Miglani introduced today's speaker, Gwyneth Borden, and explained how they had met. Gwyneth is Founder of Ground Floor Experiences, LLC, a consultancy focused on restaurants, strategic advice, and thought leadership. She gave an overview of the negative impact of COVID-19 on the restaurant industry. Restaurants forced to do takeout alone were struggling and then also had to pay hefty delivery fees. The move to outdoor dining helped a bit, but the restaurant industry really needs indoor dining to return. Said Gwyneth, "To survive, many restaurants will have to come up with a new model and yes, the customers will have to pay more for a meal at a restaurant." President JT thanked Gwyneth and announced that 100 children would be inoculated against polio in her name.
 
The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 p.m.