President Rhonda Poppen opened the meeting by welcoming visiting Rotarians from Miami Springs, San Leandro, and China. A number of prospective new members were also in attendance.
President Rhonda invited several members to speak about recent events:
- Anita Stangl (Non-Profit Medical Services; Alliance for Smiles) shared about the Alliance for Smiles 15th Anniversary Gala on April 6. Anita spoke about the work of Alliance for Smiles in providing free cleft lip and cleft palate surgery around the world for needy children. She thanked the members of the Club who attended the gala and who have supported AFS in its critical work over the years.
- One of our newest members, Rachel Kantosky (Healthcare; UCSF Health), recently attended the Rotary People of Action–Impact Series, which hosted several guest “accidental entrepreneurs” who discussed social activism through technology. She noted that the guest speakers shared several important skills for success, including curiosity, learning, storytelling and connecting.
President Rhonda then highlighted various upcoming Club events, including:
- “Rotary 101” for new members of the Club, led by longtime member Jim Patrick (Office Supplies; Patrick & Co.) today after the meeting.
- The ARC “Friends Like Me” dinner on April 15.
- Remember the service project grant submission deadline is April 15—the applications MUST be submitted to the committee for approval.
- Bike Build on April 20.
- Bocce, Beverages and Bites on April 30.
- Rotary Four-Way Fest on May 17.
Rhonda then invited member Lily Muldoon (Physician; SF General) to share about her service project in Kenya. She has been working hard to rebuild a radio station on Mfangano Island. The station focuses on health education for the community. The radio station has received a $5,000 grant from the Club to aid in its operation, and has received grants from other Rotary and non-Rotary organizations. Lily shared updates from the project, and announced that Mfangano Island has even started a new Rotary Club of its own. Lily is looking for hands-on volunteers to assist her with this on-going project in November 2019. Please contact Lily at lilymuldoon@gmail.com for more information.
In honor of the Club’s 110th anniversary, Past President Jim Patrick shared some humorous anecdotes from the Club’s history. These included stories of golf outings to Pebble Beach, a Giants baseball gear raffle, and wild Christmas parties. Jim also cited the importance of the Four-Way Plaque located on Market Street, and donated $100 toward the cost of having the plaque polished. He also commended President Rhonda for her hard work and presented her with a plaque for doing a great job as Club President.Those participating in "Twenty for Twenty" included:
Sacha Shashi (Nimbus Systems LLC) announced a $100 donation to the Club, in honor of his father, whose medical condition has now stabilized. He offered special thanks to all of the volunteers who assisted him with World Wide Rotary Day. In turn, President Rhonda applauded Sacha for his hard work in making WWRD a great success.- Frequent Guest Jean Rosenbaum thanked Alliance for Smiles for their work repairing cleft palates and cleft lips. She noted that her own daughter was born with cleft lip.
- Guest Neeraj Miglani of Zingari Ristorante discussed CHEFS, which is a kitchen training program offered by Episcopal Community Services to the community. Working with local restaurants, CHEFS trains people for restaurant jobs. Neeraj noted that 10% of CHEFS’ proceeds are donated to the homeless.
- Anita Stangl donated $100 to the Club, and announced that it was her 32nd anniversary of Club membership. She thanked everyone for their ongoing support of all of her efforts, most notably Alliance for Smiles.
Speaker’s Presentation: Today’s speaker was Pam MacKinnon, Artistic Director of the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. She has won a Tony Award for her direction of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and has lived in San Francisco for the past year. Pam shared her passion for theater, and discussed her experiences as a freelance director. She discussed the history of ACT, as well as her vision for ACT as its new Artistic Director. She noted that upcoming ACT productions include the commission of several New American plays, as well as her production of Edward Albee’s Seascape.
President Rhonda thanked Pam for her thoughtful presentation, and announced that 100 children would be inoculated against polio in recognition of her presentation today.
Photos by Christian Kuhn (Peace Building - Roots of Peace)
Edited by John Dean (Attorney; Dean Dispute Resolution)