Posted by Brian Lan on Feb 20, 2019
President-elect Casey Blair led today’s meeting. He welcomed visiting Rotarians from Turkey (Istanbul) and Rwanda. We were joined by several prospective new members. A number of guests were also in attendance from the Glaucoma Research Foundation and The Arc San Francisco.
 
President-elect Casey recapped several events from the past week. The “Mix and Mingle” social at the Academy of Art Automobile Museum on January 31 was very successful, with over 30 members and guests enjoying an opportunity to socialize amidst classic cars. The Super Bowl Party at the home of Lilian Tsi-Stielstra (Insurance Services; Wells Fargo Advisors) was a wonderful event (even though the game was a defensive struggle).
 
Casey noted that the annual Rotary Club survey has been sent out to all members. Please take a moment to complete the survey and offer your feedback and suggestions.
 
President-elect Casey and President-elect Nominee JT Forbus (Accounting Service; Bogdan & Frasco) then highlighted several upcoming events:
  • 2/12: Emergency Services Day
  • 2/16: Rotary Meadow Workday on Mt. Sutro (behind UC Medical Center) 9:00 AM
  • 2/22: St. Ignatius Interact Club Charter Party—Academy of Art Automobile Museum
  • 2/26: Bowling Social at the Yerba Buena Bowling Center
  • 3/2: Volunteer Service Opportunity with RotaCare
  • 3/19: World Wide Rotary Day
Youth Services and Connectors Committees will meet after lunch.
 
Fred Marschner (Financial Planning; Northwestern Mutual) presented the final report on the Super Bowl Pool benefitting The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International (TRF). Congratulations to Carla Walter (Founder; Dance in the Spirit), Tom Briody (Elder Care; Institute on Aging), Jyoti Chokshi (Project Management; Talent Anywhere), Kevin Leong (Development; University of San Francisco), and Jim Patrick (Office Supplies; Patrick & Co.) for winning the pool. Each of the winners will receive a Paul Harris Fellow recognition (gift of $1,000) in their name to TRF. Fred expressed his thanks to John Mathers (Management Consulting; eVo Associates), Eric Schmautz (Banking Management; Wells Fargo), Dora Dye (Education; City College), and Scott Plakun (Management Consulting; The Plakun Group) for their assistance with the Super Bowl Pool. With 74 participants (including 8 members donating 10 squares or more), Fred indicated that the Club was able to raise $25,700 (easily beating our goal of $20,000). Thanks to everyone who participated!
 
In a generous show of support for the Club and TRF, Jim Patrick announced that since he has three grandchildren – but won only two Paul Harris Fellow awards in the Super Bowl Pool – he will donate another $1,000 to TRF in order to have a Paul Harris Fellow award for each of his grandchildren.
 
VP of International Service Sacha Shashi (Partner; Nimbus Systems) shared that the Club has received a Rotary “Global Grant” for its Indian water project. Sacha showed a brief video detailing the work which has been done. When completed later this year, the project will implement clean water filtration for several Indian communities in dire need.
 
Today’s Member Spotlight is Pat Gallagher (Development; Catholic Charities of San Francisco), who spoke briefly about herself and her family. She previously worked in commercial insurance before discovering her true calling in non-profit work. After working on various non-profit development teams, Pat is now the Chief Development Officer for Catholic Charities of San Francisco.
 
Those donating $20 or more included:
  • Lilian Tsi-Stielstra shared about the “Go Red for Women” campaign to help raise heart disease awareness, particularly among women. Lilian has been keeping a blog, and was recently invited to speak on a podcast sponsored by Women’s Radio Network.
  • Mark Enis (Asset Management; Open Key Group) announced the upcoming “People of Action” speaker series on April 4. This “Ted Talk”-style event is intended to engage young tech professionals and entrepreneurs
  • Tom Brunner (Non-profit Research; Glaucoma Research Foundation) shared that the Glaucoma Research Foundation (GRF) recently had its successful Glaucoma 360 Annual Fundraising Gala.
  • Chris Wiseman from GRF expressed his thanks to several Rotary Club members for their assistance with the GRF gala.
  • Jacy Cohen with The Arc San Francisco has been helping with the “Friends Like Me” program and thanked the Club for its continued support.
  • Marti Sullivan (Development; The Arc San Francisco) announced that The Arc San Francisco is hosting a Valentine’s Day event on February 14, and has set aside a complimentary table for Rotarians.
Today’s speaker is Barbara Engdahl, a retired medical social worker with over 40 years of experience. She spoke about taking a proactive approach to your health care, as an activated and informed patient. Barbara also addressed “death with dignity” and discussed the importance of completing an Advance Health Care Directive, which allows you to be in charge of your own end-of-life health care. She provided an overview of California’s Right to Die Law. Barbara also encouraged attendees to take steps to ensure that any treatments you receive – including if you become incapacitated – reflect your own life values and choices. Barbara has been a volunteer with the Compassion and Choices End of Life Counseling program, and she encouraged members to utilize the group’s website (www.compassionandchoices.org) for more information and resources.
 
The door prize was a bottle of champagne, won by Chris Wiseman.
 
 
Photos by Jyoti Chokshi (Project Management; Talent Anywhere)
Edited by John Dean (Dean Dispute Resolution)