LUNCHEON MEETING HIGHLIGHTS February 7, 2023: Jack McBrayer

Immediate Past President Mary Liu (Real Estate: Sales | JM Real Estate Group) opened the meeting. President Christopher Wiseman (Nonprofit Management | Glaucoma Research Foundation) was under the weather and participated via Zoom. After Immediate Past President Mary made opening remarks, Past President JT Forbus (Accounting | Bogdan & Frasco) took over the helm and ran today's meeting held online and in person inside the Anzu Restaurant at the Hotel Nikko.

 

We had two visiting Rotarians: Melissa Cross - past president of the Rotary Club of San Francisco Evening and Joel Valdez from the Rotary Club of Manila. Joel and Past President JT exchanged Rotary flags. Joel told the audience that his Rotary club is 104 years old and the largest in Asia. Anita Stangl (Medical Services | Alliance for Smiles) introduced her guest - Andrea Gung of the Duo Duo Project, whose mission is to end the dog and cat meat trade in China. Maureen O'Shea (Governmental Relations | Retired) introduced her guest - Alicia Tos of the Smuin Contemporary Ballet. Other guests were Stephen DeLay, Jennie Held, and today's speaker - Jack McBrayer.

 

 

Meagan Mod Thibodeaux

 

Tom Brunner (Nonprofit Management | Glaucoma Research Foundation) thanked Club members for supporting and volunteering at the Glaucoma Research Foundation Gala. It was one of their most successful fundraisers to date and a good time was had by all.

President-Elect Sunny Singh (Financial Services: Advising | PK Wealth Management) gave an update on the grant review process. The San Francisco Rotary Foundation is slated to grant at least $194,851 in the 2023-24 Rotary year. The deadline to submit a grant application is April 7, 2023—no exceptions! Application and additional information are found here.

 

The Committees in our Club have until April 19, 2023 to submit recommendations to President-Elect Sunny on how to allocate the funds. President-Elect Sunny will then present these recommendations to the Club's Board. The Board will review and forward the final recommendations to the San Francisco Rotary Foundation.

 

Vice President of Community Service Emily Borland (Engineering, Architecture, and Construction | Emily Borland Specifications) sought interest for funding and distributing solar glasses to view the eclipses mentioned by Andrew Fraknoi, who was last week's guest speaker. There will be an eclipse on October 14, 2023 and another one on April 8, 2024, both expected to be visible here in the Bay Area. If you are interested in learning more about Emily's proposal, please contact Emily.

 

Club Events: Check the Club's calendar for upcoming meetings and service projects for February 2023. 

 

District Assembly: Past President JT invited everyone to attend the 2023 District Assembly on March 25, 2023 to cheer for President-Elect Sunny Singh as he begins his year as our Club's President.

 

District Conference: If you have not already registered, there is still time to register for the 2023 District 5150 Conference to be held in Monterey, CA from April 28 through April 30, 2023.

 

On February 6, 2023, a 7.8 earthquake struck southern and central Turkey and western Syria. Club Member Ozan Yasavur (Engineering: Mechanical | Bioforcetech Corporation) somberly spoke of the devastation and expressed concern for his home country, friends, and family who were affected. The latest statistics are that over 20,000 have died and many are hurt and still waiting to be rescued from the rubble and the bitterly cold winter weather. 

 

Rotary International responded immediately to this tragedy. Read the full story here. After Ozan pledged funds for relief efforts, 25 other members pledged financial support as well. Past President JT added that Shelter Box, a relief organization who partners with Rotary to provide emergency shelter for natural disasters, had been deployed to Turkey in an effort to provide temporary housing for those in need.

 

Guest Speaker
Larry Booth (Engineering: Mechanical | Frank M. Booth, Inc.) introduced today's speaker - Jack McBrayer. Jack was born in Macon, Georgia and later moved to Chicago to try his hand at improv comedy, where he met Tina Fey. When Tina later created her show 30 Rock, she wrote character Kenneth Parcell specifically for Jack. Jack has also appeared on a number of television shows and movies, including Arrested Development, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The Big Bang Theory, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. He has also done voice-over work for a number of animated movies and TV shows.

 

In 2021 Jack’s latest show, Hello, Jack! The Kindness Show, premiered on AppleTV+. Geared toward young children, Jack wanted to create a show in order to set examples of kindness, compassion, empathy, and understanding after witnessing bad behavior by adults. The curriculum focuses on the three “C”s: Connect, Care, and Cascade of Kindness. Jack discussed the many collaborations required to produce such a show and the joy that he gets from promoting kindness to people of all ages.

 

In November 2022, Jack was presented the “Good Sam” award from the Rotary Club of Los Angeles for his good work in the community. Past President JT thanked Jack McBrayer and announced that 100 children would be inoculated against polio in his name.