President Sunny Singh (Financial Services: Advising | PK Wealth Management) called today's meeting to order at 12:15 PM and welcomed those online and those attending in person at the Anzu Restaurant in the Hotel Nikko. We welcomed President Sunny back from his European trip, and he expressed his joy for being back. President Sunny thanked President-Elect Bob Hermann (Information Technology: Administration | Retired UCSF) and President-Elect Nominee Frank Yoke (Development | Frank Yoke Consulting) for leading the February Club Meetings while he was traveling.
Today's Visiting Rotarian and Guests
Today's Visiting Rotarian was Joe Houston from Surigao in the Philippines. Today's speaker was Shellena Eskeridge from the Homeless Prenatal Program. Joining Shellena were Kristin Hatch and Arpana Vidyarthi. We also welcomed Iris Fluellen from the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank. Wendy Shew (Nonprofit Administration | Building Education) introduced her guest - Lauren Neumann. Rounding out today's guest list was LaCarre Ivy.
Membership Survey
Please take a moment to complete the survey described here.
Grant Presentations
Robin Azevedo (Retail: Mattresses | Retired, McRoskey Mattress Company) on behalf of the San Francisco Rotary Foundation presented three grants.
- The first was to Building Education in the amount of $2,500. Wendy Shew accepted and thanked the Club Foundation and our Club. She along with Lauren Neumann presented their progress in Nepal with their fourth school rebuild and invited all to visit Nepal from April 28 to May 29 with them.
- The next grant went to the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank in the amount of $10,000. Iris Fluellen from the Food Bank thanked us for our generosity. The audience was treated to a video recorded by Charlie Miles (Software Engineering | Charlie Miles Inc.) of the food bagging operation.
- The third grant went to the Homeless Prenatal Program (HPP) in the amount of $11,333. Shellena Eskeridge accepted on behalf of the HPP and spoke to our Club later in this meeting.
The San Francisco Rotary Foundation has $5 million in a trust and donates 4% of that amount each year. President Sunny reminded everyone that it is time to apply for grants. The deadline is March 22, 2024. See details here.
Rotarian of the Month
President Sunny announced that Larry Booth (Engineering: Mechanical | Frank M. Booth, Inc.) was the Rotarian of the Month for January 2024. Larry is the Chair of our Speakers' Committee and helps us often at our luncheons as scribe and wherever needed. Thank you and congratulations to Larry!
Upcoming Events and Calendar
Rick Harrell (Arts Therapy | Heroes' Voices) played guitar and sang Try to Remember. He invited Rotarians to attend a fundraiser for Heroes' Voices on April 7, 2024. For more information, please contact Rick. - Vice President of Community Service Emily Borland (Engineering, Architecture, and Construction | Emily Borland Specifications) announced that it is time for the Annual Bike Build. You do not need to be a highly trained mechanic to participate as all skill levels are wanted and needed. Sign up here.
- On March 26, 2024, join your fellow Rotarians around the Bay for a Bay Area baseball tradition: Battle of the Bay. See here for details and tickets.
- Check the Club's calendar for upcoming Committee meetings and service projects.
Share Your Good News ($20 for Twenty Seconds)
Thank you to the following who participated today and shared their good news:
- Maureen O’Shea (Governmental Relations | Retired) donated to thank Charlie Miles for sharing his videography skills.
- Charlie Miles donated to thank Maureen O'Shea and to share his harrowing bike trip to the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank to record the bagging operation. Thank goodness that he is in one piece!
- PE Bob Hermann donated to share his experience at the President-Elect Training Seminar (PETS) and to express that he is ready to take on the role as Club President.
- Mary Liu (Real Estate: Sales | JM Real Estate Group) donated to thank the Club for a very successful Lunar New Year celebration that netted $5,500.
- Dan Joraanstad (Financial Services: Advising | Retired) donated to wish Rhonda Poppen (Grant Writing | GRANTdog) and Bill Poppen (Banking: Management) success on their move to Sacramento. President Sunny invited everyone to attend the moving-away celebration for the Poppens.
Guest SpeakerRhonda Poppen introduced today’s speaker - Shellena Eskeridge from the HPP. Shellena is celebrating her one-year anniversary as the Executive Director and was pleased to expand our knowledge on the services offered at her organization.
HPP serves 3,500 families per year and is seeing an increase in service requests at the rate of 25% annually. While food insecurity is a problem, housing is the most important service that they provide. Their Jelani House currently has 17 rooms and 24-hour support, and they’re hoping to expand to 98 units of affordable housing with the help of Mercy Housing California. Their staff of 125 includes many graduates of their Community Health Worker Apprenticeship Program. Jim Patrick (Retail: Office Supplies | Patrick & Co.) commented on his visit to Jelani House for a baby shower and the profound effect it had on him.
Shellena also shared a success story where the HPP helped a Peruvian immigrant family with a high risk pregnancy that resulted in a healthy baby and housing for the family. She thanked us for our commitment, our time, and our support to make the HPP effective and caring.
President Sunny thanked Shellena Eskeridge and announced that 100 children would be inoculated against polio in her name.
The meeting concluded at 1:30 PM.
Meeting Volunteers
President Sunny thanked today's meeting volunteers: Larry Booth for serving as scribe; Jim Patrick for serving as photographer; Wendy Shew for managing the microphone; Kirt Burdick of the Academy of Art University for managing the audio-visual equipment during our in-person meeting; Dan Davies (Information Technology: Consulting | North American Lighting) for handling social media; Robin Azevedo for serving as greeter; Mary Liu for serving as Zoom host; and Gary Dales (Accounting | Fly Leasing) and Ozan Yasavur (Engineering: Mechanical | Bioforcetech Corporation) for doing check-in at the Hotel Nikko.