President Sunny Singh (Financial Services: Advising | PK Wealth Management) rang the Rotary bell, 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.
Meeting Volunteers
President Sunny thanked today's meeting volunteers: Scott Plakun (Management Consulting | The Plakun Group) for serving as scribe; Jim Patrick (Retail: Office Supplies | Patrick & Co.) for serving as photographer; Allan Herzog (Financial Services: Advising | Wells Fargo Advisors) for managing the microphone; Kirt Burdick of the Academy of Art University for managing the audio-visual equipment during our in-person meeting; Christopher Wiseman (Nonprofit Management | Glaucoma Research Foundation) for serving as Zoom Host; Emily Borland (Engineering, Architecture, and Construction | Emily Borland Specifications), Tim Hornbecker (Nonprofit Management | Retired, The Arc CA) and Clifford Phillips (The Arc San Francisco) for serving as greeters; and Assistant Governor David Dye (Management Consulting | Retired) for doing check-in at the Hotel Nikko.
Visiting Rotarians and Guests
Today's Visiting Rotarians were District Governor-Elect Steve Wright from the Rotary Club of Pacifica, Ron Albert (Past President of the Rotary Club of Sausalito), Susan Dean (President-Elect of the Rotary Club of San Francisco Chinatown and past member of our Club), Jackie Cormier from the Rotary Club of Novato, David Alfon (President-Elect of the Rotary Club of San Francisco Evening), and Gabriela Lobo (President-Elect Nominee of the Rotary Club of San Francisco Evening). Our speakers were Dr. Elias Farah, Dr. Danna Kurtin, and Rev. Nicholas Porter.
Club Visioning
Past President and PDG Eric Schmautz (Banking: Management | Retired) announced the upcoming Club Visioning event, where a diverse group of Club members will discuss what they think our Club should look like in the future including what we should be doing as a Club and how we see our membership evolving. Participation includes an informational Zoom meeting on July 13 and the Visioning event itself on July 20 at Rotary Terrace in South San Francisco. President-Elect Bob Hermann, Jr. (Information Technology: Administration | Retired) is reaching out to members to build a group of participants. If you are interested in participating, contact Eric before June 13.
Past President and PDG Eric Schmautz (Banking: Management | Retired) announced the upcoming Club Visioning event, where a diverse group of Club members will discuss what they think our Club should look like in the future including what we should be doing as a Club and how we see our membership evolving. Participation includes an informational Zoom meeting on July 13 and the Visioning event itself on July 20 at Rotary Terrace in South San Francisco. President-Elect Bob Hermann, Jr. (Information Technology: Administration | Retired) is reaching out to members to build a group of participants. If you are interested in participating, contact Eric before June 13.
Pet Appreciation EventAndrea Gung (Non-profit Administration | Duo Duo Project) invited us to participate in and/or sponsor the International Pet Appreciation Rally in Union Square on June 1. The rally is part of an international effort to end cruelty against dogs and cats, especially in China. Click here for more information
San Francisco Pride
Visiting Rotarians David and Gaby announced that our Rotary District 5150 is participating in the San Francisco Pride Parade and Celebration this year, with a booth on June 29 and 30, and a float in the parade on June 30. You can sign up to volunteer or sponsor this event here. All Rotarians and friends are encouraged to participate in the event, which will be big fun while making Rotary visible to the nearly one million people who will be part of this largest annual event in San Francisco. This is especially important to Laine Hendricks (Public Relations and Marketing | County of Marin), in part because the parade is being held on the last day of her term as District Governor.
Visiting Rotarians David and Gaby announced that our Rotary District 5150 is participating in the San Francisco Pride Parade and Celebration this year, with a booth on June 29 and 30, and a float in the parade on June 30. You can sign up to volunteer or sponsor this event here. All Rotarians and friends are encouraged to participate in the event, which will be big fun while making Rotary visible to the nearly one million people who will be part of this largest annual event in San Francisco. This is especially important to Laine Hendricks (Public Relations and Marketing | County of Marin), in part because the parade is being held on the last day of her term as District Governor.
Pictured are David Alfon, District Governor-Elect Steve Wright, and Gaby Lobo.
Recent Club Events
After President Sunny thanked Emily Borland and Elizabeth Valdez Driskill (Non Profit Administration | Catholic Charities) for organizing our service project at the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank on May 11, he showed his fabulous video of photos of many recent Club activities.
Upcoming Events
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) announced that Anita Stangl (Medical Services | Alliance for Smiles), who is successfully recovering from her recent medical challenges, has moved to the Jewish Home for rehabilitation. Anita would appreciate calls and visits. Maureen also announced that our speaker at our June 4 luncheon meeting will be D’Arcy Drollinger, the first Drag Laureate of San Francisco.
- Tim Hornbecker was happy to announce that he’s still alive and well on the day before another birthday, and after more than 40 years in Rotary. We sang Happy Birthday to Tim.
- Andrea Gung announced that she had a copy of the flyer for her upcoming event that people could take pictures of.
- President-Elect Nominee Frank Yoke III (Development | Serra Residential Center, Inc.) donated in appreciation of the good work of Jerusalem Peace Builders, our featured program for the day.
- Eric Schmautz was proud to report that daughters Molly and Katie participated in a Lapathon. Molly went 2.7K in an hour. Eric thanked the Club members who supported the girls at this event.
- David Alfon invited us all to visit the Rotary Club of San Francisco Evening.
Guest Speaker
President-Elect Frank Yoke introduced Dr. Elias Farah, Dr. Danna Kurtin, and Rev. Nicholas Porter, who gave an interesting presentation about the work of Jerusalem Peace Builders, with a focus on the part of their work that our Club is supporting as the International Sponsor of a Global Grant from the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International.
After recounting the frightening experience of having been in Israel during the attack on October 7, Nicholas gave us an overview of the work of JPB, starting with a quote from Tolstoy: “Everybody wants to change the world, but nobody wants to change themselves.” He pointed out how this relates to the complex set of issues in and around Israel.
JPB works in a variety of ways to bring peace to the troubled Middle East. Their EXCEL program supported by the Global Grant teaches peacebuilding skills to Jewish and Arab residents of Israel, including high school students and teachers of English, through a variety of experiential learning programs. Started with 11 teenagers in 2011, the program now has 140 teachers who impact 14,000 students every year. This is the core of what is becoming an exponential growth in awareness about how to build peace in the area.
President Sunny thanked Dr. Elias Farah, Dr. Danna Kurtin, and Rev. Nicholas Porter and announced that 100 children would be inoculated against polio in their name.
The meeting concluded at 1:30 PM.