President Bob Hermann, Jr. (Information Technology: Administration | Retired) rang the Rotary bell at 12:15 PM. Almost 40 people sat down to enjoy a meal and a jam-packed agenda either at the Anzu Restaurant in the Hotel Nikko or online.
Visiting Rotarian and Guests
Today's Visiting Rotarian was Carmen Coll from the Rotary Club of Riom-Chatelguyon Puy de Dome in France. Carmen and President Bob exchanged Rotary flags. Barbara Streett (Nonprofit Administration | The Arc San Francisco) introduced her guests: Jonathan Doty and Esther Landau. Other guests included Anil Bhargava, Daniel Descola, Abbey Strabala, and Brent Cunningham. Our speaker was Rachel Kamen.
Thought of the Day
Wendy Shew (Nonprofit Administration | Building Education) read today's Thought of the Day by T.S. Eliot: "Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go."
EREY Spin the Wheel
The first winner of the Every Rotarian Every Year Spin the Wheel contest was Mark Calender (Insurance: Services | Calender-Robinson). Mark received $25.
Paul Harris Fellow Recognitions
President Bob shared who Paul Harris was. Paul had founded Rotary International in Chicago with a vision that a group of business professionals could help each other by helping others through service. Since 1905, Rotary International has grown to 200 countries and 46,000 clubs and serves the world through seven Areas of Focus:
- Peace Building and Conflict Prevention
- Disease Prevention and Treatment
- Water and Sanitation
- Maternal and Child Health
- Basic Education and Literacy
- Community and Economic Development
- Environmental Protection.
The Paul Harris Fellow recognition acknowledges individuals who contribute, or who have contributions made in their name, in increments of $1,000 to The Rotary Foundation. President Bob recognized the following Club members who had earned a Paul Harris Fellowship recently:
Grant Presentation to The Arc San Francisco
On behalf of our Club and our Club's Foundation, Immediate Past President Sunny Singh (Financial Services: Advising | PK Wealth Management) presented a check in the amount of $16,000 to The Arc San Francisco to support their Entrepreneurship Program. On hand to accept the check were Barbara Streett, Esther Landau, Jonathan Doty, and Clifford Phillips (The Arc San Francisco).
Jonathan Doty, Clifford Phillips, Sunny Singh, Esther Landau, Barbara Streett, and President Bob Hermann
Past and Upcoming Events
- Burning Man: Three members of our Club — Sunny Singh, Margaret Miley, and Jessica Hansen (Nonprofit Management | Alliance for Smiles) — ventured into the Nevada heat and desert. Calling it a life-changing experience, they shared their photos and stories. Jessica was the very experienced Burner of this group.
Jessica Hansen, Sunny Singh, and Margaret Miley
- Social Events: President Bob thanked Merve Yasavur (Information Technology: Computer Science) for hosting the recent Vive La France Wine Tasting and Rick Harrell (Arts Therapy | Heroes' Voices) for the song fest of American musical favorites.
- Service Projects: Our most recent service projects included bagging and boxing food at the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank and bagging clothing and items for distribution by the Homeless Prenatal Program to expectant mothers. Our Club has supported both of these community service organizations for many years.
Check the Club's calendar for upcoming meetings and events.
New Member InductedPresident Bob invited Vice President of Membership Margaret Miley (Hospitality: Hotels | Retired) to lead the induction of our newest member. Margaret introduced Munkhbaatar "Mugi" Begzjav (Govermental Relations | Consulate General of Mongolia). The Club gave a warm welcome to Mugi.
Environmental Project
Rotary District 5150 is inviting Rotarians and their clubs to submit an initiative focused on environmental sustainability. So far, there has been a lot of interest from our Club and other clubs. Click here for details and application. The deadline to apply is TODAY, September 15, 2024.
Guest SpeakerRachel Donovan (Engineering: Civil | California Department of Transportation) introduced today's speaker — Rachel Kamen, Public Affairs Manager for Waymo. We were all interested in what she had to say. At least ten people at today's luncheon had used Waymo’s autonomous service as transportation, and most seemed to like it.
Waymo LLC is an American autonomous driving technology company headquartered in Mountain View, CA and is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. They’re on a mission to be the world's most trusted driver, making it safer, more accessible, and more sustainable to get around — without the need for anyone in the driver’s seat. Founded in SF Waymo drivers (cars) are available in San Francisco, Daly City, Broadmoor, Colma, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Austin. They’re very community-oriented and currently help a local non-profit deliver 30 meals every Wednesday to LGBQ seniors. Their ongoing goals are to lower fatalities and provide safer transportation. They are not looking to eliminate jobs but rather to offer choices and accessibility to places, creating safer rides. Their autonomous technology gives people a new kind of freedom — to go where they want, when they want, while making the frustrations and concerns with driving a thing of the past. It sounds tempting. Try a Waymo next time you want a no worry ride across town.
President Bob thanked Rachel Kamen and announced that 100 children would be inoculated against polio in her name.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 PM.
Meeting Volunteers
President Bob thanked today's meeting volunteers: Cecile Chiquette (Accounting | Retired) for serving as volunteer coordinator; Robin Azevedo (Retail: Mattresses | Retired, McRoskey Mattress Company) for serving as scribe; Jim Patrick (Retail: Office Supplies | Patrick & Co.) 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; Lynn Luckow (Development | LikeMinded.org) for serving as Zoom Host; President-Elect Frank Yoke III (Development | Serra Residential Center, Inc.), Margaret Miley, Speakers Committee Chair Larry Booth (Engineering: Mechanical | Frank M. Booth, Inc.), and Vice President of Development Maureen O'Shea (Governmental Relations | Retired) for serving as greeters; and Gary Dales (Accounting | Fly Leasing) for doing check-in at the Hotel Nikko.