The Rotary Club of Kirkland held a virtual meeting via the Zoom platform on December 11 2023.
President Gary Cohn called the meeting to order at 6:15 p.m.
Attending were Pete Anderson, David Aubry, Bob Auslander, Rich Bergdahl, Michelle Cazeau, Gary Cohn, Terry Cole, Donald Dicks, Sandi Ekins (Honorary), Rashmi Garimella, Margie Glenn, Isabelle Kalisa, Kate Koslosky, Jim Meniketti, Amy Mutal, Rick Ostrander, Joanne Primavera, John Pruitt, Steve Shinstrom, Patti Smith, John Storbeck, and Rick Walter.
Pres. Gary led us in the pledge, and then told us a bit about the history of the Pledge of Allegiance; it was first published in 1892.
Guests: Pres. Gary introduced Lori Walker, a member of Seattle 4 Rotary Club, and greeted our speaker, Dietra Clayton.
Inspirational/Rotary Minute: Rick Walter told us about Jean-Luc Picard of the new Star Trek series. Capt. Picard about the nature of time – it is more important how we live than what legacy we leave behind.
Announcements:
Pres. Gary reminded that with the holidays, there will only be one meeting in January. Because the first and third Mondays are holidays, and the fourth and fifth Mondays are bye weeks, the second Monday of the month, January 8, will be an in-person meeting.
December 18 is the Holiday Gala and gift wrapping party at St John’s Episcopal Church on State Street in Kirkland. Sign up by tomorrow, Dec. 12! Shopping for the items to wrap will be Saturday, December 16. Contact Jim Meniketti to participate.
The Valentine’s dinner will be February 12, 2024, and will take the place of a virtual meeting. Registration will be open soon on the club’s website.
Visiting Rotarian Lori Walker told us that her club is doing a Focus on Reading for kids. Kids who do not read tend to have far more problems in life than those who do. Reading opens up a world of possibilities that can change a young person’s view of the options available as they go through life. COVID badly disrupted the process of kids’ learning. Seattle 4 is working with the Seattle School District and non-profits to try to close the gap. On January 23, from 4 – 6 p.m. at the Seattle Central Library, there will be a screening of a documentary film about adult illiteracy. Following this, there will be a discussion about how these issues can be addressed locally. She invited area Rotarians to attend.
Committee Reports:
Pete Anderson reported he will be meeting again with the Lake Washington School District to finalize a date and site for the Rummage Sale.
Jim Meniketti reported that Holiday Shoppers will have a short meeting December 12, 1 p.m., at Banner Bank in Kirkland to finalize plans for Saturday’s holiday shopping for our John Muir Elementary School families. The school counselor has now provided us with a list of the folks we will be buying for.
Rich Bergdahl reminded us that there is still time to make a donation to the Rotary International Foundation for this tax year.
President Gary reminded us about the proposed Rotary Club of Kirkland Bylaws amendment that we all received by email, whereby a spouse or partner of a member who lives at the same address as the club member can become a club member at a reduced price. Rick Walter moved, and Don Dicks seconded that the change be approved. President Gary asked for questions or amendments – there were none. The motion carried unanimously. Pres. Gary also announced that were we also looking at an amendment to authorize online voting as a future possibility.
President Gary introduced Dietra Clayton, managing executive director of The Sophia Way/Helen’s Place, as our speaker.
The organization provides services on the eastside focused on women, shelter, and homelessness. This includes a number of services to assist these women in their struggle to build stable lives and to become more self-sufficient. She told us about some specific cases, and about building and financing the organization so that it is always able to provide the needed services. Financing, especially from branches of government, often does not cover all the facets needed to stay with the clients from start to finish.
The other issue is the rapidly rising cost of living in the area that complicates the task of stabilizing the clients’ lives, while making it very difficult to attract and retain staffers.
Ms. Clayton answered a number of questions, while detailing ways that club members can assist – everything from donating money and in-kind items, to teaching basic budget classes to assist clients in carefully managing their limited incomes.
There is concern that the dysfunction at the King County Regional Homeless Authority will negatively impact funding. There is also a real concern that once the county and the eastside cities integrate their services, funding for The Sophia Way/Helen’s Place will decline.
Pres. Gary thanked Don Dicks and Margie Glenn for their Happy Bucks contributions made outside of a specific meeting and via the website. We were reminded to make sure our Happy Dollars invoices have been paid.
The next in-person meeting will be December 18 at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Kirkland, where we’ll celebrate the holidays with our annual gift wrapping and holiday party, and hold our annual meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:06 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted
David Aubry, Acting Scribe