Rotarian of the Month: President David recognized John Mathers (Management Consulting; eVo Associates) as the May 2017 Rotarian of the Month. Beyond his role as President-elect, John has offered innovative insights to address club challenges, instituted a regular process of video recording luncheon programs, and routinely arrived early to help in any way needed to make the weekly meetings run smoothly.

 

New board members: President David announced that, at the May board meeting of the Rotary Club of San Francisco, a new board position was created: Vice President for Youth Services. Lynn Luckow (Development; LikeMinded.org) has been appointed to that board position. Additionally, the board selected Sacha Joshi (IT Services; Nimbus Systems) to serve the unexpired term for Vice President of International Service.

 

Presentations:

    

 

Recognitions and Celebrations: President David acknowledged Jim Emerson (Clergy (retired); Presbyterian) who had just turned 91. President David also presented a $100 check for Rotary Service given to him by Honorary Member Gene Lee (Retired). Gene, who will be turning 90 in July, has been dealing with some health problems, but he wanted to give a donation to the Club.

 

2017 Interact Scholarships Awarded: At the June 6 Rotary luncheon, our Club honored six talented high school leaders from the Interact Clubs it sponsors in San Francisco. Each winner received a framed certificate and a $1,000 scholarship toward his/her choice of higher education following high school graduation. Lowell High School Interact Club honorees were Sarah Hoang, Alexandra Lee, and Julienne Ng. George Washington High School Interact Club honorees were Vicki Chen, Ella Xiu Li, and Grace Zeng.

 

San Francisco Rotary Foundation: Anita Stangl (Non-profit Medical Services; Alliance for Smiles), president of the San Francisco Rotary Foundation, presented a check in the amount of $1,000 to Wayne Rash, president of the Rotary Club of San Francisco Castro in support of Rotary participation in the Pride Parade scheduled for June 25.

 

Anita introduced a new program for the Foundation's Endowment Fund. Club members will soon receive information about how to include the San Francisco Rotary Foundation in their estate plans.

Parker joined us on June 6, and his mentor is Kevin Waldeck (Financial Management; Morgan Stanley Investment Management). Parker found his way to Club #2 by way of our webpage as so many of our new members have. Both his office and home are fairly close to the Sir Francis Drake so our meetings are convenient.

 

Parker’s wife, Angella, and he have an 8-month-old son, Archer. His interests range from Krav Maga (a self-defense workshop) to speaking Korean (picked up when he lived there for a while) and serving as president of the Upper Polk Street Merchants Association. Here are some of Parker’s own words from his application which speak about himself and his values: “I want to become more ingrained in San Francisco; I want to know people wherever I go. I want to be known as someone who is out to make San Francisco a better place. I believe that Rotary #2 can help in that area, by introducing me to people who have the same goals, and letting me see how I can help in different areas of San Francisco.”

 

Member Moments: Major Raymond Erickson-King (Human Services; The Salvation Army) talked about his work at the Kroc Center. Joan Kroc, the widow of Ray Kroc and beneficiary of the fortune stemming from their ownership of McDonald's Hamburgers, left $1.8 billion to the Salvation Army and that money was divided into two parts. One part was to fund the construction of Kroc Centers, and the other half was to see to the ongoing annual budgets to run the 26 centers built across the nation. Kroc Centers are designed for the provision of: facilities, programs and services that encourage positive life-changing experiences for children and adults, strengthening for families, and life enrichment for seniors. Major Raymond runs the organization and keeps all the programs and people functioning and happy. He and his wife Jennifer live in Daly City. He was first a Rotarian in the Rotary Club of West Seattle.

 

Elisabeth Whitney (Non-profit Management) told us how her upbringing in rural Africa, where she and her family had to depend on themselves for medical care, inspired her to focus her career on non-profit health services. Until recently, Elisabeth was the Executive Director of Rotacare; she is now completing advanced studies in non-profit health care management. 

Past District Governor Donna-Lee Young Rubin doesn’t want to talk much about her life and career. Rather, she wants to focus on her passion for Rotary.

A native of Boston, Donna-Lee served as Governor of District 7930, which extends along the Eastern seaboard from Boston to Salem, NH, in 2001-02, the same year that Club member Peter Lagarias was Governor of District 5150.

Donna-Lee worked as a hospital administrator in Massachusetts for many years, then built on her avocation of collecting antiques and fine arts to open a gallery, which she ran in Andover, MA, for 15 years. After the death of her husband, Vince, a surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Donna-Lee moved west three years ago to become executive director, now CEO, of Rotaplast, which she had served as a board member and mission director. Under her leadership, Rotaplast has received a four-star rating from Charity Navigator for two consecutive years, the highest rating for nonprofits.

Donna-Lee says her proudest accomplishment as a hospital administrator was founding a women’s health center, which is still in operation. She is also very proud of all that she has accomplished in the Rotary world.

As District Governor, Donna-Lee chartered four new Clubs; started four Rotaract clubs in Boston, where there had been none; chartered 17 Interact clubs; had the highest Rotary Foundation giving in four zones; and increased membership in the District by 400, the highest in the world, for which she received an award at the RI convention in Barcelona in 2002. She also was named one of four Most Distinguished Governors, and the only woman, by RI President Richard A. King, for which she received a globe with each country set in semi-precious stones.

 

Following her year as District Governor, Donna-Lee held two positions, one in foundation giving and one in membership, for Zone 31-32, which comprises eastern Canada, the northeastern United States, New York and Bermuda. She also held two positions for TRF – Rotary Foundation Communique, through which she wrote things for TRF in multiple zones; and Foundation Coordinator for Zone 31, through which she set up TRF workshops and seminars in all the districts in the zone. In addition, she was a member of the faculty of the Rotary Leadership Institute and facilitator and trainer for multi-district PETS for several years.

“I love to teach!” she says. “I’m very enthusiastic about Rotary!”

For all these and many other accomplishments, Donna-Lee was awarded Rotary International’s Service Above Self Award and Four Avenues of Service Award. She is a multiple Paul Harris Fellow and a TRF major donor and benefactor. Her son, Eric, and 95-year-old mother, who live in Florida, are both Paul Harris Fellows, as was her late husband, who also was a TRF major donor.

Donna-Lee has attended 15 Rotary International Conventions and has been a keynote speaker internationally about TRF, membership, and Rotaplast at RI conventions, district conferences and zone meetings. She was a representative for RI President Jonathan Majiyagbe in 2003-04, speaking at district conferences in Canada and the US.

 

During her years in the Rotary Club of Andover, MA, which she joined in 1990, Donna-Lee had perfect attendance. But, “upon coming to San Francisco to lead and grow Rotaplast into the future, I have had to curtail my Rotary work. I hope that will change in the future.” Because she travels so much for Rotaplast, she hasn’t been able to attend the weekly meetings as much as she would like. “If I’m in town, I’m there.”

Donna-Lee writes poetry and is an artist in watercolors and oils. She owned a sailboat that she sailed up and down the East Coast and says she is an “avid golfer” and hopes to be able to join the Twilight Golf group soon.