President Jimmy Collins rang the bell promptly at 12:30 PM at the Westin and online. He introduced Raymond Tymas-Jones, to lead the day’s song, accompanied by Freeman Fong on the piano. Nancy Cahill followed with the day’s inspiration: Words have power - How do they impact speakers and those who are listening? We are empowered to forgive and heal with our words. We should focus on the words that build others up. Don’t get lost in the noise.
President Jimmy acknowledged the recent memorial ceremony at the Naval Academy in Annapolis for Rotarian and Admiral, Tom Hayward, who recently passed.
Program Committee Chair, David Fain, introduced the day’s featured speaker, U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, Chaveso “Chevy” Cook, Ph.D. co-founder of Military Mentors, that was founded in 2015 to improve the quality of leaders within the military by connecting military leaders to the tools and professional contacts they need to succeed.
Col. Cook began with a reflection on Memorial Day: “As the flag continues to wave, it is because of those last breaths of service men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice”.
He described the important distinction between Memorial Day in May, that recognizes service members lost in action; and Veteran’s Day in November that acknowledges all veterans and their service to the U.S. Memorial Day weekend is about sacrifice, as he described how his 2006 West Point class lost many members in combat and from suicide. “There time was so abruptly cut short,” he said.
Military Mentors started as a non-profit to foster the relationship between service to our country and community service. “We want to educate, elevate and facilitate how military personnel enter the community at large, he said. Lt. Col. Cook’s education includes USMA (B.S. Psychology), the University of Texas-El Paso (M.A. Leadership Development), and Columbia University (M.A. Organizational Psychology). He recently earned his Doctorate at Tufts University, on Human Development, particularly the formation of character.
“Lessons learned while in service to the country can be applied to civilian life,” he continued, “by working with veterans to help them succeed.” His organization conducts a six week program that requires a community service project -- support for a local school, food shelter, or materials for veterans.
He says “Mentorship is more important than leadership: Leaders are replaceable especially in the uniformed service because you have limited time to do that role then time to move on. In business leaders stay in jobs for 20-40 years. If you are a good mentor, you will leave a legacy that will be in a person’s life forever”.
The focus of Military Mentors is to bridge the military and civilian culture by assisting companies to understand the mindset of returning veterans. He contends that civilian culture may view returning veterans as somehow broken, distant – perhaps suffering from PTSD. His group aims to educate business leaders about the value of former military personnel.
He said the U.S. Army alone has about 500,000 men and women in uniform, with another 500,000 serving in other branches of the armed forces. He described a “curriculum revival” for the Military Mentors organization that starts with an inspiration of what a community could benefit from. “We ‘ide-ate’ to identify community needs by listening to the universe,” he said. Military Mentors serve as an incubator to get a project started.
He concluded with Military Mentors’ focus on time, talent and resources during a six month leadership development program. He asked Rotarians to pay-it-forward by connecting with a veteran.
John Steckler invited Rotarians to a tour of Seattle’s historic Lakeview Cemetery, led by attorney and historian Jared Steed. Lake View Cemetery Tour, Sunday, June 5, Lake View Cemetery, Seattle, WA, 12:30 PM, visit the website for details and RSVP to Doug Seto dougseto@comcast.net
Community Service Committee member, and president of Wellspring Family Services, Heather Fitzpatrick, invited Rotarians to a day of volunteer service on June 11, 9:30a to 3:30p, at their Family Resources Fair for homeless families. Need volunteers to help during all or part of the day.
Program Chair, David Fain, announced next week’s featured speaker, Kate Westbrook, Washington State Convention Center, who worked on the architecture for the expanded center.
Thank you to meeting reporter Pete DeLaunay for this week's report! Interested in writing meeting reports for future meetings? Contact Mary Goldie at mary@seattlerotary.org.