Written By: Jay Lowden
On a glorious wet March afternoon, President John Lemmon (Knox, Lemmon & Anapolsky, LLP) called the meeting to order and quickly took care of the formalities, thanking his Jesuit High School Classmate, Gary Bazlen (Nicolaus Optical) for the wine reception; Jeff and Paul Stone (John O. Bronson Co./HUB Int'l) for playing the piano, and Dennis Cook (Cook Brown) and Gene Pendergast, Jr. (Wilke Fleury) for greeting everyone at the door.
Jay Lowden (YMCA of Superior California) provided a couple of quotes as the opening inspiration to set a tone for the speaker’s presentation on human trafficking.
Sergeant-at-Arms Callee Setzer (Setzer Forest Products) introduced several guests and prospective members, and a visiting Rotarian from Fresno.
Our meeting sponsor for the day, Dan Fenocchio (Cunningham Engineering), donated his time to Laine Himmelmann of Habitat for Humanity. Laine thanked the club for its involvement in a 2015 home construction project, and she updated the club on flourishing Habitat services including its home repair program.
It is always a good day when we welcome a new member to the Rotary Club of Sacramento! President John introduced Gerry Dabi as the newest member of the club. Gerry is a Compliance & Risk Manager with Golden Pacific Bank, and while John provided a nice detailed introduction about Gerry, the only items of importance this reporter heard were that Gerry is a SF Giant, 49er and Warriors fan. Gerry was sponsored by Virginia Varela (Golden Pacific Bank) and President John.
Steve Heath (Capitol Health Network), vice president of the club foundation, recognized Winston Eddy, MD for his first Paul Harris and Hugo Bogren for his fourth Paul Harris.
President John provided the club with a quick tutorial on Interact and Rotaract clubs. Interact Clubs are for 12-18 year olds, are usually located at a high school and are sponsored by local Rotary clubs. Every club does two projects per year, one for the school community and one for the international community. Rotarians serve as mentors for the clubs. Rotaract clubs are for 18-30 year olds, are typically located at a college campus, are self-governed and focus on community and international service. If you are interested in learning more about Interact or Roteract, or how we might start one of these clubs, please see President John.
After a few minutes of Rotary fellowship, it was time for announcements. Joe Grant (Vantage Points, LLC) gave a pitch for Brown Bag Day, which will be on April 10th. Past President Thom Gilbert talked about our annual Armed Forces Day and encouraged club members to share stories about themselves or a family member – with a focus on humor in uniform. If you have such a story for that day, please send it to Past President Thom along with a photo.
Joining President John in “Building Something Together” was Tanya Kravchuk, who made a gift in recognition of her success in the Social Venture Partners Fast Pitch program.
Tanya then introduced Ashlie Bryant, Co-Founder and President of 3 Strands Global, as our speaker of the day.
Ashlie shared the story of how 3 Strands Global was founded as the result of the abduction, rape and trafficking of her friend’s 17-year-old daughter from a Safeway parking lot in El Dorado Hills. Her friend’s daughter was eventually recovered, but Ashlie realized that if it could happen in El Dorado Hills it could happen anywhere. Her organization is focused on mobilizing the community to combat Human Trafficking. 40 million girls and boys worldwide are trafficked; all 50 states and 167 countries have reported incidents of human trafficking; and 100,000 victims in the USA have been trafficked. Sadly, Sacramento is ranked 6th in the nation, per capita, for trafficking. It is a $150 billion global industry and the 3rd largest criminal activity in the world. Labor trafficking and sex trafficking are the two predominant types and Ashlie provided examples of both.
3 Strands is dedicated to prevention education and reintegration programs. The past year they were involved with the passage of a state law mandating that teachers be trained and students be educated on human trafficking. She said, “An educated student is a protected student.”
Human Trafficking is modern day slavery and thank goodness for people such as Ashlie and organizations such as 3 Strands Global for bringing it to the consciousness of people throughout out state and nation.
Next week’s meeting will feature Sacramento writer Hoang Chi Truong, author of the acclaimed book TigerFish – a memoir of her Vietnam War childhood as the daughter of a South Vietnamese colonel, and her flight during the fall of Saigon to begin a new life in the United States.