The Rotary Club of Skokie Valle is holding all meetings, including membership meetings, virtually. Committee meetings may meet via teleconference or video conference. We are following the guidance/directions of Rotary International, and all in-person meetings are cancelled until further notice.
Skokie Valley Club is following COVID 19 directions and guidelines given by Illinois Governor Pritzker and the Center for Desease Control (CDC).
JOIN US THIS COMING TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 15, 2020 FOR OUR WEEKLY VIRTUAL MEETING VIA ZOOM. MEETING RUNS FROM 12 NOON UNTIL 1:00 P.M.
AN INVITATION MEETING ID NUMBER & PASSWORD WILL BE SENT TO ALL CLUB MEMBERS VIA EMAIL. VISITING ROTARIANS WHO WANT TO ATTEND THE MEETING, PLEASE CONTACT JOHN JEKOT AT JOHN@GMPD.ORG TO RECEIVE YOUR ZOOM INVITATION LINK.
TO JOIN THE MEETING FOLLOW THESE STEPS:
IF DO NOT ALREADY HAVE ZOOM ON YOUR DEVICE CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL IT.
OPEN YOUR MEETING INVITATION EMAIL.
COPY OR JOT DOWN THE PASSWORD.
CLICK ON THE “JOIN ZOOM MEETING” WEB LINK.
PASTE OR WRITE THE PASSWORD, AND CLICK ON "CONTINUE".
CLUB MEMBERS, CHECK BELOW TO VIEW WHEN ITS YOUR TURN TO PROVIDE THE SPEAKER AND FUN & FROLIC
Rebecca Abraham RN, BSN from Acute on Chronic was our Guest Speaker at our weekly zoom meeting.
Acute on Chronic believes in educated guidance to cannabis, alternative therapies, supplemental treatments, and support navigating a complex health system. "We are here to provide clarity to cannabis and healthcare because we believe that access to treatment, evidence-based practice, healthcare equity, and defense of patient's rights are vital to your health and well being" said Rebecca. Acute on Chronic provides clients/patients with information and suggestions that are intended to assist obtain and use medical cannabis as well as other medical services. From a single assessment to ongoing support, they are ready to support you with all your cannabis questions as you investigate and become comfortable with this alternative
Rebecca Abraham, RN, BSN has worked in healthcare for 15 years. Rebecca has extensive experience in Emergency Medicine, Critical Care, Heart Failure, Surgical Services, and Case Management.
Rebecca was trained and has worked at some of the best academic medical centers in the country and is board certified in Critical Care Nursing. She is also proud to serve her community as a Board of Education Member for District 219 and has testified and lobbied for healthcare, patient safety, nursing, and cannabis policies on the municipal, state, and federal levels. Rebecca is an active National Nurses United (NNU) at large member. She has a certificate in Cannabis Nursing through the American Association of Cannabis Nurses.
Rebecca was formerly a board member (2015-2018) at Chicago Center for Music Education, a non-profit music school that serves the Chicagoland area. She also served as a board member (2015-2017) as well as a community advocate and in government relations for WeWill (formerly Mom+Baby), an organization that lobbied for women and family-friendly policies in Illinois. She currently serves on the Skokie Park District Outreach Committee, Skokie Family Services Commission and formerly the School District 73.5 Strategic Planning Committee. She was awarded a continuing education scholarship from National Nurses United to Rutgers University for a Master's degree in Global Women's Health Leadership. In 2015 she was awarded the Illinois Nurses Association 40 under 40 Leaders in Nursing Award, and was a scholarship winner for the 2012 Nurse in Washington Lobbyist Internship. Rebecca remains an active member of the American Association of Cannabis Nurses, Patient Advocacy Alliance, and Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honor Society.
WEEK 11 FOUNDATION MINUTE – EARLY READING = HEAD START
Several years ago, one of our District’s Rotarians participated in a Friendship Exchange in South Africa. During this visit, she participated in a Literacy project by the East London Rotary Club, which focused on ensuring that childcare workers and grandmothers not only watched the youngsters under their care, but actually read to them – early and often. This emphasis on VERY early literacy in children – from birth – reinforced the concept that the more words children hear, see, and understand, the better and stronger their vocabulary becomes, supporting reading readiness for school.
This Rotarian shared her experience with her club – whose members were ready to broaden their local service projects to something new. Coincidentally, a presentation by the Lake County United Way to the club reinforced the importance of early reading to success in the county’s schools. Conversations with local organizations assisting lower income residents explored ways to bring books to families who may not have access to using local libraries.
A Literacy initiative for Lake County families is being launched to provide books to young children – from birth to age 5. The club’s Literacy committee has designed a program to encourage older children, parents and caregivers to read books to young children starting at birth. Age appropriate books (1-3 and 3-5-year-olds) are distributed through local food distribution sites and neighborhood centers, directly to the families who need it most. Bilingual messaging reinforces the fact that reading books to youngsters from birth until Kindergarten will give them a head start in reading, word development and ultimately success in school.
ROTARY YOUTH EXCHANGE — one of the many programs for youths and young adults that we celebrate this month — was my path into true engagement in Rotary. My wife, Susanne, and I began hosting exchange students soon after I joined, and the experience helped me go from simply being a member of my Rotary club to being a true Rotarian. Now Rotary Youth Exchange is a family tradition, and a strong one: Over the past 24 years, we have hosted 43 students!
From the start, we loved it so much that, in addition to hosting students in our home, we became involved with the program by helping to organize student summer camps. During one such camp, I met Christine Lichtin, who was a German high school student at the time and whose father is a past president of my Rotary club. To try something new during this year of embracing change, I am turning this space, normally reserved for the president of Rotary, over to Christine so she can share her story.
My first contact with Rotaract was about 13 years ago, when I was with Susanne and Holger at a barbecue for the summer youth camp. Holger turned to me and said: "Why don’t you visit a Rotaract club? You’ll meet a lot of great young people who come together to have fun and to make a difference."
A few years later, when I was at Trier University, his words came back to me and I decided to give it a try. That was more than eight years ago, and I’m still at it. Once you are in Rotaract, you just don’t want to get out. Rotaract has accompanied me everywhere, starting with the Trier club and then on to a club in Bologna, Italy, during the year I studied there. When I was in Kiel for my master’s degree, I got involved with Rotaract there before landing at the Rotaract Club of Hamburg-Alstertal as I began my career. Each of those clubs has its own identity and focus, but all have the same intrinsic motivation.
I am now taking on a senior advisory role in my Rotaract club, which I really enjoy. I carry Rotaract in my heart, and it shapes my values, even as my interests evolve. One day, as if she had sensed this evolution, Susanne knocked on my door, wanting to introduce me to a young, modern Rotary club located between Hamburg and Mölln, my hometown. The E-Club of Hamburg-Connect, which Susanne helped charter, holds e-meetings, all of them very relaxed and personal. With members of different ages, everything just seemed to fit, so I thought, why not try it out? After all, time is precious and should be filled with fun whenever possible; the rest happens by itself.
Now I am in both worlds — a proud member of Rotaract and a Rotarian. And my small personal goal is to build a bridge between these two parallel worlds. All of us have very similar reasons for being part of the Rotary family.
It took some persistence to persuade Christine to become a member of Rotary, but it was well worth the effort. It is our duty to put in this kind of effort with youth program participants and Rotaractors so we can keep them in the family of Rotary. I hope you were inspired by her story. It’s up to each of us to ensure that more young people like Christine can experience the many ways Rotary Opens Opportunities for us and for the people we serve.
To raise funds for Australian bushfire relief, Sarah Ash of the Rotaract Club of Prince George, British Columbia, organized an old-fashioned bake sale. “My dad is from Australia, so for my family, the topic was close to home,” says Ash. “My dad is also a chef, so when I brought the idea up of doing a fundraiser for the bushfires, a bake sale was one of the first ideas the club members had.”
The club hosted two sales, the first at the University of Northern British Columbia in mid-January and the second a month later at Ash’s father’s catering business in Prince George. For the second bake sale, the club refined its process, creating advance order forms so it would know what was in demand. The sales generated more than $1,000, which was sent to support Australian Rotary relief efforts. Ash’s father, Bryan Ash, piled tables high with a variety of confections. Among the treats he made were Australian cream buns — brioche buns filled with cream and strawberry jam.
Costa Rica
In Alajuela, Costa Rica’s “City of Mangoes” (so called because of the mango trees that dominate the city’s central park), many people who need glasses have never had them. The Rotary Club of Alajuela worked with two California Rotary clubs to hold two days of clinics at which they distributed eyeglasses to more than 600 people. “We purchased 800 pairs of glasses in an assortment of powers,” says Will van Kranenburg of the Rotary Club of Templeton, California. The Rotary Club of Paso Robles contributed funds, and van Kranenburg and fellow Templeton club member Georgia Vreeken trained nine Paso Robles Rotarians to conduct the clinics, which were held in late February. Rotaractors helped deliver eyeglasses, and students at Alajuela’s San Diego Bilingual High School served as translators.
“The experience left us with an enormous bond of solidarity, teamwork, coordination, and gratitude that we will always carry in our hearts,” says Lucitania Zúñiga Montoya, a member of the Alajuela Rotary club.\
Greece
Wildfires that raged across Greece in July 2018 killed more than 100 people, decimated local wildlife, displaced thousands of residents, and left a charred landscape on the coast east of Athens. One year later, the Rotaract Club of Athina-Filothei teamed with local government units and two ecological nongovernmental organizations — We4all and Project Phoenix — to plant trees in one of the hardest-hit areas.
“The reforestation took place at Mati and Rafina, in the East Attica region, and our goal was to plant 150 trees” on 26 October and 9 November, says Florentia Pikrou, immediate past president of the club. “We managed to plant 200. All 18 club members participated to make Attica green again, to give hope to the community, to promote environmental awareness, and to stand by our fellow citizens.”
Kenya
Rather than let workers at floral greenhouses and farms lose their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic, which has decimated the market for their products, Kenya Flower Council growers continued operations to offer thousands of free bouquets to hospital patients and health care workers. Rotarians from nearly 20 clubs mobilized as delivery agents for the blooms in an effort that was expected to continue throughout the crisis. “Rotary will be distributing the flowers all around Kenya to isolation centers and front-line health workers,” says Sharon Wanyeki, a member of the Rotary Club of Nairobi-East. In late April the Flower Council, the Kenya Private Sector Alliance, Kenya Airways, and other associations and corporations were all involved in the “Flowers of Hope” initiative.
Taiwan
In 2014, the Rotary Club of Taipei Rui An embarked on a career training program for collegians from low-income families that has since expanded to 90 clubs across Taiwan and given more than 1,000 participants an edge in the job market. With more than 300 Rotarians now serving as mentors, the Bridge of Life initiative provides scholarships of about $1,700 each to students. The funds cover the cost of courses and professionally licensed coaches who offer their services at a reduced fee. “A generous mind, not necessarily a monetary donation, is the key to being a true Rotarian,” says the program’s creator, Sara Ma, immediate past governor of District 3521. — BRAD WEBBER
This weekly electronic bulletin is intended to keep club members, friends of Rotary and bulletin subscribers up to date with weekly luncheon meetings and other club activities. Feedback, (positive or negative), is welcome!
