Guests: Jann Curley, Kirk Greene, Brittany Haliani, speaker, Lawrence Williams, Maria Long, Gabriel Torres, Student of the Month, La Cuenta teachers James Bedard, David ?, and Andy Watts.
Tina Ballue
Pay and Tell: Tina thanked Chris Baxter and Karen for pouring wine at a Boys & Girls Club event. Chris Tucker reported on the opening of the Johnson apartments for veterans, located near Milpas and SB High School. 89 units for low income seniors will open on S. Hope on March 26. They include apartments, meals and transportation for around $850 per month. Steve Boehm reported visiting his son, Jeff, in Colorado Springs and announced that he and Ingrid have decided to sell their house here and move to Colorado Springs to be near the family. Scott Johnson visited the Petersen Car Museum in L.A. He indicated the lead singer from Metallica had good taste in cars. Sandra’s husband, Dan, has returned from Thailand.
Dolphin Dive: Dennis reminded everyone that the DD will be held on July 11 and club members need to reach out to companies they do business with to secure sponsorships. It is crunch time. We need them in by the end of March to be included in printing. The goal is $20,000. He suggested approaching your insurance agents, dentists, doctors and past members.
Student of the Month Gabriel Torres with Chris Tucker and La Cuesta Teachers
Student of the Month: This month the club honored Gabriel Torres. His teachers indicated he is awesome; he gets it. He struggled at SB High but has exceeded expectations at La Cuesta. Gabe said he wants to make his family proud.
Grants Training: Sandra thanked Janet and Luz Maria for doing the recent District and Global Grants training at Garden Court. She said she is impressed by Rotary’s accountability.
Luz Maria Ortiz Smith
Pledges: Luz Maria gave a quick update on club pledges. To date, members have donated $6,980 towards The Rotary Foundation Annual Fund against a goal of $7,520, leaving a shortfall of $540, and $1,515 towards PolioPlus against a goal of $2,350 with a shortfall of $835. Janet announced that members have pledged $5,050 to the club’s foundation against a goal of $5,750, leaving a shortfall of $700.
Of 47 club members, 14 have still not pledged anything. We would like 100% participation, regardless of the amount. So, if you’ve not yet submitted your pledge form, please turn it in to Jody or Janet. Let one of them know if you have lost your pledge form and we will get you another one.
Dictionaries: Only two schools to go: Vieja Valley on 2/24/20 at 10:00 a.m. and Monroe on 2/27 at 10:30 a.m.
Calendar: Sandra reviewed the calendar.
Community Service Committee: Luz Maria announced that, at the meeting last week, it was decided to support Transition House with bedding and Showers of Blessings with towels/toiletries/underwear for our District Grant applications. The group also decided to abandon the Rotary Centennial Park at Elings Park because it has been badly neglected by the Park management. The rock and friendship tree plaques will be moved to Camp Whittier.
Team Rotary: There is another Zoo event on March 14/15; a fairytale weekend. Volunteers will be provided costumes.
RYLA: our club is sponsoring 4 students to this event April 23-26. There are volunteer opportunities.
Raffle: speaker Brittany Haliani won the raffle; Chris B. won the eggs.
Program: Joanne introduced speaker, Brittany Haliani, one of two librarians at Cottage Health. She previously worked at the Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins and is the manager of the Cottage Health library. She has a masters in library science with a specialization in medical matters.
Brittany Haliani
Brittany reported that all physicians associated with Cottage have to be Board licensed. Not all doctors are Board licensed. You can check out doctors’ information by going to the website of the Medical Board of California at https://www.mbc.ca.gov. She also recommended using MedlinePlus, https://medlineplus.gov, the website of the National Institutes of Health that brings information about diseases, conditions and wellness issues and is reliable, up-to-date and free.
With regards to Alternative and Complementary Medicine, there are no regulations so one must be aware of the manufacturer and be sure the ingredients do not interact badly with your medications. Also be wary of product contamination and be skeptical.
In order to spot “snake oil,” be skeptical of references to “studies” and “scientists” without any details. In this regard, she mentioned the CRAAP test: Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, Purpose.
Brittany mentioned that medical information becomes old after five years.
The meeting adjourned at 8:30 a.m.
