If you feel like your life and news cycle suddenly revolves around Coronavirus concerns, you are certainly not alone. I've been the recipient of emails about the Coronavirus from my son's school, his taekwondo dojang, the courthouse, our doctor, and, of course, Rotary International. The convention in June is still going forward, at least for now, but we Rotarians are a travelling, hand-shaking, touchy-feely bunch of people. And many of us are older and within one or more of the high-risk categories. It's natural that we should feel some anxiety about getting together as a group in a public space.
I received an email from a Rotarian doctor yesterday morning (thanks, Molly!), asking what preparation the hotel and the Board of Directors has made for cancellation of meetings or better social distancing practices. As she rightly pointed out, the only time we have to put preventative measures into place is now, and not next week. That email prompted a good Board of Directors discussion via email and some good suggestions from another Rotary doctor (thanks, Carol!) about interim and eventual measures.
We are not cancelling the meeting tomorrow. We will be using some of our time at the meeting to discuss, as a group, how the membership feels about continuing Rotary work and Rotary meetings over the next few weeks. That said, here are some of things we will be doing immediately:
1. I hope you are all washing your hands thoroughly and often and practicing good hygiene. (I saw a Rotarian pick his nose and stick his finger in his mouth a couple of weeks ago. No, I won't say who... that wouldn't pass the Four-Way Test. I'm just saying, stop it. Do better.)
2. We're going to practice NOT shaking hands or hugging. Why now? Because shaking hands is a deeply ingrained habit, and it's going to take time to change and feel natural doing something else for a while. I'm a people-toucher. I get it. We're all going to have to practice protecting each other for a bit with our warmest and most respectful elbow bumps or Spock hands or whatever. Live long and prosper.
3. If you have a compromised immune system and feel you shouldn't be at the meeting, please don't come to the meeting. If you're older and feel you shouldn't be at the meeting, please don't come to the meeting. If you shoot me an email and tell me you won't be there but want to have your voice heard in the group discussion, I'll be happy to share your thoughts via email.
4. If you are feeling under the weather for any reason, please don't come to the meeting. Part of the problem this country (and each country) will potentially be facing is an overwhelmed healthcare system. Keeping each other free of the flu and strep throat and whatever else you might have will help keep cases of other illnesses out of the healthcare system and conserve resources for those who need it.
5. The Antlers has posted the measures they are taking to prevent the spread of illness. I have had a suggestion from someone else about setting the tables with fewer place settings to keep us a little farther from each other, and I'll check into that. If we decide to cancel meetings after the group discussion tomorrow and immediately inform the hotel, it will cost the club $250 a week, and it will cost many of us the pre-paid meal. Please note that the $250 per week is a monumentally better deal than the 90% the hotel could have insisted upon. That said, please note that my preference is to stay the course until county health officials tell me we should do otherwise.
Please remember to bring your donations for the orphans of Nuevo Casas Grandes to the meeting tomorrow. Jordan Davis will collect donations from anyone who cannot make it to the meeting. Please call her to make arrangements.
Updates on El Paso County from an El Paso County Commissioner
Stan is an El Paso County Commissioner representing District 3. Stan has been a county commisioner since January 2017 (3 years). Here is information on Stan's background:
Stan is Chair of the Pikes Peak Workforce Center and Chair of the Community Justice Coordinating Council and serves on over a dozen other boards.
Stan VanderWerf is Founder, President, and CEO of CEM-Tek, Inc., a 3-D printing company focused on industrial and consumer product rapid prototyping and low rate production. CEM-Tek provides its clients 3-D printing, computer aided design, part scanning (for re-production), and other 3-D printing services.
Mr. VanderWerf is also Founder, President and CEO of Advanced Capitol LLC, an aerospace defense consulting firm headquartered in Colorado Springs.
Stan has held a wide variety of program director positions in the space, aircraft, electronics, and avionics industries. As a former senior US Air Force officer, he ran the Air Force’s electronic warfare and avionics programs from 2008 to 2011, a portfolio of 750 systems, over a million products in the field, a budget in excess of $1 billion a year, and 380 employees. Products included sensors, jammers, GPS guidance systems, navigation/display boxes, and numerous classified programs. Stan was formerly the Chief of Strategic Analysis for NORAD-NORTHCOM, program director for the AF’s C-130E/H programs, and Executive Officer to Special Operations Command’s Acquisition Executive.
Stan is an avid mountain climber, skier, and private pilot with instrument and commercial ratings. His most recent successful expedition was Denali in 2012. Stan has spoken to our club once before on drones.
The community service committee meeting that is currently scheduled for 3/20/2020 at Duca’s in the Antlers has been rescheduled and will be meeting on Tuesday, March 24th at 5:30 pm in the Mining Exchange Lobby. Please let Samantha Chapman know at samanthac@sentinelsoffreedom.org if you can make it. We will be discussing the upcoming Jared Box Project taking place on April 7th at the Gold Room and what we need for the event as well as future events in the pipeline.
Rotary clubs partnered with local organizations to install a rainwater harvesting and distribution center for 4,000 people in Madan, India. They also delivered training programs for women in the community and students in 35 schools.
Rotary clubs in Guatemala improved conditions for as many as 1,793 children in 10 schools in the town of Escuintla by providing toilets, washing stations, water tanks, and training
A dozen Rotary clubs collaborated with local partners to establish a water supply and delivery system for 1,500 people in the village of Kigogo, Tanzania. They also taught the community how to maintain the systems and provided hygiene education.
Rotary clubs and partners built 222 toilets, six rainwater collectors, seven communal handwashing stations, and 20 biosand filters. The project provided more than 1,000 people with access to proper toilet facilities and almost 600 people with a regular supply of clean water.
Our March service opportunity for all our members is a donation drive for our sister city, Nuevo Casas Grandes. We will be collecting children's clothes and shoes, school supplies, personal hygiene products, and gifts for the children of the Brazos Abiertos (Open Arms) orphanage in Nuevo Casas Grandes.
Immediately on the heels of that project, we'll be participating in creating "Jared Boxes" for children at Penrose Hospital. "Jared Boxes" are plastic shoe-sized storage box filled with small gifts, toys, games, crayons, coloring books, and fun activities to be given to children in the Penrose-St. Francis Hospital to provide a special, fun diversion. If you would like to know more about Jared Boxes, please click the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSkzQBcK0lc
Nuevo Cases Grandes Brazos Abiertos Orphanage
The Fire Department in Nuevo Casas Grandes will organize a special celebration on April 30th, for Children's Day or "El Dia del Nino" in the Orphanage called "Brazos Abiertos" (Open Arms). Brazos Abiertos is home to about 200 kids.
El Dia del Nino is an important celebration in Mexico. Kids attend school as usual but instead of classes they enjoy a party all day; there are games, special guests like magicians, face painting, or balloon art, a special lunch with cake and ice-cream and plenty of time to play. However, the celebration depends on each school’s budget, so this year the Fire Department will bring a special celebration to the orphanage. Since these kids may have not received gifts in Christmas, we would like to include gifts to make this Dia del Nino a very special one for them.
Our Rotarians will be joining with other groups in Colorado Springs to provide:
Personal hygiene products such as shampoo, soap, body lotion, etc.
Clothes and shoes for boys and girls from 5 to 15 years old
School Supplies (backpacks, notebooks, pencils, etc)
Gifts for boys and girls from 5 to 15
We will collect the donations at each Friday meeting in March.
"Jared Boxes" for Children in Penrose-St. Francis
The Jared Box project was started in 2001 by the children at Our Lady of Victory School in State College, Pennsylvania to honor their classmate and friend, Jared, a brave little boy who battled cancer with courage and faith. Jared maintained his sense of humor and the joys of childhood through play. He carried a backpack full of toys and games to all appointments, and questioned why the other children didn't bring toys to their exam rooms. Jared shared his toys and invited the other children to join him in a game of UNO. Jared's battle ended on November 12, 2000.
The goal of the Jared Box Project is to lift the spirits of children in the hospital. Boxes filled with the "gift of play" are given to young patients in emergency rooms, hospital rooms, surgical centers, and clinics. The boxes symbolize the importance of play and are filled with well wishes, hope, and love. Over 750,000 Jared Boxes have been delivered across the United States.
Our Club will be collecting small gifts, toys, games, crayons, coloring books, and fun activities to create as many of these boxes as we can. You can bring your "Jared Box" contents to meetings in March or (preferably) to our Social on April 7 at the Gold Room.
Rotary and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced on 22 January that their long-term fundraising partnership, which generates up to $150 million annually for polio eradication, will continue. Under the agreement, Rotary is committed to raising $50 million a year over the next three years, and each dollar will be matched with an additional two dollars by the Gates Foundation.
In a video address at the 2020 Rotary International Assembly in San Diego, California, USA, Bill Gates told incoming district governors that the partnership with Rotary needs to continue.
“The Gates Foundation’s longstanding partnership with Rotary has been vital to fighting polio,” Gates said. “That’s why we’re extending our funding match, so every dollar that Rotary raises is met with two more.”
He added, “I believe that together, we can make eradication a reality.”
The funding will support polio eradication efforts such as disease surveillance, technical assistance, and operational support for immunization activities.
The partnership between Rotary and the Gates Foundation has yielded $2 billion, and Rotarians have given countless volunteer hours to fight polio since Rotary started its PolioPlus program in 1985.
Be a part of the fight to end polio and have your donation matched 2-to-1 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Visit endpolio.org to learn more and donate.
In light of current events, we must find levity where we can!
My friend Robbie shocked and hurt me. He told me today that I make people very uncomfortable and have no respect for personal space. I mean, what a thing to say to a friend? It totally ruined our bath!
