Dan Needham began his career with 18 years at Hewlett Packard in a variety of engineering and management roles. He is now the CEO of the Earle Baum Center of the Blind (EBC), formerly serving as Chief Operating Officer since 2012. EBC serves people with sight loss with training, counseling, social, and recreational programs helping them be active community members and reach new goals. Mr. Needham co-founded two technology companies, TriAccess Technologies and Brevidia as Chief Operating Officer and CEO respectively. He is an active Rotarian, past president of his club, and has served over 10terms on the board. He taught at the Santa Rosa Junior College for 17 years. Mr. Needham has served on and led boards of various nonprofit organizations(philanthropic, arts, and social) and for-profit companies. An avid open water swimmer, Dan was the first man under 40 to swim from Alcatraz over 100 times. Mr. Needham earned an MBA from Golden Gate University, a Master of Engineering from Cornell University, and a B.S. degree from UC Berkeley.
Bob Sonnenberg's journey into the low-vision world began in January, 2004. While driving on the freeway on the outskirt of Sacramento, he suddenly lost a significant amount of his vision as a result of myopic degeneration. Shortly after this incident and while still transitioning into the world of low-vision, he had the wonderful experience of participating in a tandem bike ride with the Earle Baum Center. This memorable experience will always help serve as a springboard to him in fully embracing blindness.
Bob's professional background has included starting and operating his own insurance benefit business, running an investment retirement planning practice, and building a manufacturing business. For the last ten years he has been actively working for Guide Dogs for the Blind in their nationally recognized development department. He has had the good fortune of being actively engaged in all aspects of their planned giving and major donor operations. He has also been actively involved in board leadership for two local nonprofit organizations.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step a well travelled Philosopher once advised. With vision and determination inspiring them, local Rotarians Barry Cogbill and Julie Montgomery of Santa Rosa East have stepped forward to provide students at the Lords Meade College in Jinga, Uganda food cooking and footwear for their journey into a more prosperous and sustainable future.
Barry explains the advantages of solar reflectors in place of burning wood to cook meals for the Lords Meade College' 400 students and faculty. Noting the pervasive smokey atmosphere in Uganda, avoidable time delays in gathering wood, and risks to women while collecting wood, Barry made the alternative solar collecting method the clear choice.
Partnering with Rotarians in the US and Clubs within District 5130, Barry, Julie and Rohnert Park Cotati Rotarian-District Global Grant Coordinator Dale Knight are venturing towards a Global Grant to provide enough cookers to completely eliminate the need for air polluting wood burning.
District 5130 has already provided shoes-that-grow (above) fitting for up to 5 years, bikes for teachers, desks, rain catchment, sanitary pads and more to Uganda. With local connections at the College and in Jinga Rotary, Barry and Julie are confident in the local commitment to use resources well. Their current aim is to raise $10K to leverage a Global Grant to $35K.
For additional ways in which to participate, contact Barry at barry@pathwaysenergy.com, Julie at Julie@wrealestate.net, or Dale at dknight07@sbcglobal.net
On a regular basis, our resident photo pros Warren Smith and Jack Strange submit pictures of what is going on at the weekly meetings. You can always find the most recent pictures at the websites photo journal called "Meeting Sighting" Please note that all the meeting photos for the entire Rotary year are at this location with the most recent on the last page.
Thanks for all the great pictures Warren and Ross! Link to Meeting Sightings. The most recent are on the last page!
Sunrise Golf Chair, Steve Zwick, reminds Rotarians to recruit sponsors and golfers for the upcoming 28th Annual Santa Rosa Sunrise Rotary Charity Golf Tournament on Friday, June 9, 2017, at the Oakmont Golf Club. Sunrisers who are not part of a foursome are encouraged to sign up to volunteer at the site.
President Merle welcomes Noel Gibb, back at Sunrise breakfast only one week after hip surgery. Noel now joins several Sunrisers who are sporting new hips.
Basketball Pool organizer, Harry Coffee, reports only Doug Shureen and Paul O'Rear picked the final four and Paul correctly selected North Carolina as the winner!
Sunriser Shauna Lorenzen, coordinator of the Santa Rosa Kagashima Student Exchange Program, is accepting applications from Sonoma County students, ages 15 - 20, to visit Kagashima July 9 to August 6, 2017 as part of this year's SRKSEP Program. The trip cost of $3,500 includes airfare, lodging, transportation, entry fees and most meals. Get the word out to all eligible local youth and contact Shauna for more information.
The above Sunrise Rotarians have added additional thousands to their Paul Harris accounts and new stones to their Rotary pins. They are: Scott Holder +7, Nancy Aita +7, Ken Pedro +5, Doug Shureen +1, Penny Millar +6, and Randy Seeley +5.
President Merle Hayes reminded Rotarians that these funds are returned to the club in the form of support for the Nicaragua Surgery Center. She also mentioned that the Rotary Foundation ranks number three on the list of top charities.
Join the Walk for ALS on Saturday, April 29, Howarth Park, beginning at 11a.m.
Sunriser Olin Lesher reminded Rotarians to register for the annual Santa Rosa Walk to Defeat ALS that will take place on the last Saturday in April. The trek, around Spring Lake, seeks to raise funds for a cure to those living with the disease.
See email from Peter Hoberg with details or register online at web.alsa.org/2017Santa Rosa.
See the Wildflowers with Jim on Saturday, April 22
Take a short cut or go long (your choice) to see wild flowers at Lake Sonoma on the Sunrise Rotary April hike. Meet coordinator, Jim Moir, at 10 a.m. at the Visitors Center.
Rotary members in a small town of Nova Scotia, Canada, took action to bring two families from war-torn Syria to their country, where the refugees are starting a new life.
This explosion was close – much closer than the others that had rattled the village on the outskirts of Homs, Syria, where Sultanah Alchehade lived with her four young children. This one hit the school next door, blasting out one of the walls of their house.
Alchehade grabbed the children and ran into the night and the choking smoke and dust. A neighbor helped her carry her three-year-old twin boys, Mounzer and Kaiss; another drove the pickup truck they all clambered into. Over the next several days, as bombs continued to fall, the family – including daughters Kawthar, age six, and Roukia, a baby – took refuge in a nearby forest, sleeping under the trees as Sultanah tried to figure out their next move.
In neighboring Lebanon, Sultanah’s husband, Mazen, frantically tried to contact his wife. For years, Mazen had shuttled back and forth across the border every few weeks to do construction work on high-rise buildings in Beirut. While the jobs provided an income for his family, he says, the separation was hard. But their situation had just gotten much harder.
With the Syrian civil war now engulfing his village, Mazen couldn’t return. And it would be four months before his wife and children could cross into Lebanon.
Eventually, the family was reunited. They were alive. But they were refugees, seeking asylum in any country that would take them, hoping to get far away from the violence that had driven them, along with millions of other Syrians, into foreign lands.
The Alchehade family registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the agency responsible for resettling Syrian refugees, and waited. They were still in Lebanon nearly three years later.
Meanwhile, 8,000 kilometers away, Rotarians in the small town of Amherst, Nova Scotia, were watching images of Syrian refugees on television and looking for ways to help.
Below you will find links to upcoming Foundation articles in the May 2017 Rotarian magazine, links to updated handouts filled with resources along with a link to join an upcoming Foundation webinar on April 27.
-Trustee Updates with Chair Elect Paul Netzel -Peace Centers and Major Gifts Initiative Updates with Manager Jill Gunter & Director of Campaigns Peggy Asseo -Fundraising strategies & resources with Senior Annual Giving Officer Steven Solomon
TRAVEL SCHEDULE
See Steven’s travel to plans along with a collection of his Rotary travel photos.
As always, let me know if you need further assistance from me.
Yours in Rotary,
Steven ................................... Steven Solomon Senior Annual Giving Officer for Zones 25 & 26 | The Rotary Foundation Tel 1.847.866.3195 Email: Steven.Solomon@Rotary.org
ROTARY INTERNATIONAL | One Rotary Center | 1560 Sherman Ave. | Evanston, IL 60201 USA ROTARY SUPPORT CENTER | for your Rotary inquiries | 1.866.976.8279 | RotarySupportCenter@Rotary.org
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