Nathan Rathamann, Director of Operations at Forget Me Not Farm
Our Speaker for November 4, 2021, was Nathan Rathmann, Director of Operations at Forget Me Not Farm, where he oversees the therapy groups that visit the Farm, tends to the therapeutic gardens, does public speaking, recruits volunteers, and gives tours to people interested in the program. He has worked at the Farm since 2005
Forget Me Not Farm nurtures relationships between children, animals, and gardens and has helped thousands of at-risk children and youth to break the cycle of abuse. The Farm puts neglected children, gardens, and animals together to create bonding relationships; by letting children take care of abused animals and vegetable gardens they learn about care, compassion, and empathy. The Farm receives referrals of neglected children from 14 agency-partners. They visit the Farm for therapy sessions 1 time per week for 1 hour. There is no charge for the program. The program typically lasts between 9 weeks and 2 years. Prior to COVID-19 they usually helped about 350 children per year. Nearly all of the adults are volunteers; there are only 4 paid staff members.
In the 1-acre garden the children see the full growing process and receive a box of vegetables. The kids usually try everything; there is something special about eating the food they’ve helped grow. It is a true farm-to-garden experience.
They also work together to produce the vegetables, and care for the animals, learning life lessons in the value of cooperation and caring. They also learn the importance of going to their work at the Farm so they can help take care of these abused animals. The children learn, some for the first time, that they are truly needed! They spend their hour at the Farm tending to the garden and the animals, eating a snack, and wrapping up with a fun activity.
The program also has an after-school track for older children who often serve as mentors to the younger kids. Their activities rely less on fun and more on actual work, including uniforms and actual duties/responsibilities; more like a job. Many of these older children are in foster programs, and Nathan reminded us of the terrible statistics facing foster children: nearly 50% of foster children spend time either homeless or in jail, or both.
Forget Me Not is always open to volunteers, donations, and people to help work in various capacities. In fact, they are planning the expansion of their greenhouses and other projects that need technical and/or financial contributions.
What an amazing program! Thank you to Nathan and his staff for the wonderful work they do for the most at-risk member of our community!
On a regular basis, our resident photo pro Warren Smith, submits 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!Link to Meeting Sightings. The most recent are on the last page!
I have been reflecting a lot on the power of human strength and redemption. The timing this week is perfect to talk about the Phoenix. This glorious mythological creature is both ancient and ageless. The winged messenger is a sign of divinity, resurrection, and carries a soft scent of myrrh. Legend has it that this magical creature dies only to resurrect itself nine days later at the end of a five-hundred-year cycle. There is also the school of thought that after the Phoenix burns to ash, the bird is born from the first rays of light. It arrives at the break of dawn, wise and watchful despite being only moments old. It has an old soul due to its perpetual reincarnation.
The Phoenix imparts a very important message to our civilization, “That which makes us different is not a burden but a gift, for it also makes us strong.”
There is nothing we need to do to do to access this gift. It is innate. This is the part of our spirit that makes us stand apart from the rest of the crowd—it’s what makes us shine.
Fire demands respect. When we walk through the flames, we sacrifice habits and patterns that we thought we needed to survive. The Phoenix teaches us that sacrifice is acceptance. It’s time to acknowledge that we’ve outgrown a nest that once felt cozy.
Phoenix is a sign of when we tire of one version of ourselves, there’s another version waiting. We have permission to weave our life narrative of victory and defeat, self-acceptance, and self-denial.
Kent Seegmiller recognized two of our own Sunrise Rotarian attorneys -- Dan Davis and roy Johnston -- for their recent awards as “Lawyers of Distinction” from Sonoma Magazine! This is an amazing award given to the best attorneys in the area and these two completely merit their awards. Well done you two for your lifetime achievements!”
The era of the electric car has arrived! The first commercial electric vehicle (EV) was sold in Belgium in 1890 and in 1900 EV’s made up 38% of all cars on U.S. roads. Then cheap oil drove EV’s out of the market until the late 1990’s when the Toyota Prius was marketed on a wide scale.
Here are some fun facts about the state of electric vehicles today:
While car sales decreased by 16% in 2020, the number of electric vehicles increased by 50%. There are now 370 models of vehicles that are available with electric power including Mini Coopers, Porsche’s and Harley Davidsons.
On November 2, Hertz announced that it is ordering 100,000 Tesla Model 3’s, giving it the largest EV rental fleet in North America and making EVs 20% of its rental fleet. New EV truck maker Rivian is building 100,000 electric delivery vehicles for Amazon.
Governments from California to China, Japan and the U.K. have announced plans to ban sales of new gas-only cards by 2035 or sooner. Ford says it will sell only EV’s in Europe within five years.
Today there are 12 million electric passenger vehicles and 1 million commercial vehicles on the road. Sales of passenger EV’s are expected to jump from 3.1 million in 2020 to 14 million by 2025. By 2040 EV sales will make up 74% of U.S. car sales and 70% of world car sales.
Battery technology is on a J-curve as well; since 2009 battery prices have fallen 89%. Meanwhile the mileage range of EV’s has continued to increase- the Tesla Model S Long Range Plus was the first EV to offer 400+ miles of range.
And look out sports cars- the Tesla Model S Plaid comes with 1,025 hp, a top speed of 200 mph and will go from zero to 60 in 1.9 seconds.
While many EV’s are priced in the luxury class, Nissan’s Leaf goes out the door for less than $25,000 after tax credits.
The transition from gas-powered vehicles, which produces 25% of global emissions, remains too slow in the fight against climate change but the momentum has swung and is picking up speed dramatically. Progress is being made but there are still 1.5 billion gas guzzlers on the road around the planet. Put in your order today!
M.J. Girard is currently an on air personality on KOWSfm.com His “Roots of Rock” is broadcast every Sunday morning at 7 AM
Veterans Day, what was once known as Armistice Day, the end of conflict and a long sought-after Peace was finally achieved, in the eleventh hour of the eleventh month on the eleventh Day. Thus ended the War to end All Wars, which came to be known as WWI.
Conflict is not the answer to achieve Peace. Peace is achieved by negotiating between the parties. If one side fails the negotiate in good faith, then another negotiator from that side needs to be brought to the table. We are human beings, not wild animals that must kill to survive.
Compromise is not a dirty word. No one can take it all, No one has to give it all away. Good intentions sometimes go awry, and there can be damages sustained. The courts are the remedy for such disagreements.
The World Court in the Hague should resolve issues of magnitude, not the battlefield.
Just one soldier’s option…
The music this Sunday will be from the eras surrounding the major conflicts that Americans fought…I won’t go back to the First World War…. but I will dip into the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and more current releases, with an emphasis on the Vietnam conflict which I participated in. We have just ended the twenty-year conflict in Afghanistan.
On Saturday five Sunrisers- Harry Coffey, Jim Moir, Olin Leasher, Paul O’Rear and led by Madame President Jennifer Adams- and 10 East-West Rotarians planted over 100 oak, madrone and maple trees and several hundred acorns on the “Perry Parcel”. Undeterred by occasional drizzle, wind and cool temperatures, the Rotarians were directed on where and how to plant the young trees by five Regional Park personnel, who will water the young trees until they can survive on their own. The group got an excellent full body workout hiking a steep last mile from where cars were left to the top of a ridge at 2,350 feet of altitude. The Perry Parcel sits atop a ridge accessed off of St. Helena Rd. which offered tremendous views of the Valley of the Moon to the west, Napa Valley to the east and the San Francisco skyline and Bay Bridge far to the south. When annexed next year, the Perry Parcel will connect Hood Mountain and Sugarloaf Regional Parks. Being at such elevation went to Olin’s head and he could not resist pulling a golf ball and driver out of his car and lettin’ fly in the thin oxygen environment. Last seen, the ball was headed for Vacaville.
I first discovered the value of service when I saw how a few simple acts can immeasurably change lives. It began when I joined others in my club for a project to bring toilets and clean drinking water to rural villages near our city. It moved forward when we promoted sanitation and provided opportunities for education across the country, thanks to generous gifts from supporters who believed in our projects as much as those of us on the ground did.
There is no better time of the year to be reminded of that generosity than November, which is Rotary Foundation Month.
As the charitable arm of Rotary International, The Rotary Foundation is the engine that powers so many Rotary projects throughout the world. The Foundation transforms your gifts into projects that change lives. It is the Foundation that helps us to get closer to our goal of eradicating polio, to show more people how we promote peace through tangible actions, and to demonstrate the impact our projects have in our areas of focus.
Consider some recent projects that were made possible by the Foundation:
The Rotary clubs of Guatemala La Reforma, Guatemala, and Calgary, Alberta, received an $80,000 global grant to organize a comprehensive plan to train nurses and rural health care workers to prevent and treat cervical cancer and to implement a sustainable system of referrals in seven regions of Guatemala.
More than two dozen hospitals in Honduras received personal protective equipment for their medical staff thanks to a $169,347 global grant sponsored by the Rotary clubs of Villa Real de Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and Waldo Brookside-Kansas City, Missouri.
The Rotary clubs of Cotonou Le Nautile, Benin, and Tournai Haut-Escaut, Belgium, received a $39,390 global grant to provide agricultural training at an ecologically responsible permaculture mini-farm connected to a center for children in Sowé, Benin. This will help a new generation of farmers become economically self-sufficient.
I like comparing The Rotary Foundation to the Taj Mahal, a monument of one man’s love for a woman. The Foundation is a dynamic monument of our love for all of humanity.
This month I am asking all Rotary clubs to bring attention to the Foundation. It is what connects all Rotarians worldwide and transforms our collective passions into projects that change lives. Visit rotary.org/donate; once there, you will have an opportunity to give directly to the program you’re most passionate about.
Thank you for giving your all to Rotary. You are the reason that Rotary is able to do more and grow more. Let’s continue to represent that important legacy this month, this year, and beyond as we Serve to Change Lives.
When people ask me what The Rotary Foundation is, I tell them it’s the heart of Rotary. You may have heard before that Rotary has an intelligent heart. The Foundation combines our emotional response of compassion with pragmatic action. With both heart and brains, you can change the world.
So, what does the Foundation mean to you? November is Rotary Foundation Month, but do you really know our Foundation?
First, it truly is our Foundation. The Rotary Foundation doesn’t belong to me or the other 14 trustees, nor to the RI Board of Directors, nor to the RI president. It belongs to each Rotarian around the world.
And it’s there for all of us to change the world. We save mothers and children because we have compassion, and we know how to plan. We provide clean water and sanitation where they’re needed to those who need them, because we build strategies based on a community’s needs. We combine support for peace, education, and economic stability for at-risk communities with an ability to manage big projects.
Giving to the Foundation is smart, too, because in doing so, you multiply the value of that gift. How many other foundations can you think of that identify the projects, fund them, and run them on the ground themselves? Ours is the only one I know. And we get it all done at such a relatively low administrative cost. This is one reason Charity Navigator consistently gives the Foundation a four-star rating.
I sometimes get asked a question: How much should I be giving to the Foundation? Each year, make a gift of what you can afford to give. For some, that is $100, and for others, more. What’s most important is that you give something, because each generous gift helps us meet the increased demand we’re seeing from members for global grants and our other programs.
This year, we want to raise $50 million for PolioPlus, which will be matched 2-to-1 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, for a total of $150 million. If every Rotary club contributed just $1,500, we would surpass this goal. We have other goals as well — for the Annual Fund, the Endowment Fund, and outright gifts — adding up to a grand total of $410 million.
We will get there if we set our hearts — and minds — to it. But remember, it’s not about the money; it’s what the money can do.
There’s a saying that goes, “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”
The Foundation is that stone, so let us turn ripples into great waves with it, using our hearts and our minds.
Kiwanis, Lions, Optimist, Rotary, join for week of service to Celebrate Community
EVANSTON, ILL.: October 7, 2021 – Celebrate Community, a joint initiative of the four major volunteer service organizations, will launch this year with a focus on local community service during the week of October 10 to 16.
The organizations – Kiwanis International, Lions Clubs International, Optimist International, and Rotary International – have collaborated during the past 18 months to share ideas on future collaborations. This first public effort encourages clubs to reach out to one another to work together on projects that improve and benefit local communities.
“All of our organizations serve our communities to change lives. We must ensure that our various clubs identify a local need and work together to provide the service to fulfill that need,” said Shekhar Mehta, President, Rotary International.
“We have so many common goals and objectives,” said Peter Mancuso, 2021-22 Kiwanis International president. “The Celebrate Community initiative is one way to join together to work on a project that will have a measurable impact on communities around the world.”
“We can help the world recover in this time of need when many are still struggling,” said Douglas X. Alexander, International President for Lions Clubs International. “If we let our passion for service shine through, there is absolutely nothing we can’t accomplish together.”
Patsy Garner, 2021-2022 Optimist International President, supports the effort to encourage all service clubs working together to help their communities. “Now, more than ever, collaboration is needed. Resources can be scarce and a joint effort could make a far greater impact in our communities than a single act."
Clubs are encouraged to work together on projects such as health and wellness, food insecurity and hunger, education and literacy and environmental projects. Efforts could include community cleanups, food donations and distributions, walks or runs to raise money for specific causes and collecting books to help children build personal libraries. Clubs should follow all local guidelines for meetings and gatherings. Clubs that involve youth participants should follow organizational youth protection guidelines. A full list of ideas can be found here.
All four of the leaders said this initial effort is a springboard to the future — they envision an annual project in which all the clubs around the world collaborate and bring their youth clubs along, too. The joint project also allows community members who are serving in different clubs to learn more about each other, their organizations and their combined efforts to help children and adults who are challenged by environmental or financial difficulties.
About Rotary: Rotary brings together a global network of volunteer leaders dedicated to tackling the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges. Rotary connects 1.4 million members of more than 36,000 Rotary clubs in over 200 countries and geographical areas. Their work improves lives at both the local and international levels, from helping those in need in their own communities to working toward a polio-free world. For more information, visit Rotary.org.
About Kiwanis: Founded in 1915, Kiwanis International is a global organization of clubs and members dedicated to serving the children of the world. Kiwanis and its family of clubs, including Circle K International for university students, Key Club for students age 14-18, Builders Club for students age 11- 14, K-Kids for students age 6-12 and Aktion Club for adults with disabilities, annually dedicate more than 18.5 million service hours to strengthen communities and serve children. The Kiwanis International family comprises more than 537,000 adult and youth members in 85 nations and geographic areas. Visit kiwanis.org for more information.
About Lions: Lions Clubs International is the largest service club organization in the world. More than 1.4 million members in over 48,000 clubs are serving in 200 countries and geographic areas around the globe. Since 1917, Lions have strengthened local communities through hands-on service and humanitarian projects, and we extend our service impact through the generous support of our Lions Clubs International Foundation. We are focused on supporting vision, the environment, childhood cancer, hunger, diabetes, and other pressing humanitarian needs to help address some of the biggest challenges facing humanity. For more information about Lions Clubs International, visit lionsclubs.org.
About Optimist: Optimist International, founded in 1919, is a service organization serving youth and communities around the globe. It has nearly 70,000 adult and youth members in more than 2,500 clubs in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico, and many other nations throughout the world. Carrying the motto “Bringing Out the Best in Youth, in our Communities, and in Ourselves,” Optimists conduct positive service projects that reach more than six million young people each year. To learn more about Optimist International, please call (314) 371-6000 or visit the organization’s website at www.optimist.org.
.png)
