Cogitator Feb 1, 2012

VISITING ROTARIANS

Chad Bjorkland, a commercial insurance agent from the Warwick Rotary Club, joined us.  

GUESTS

Laura Krohn invited as a guest her paralegal, Michaela Gardner.  Jeffrey Choquette was a guest of President Mike Gemma.

BIRTHDAYS

Happy birthday wishes this week go out to two past presidents--Ed Neff on February 7th, and Bob Sloan on February 12th. 

CLUB ANNIVERSARIES

Two dedicated veterans of our club are recognized this week for years of decades of leadership and 'Service Above Self.'  George Popella was inducted into the Rotary Club of East Greenwich 30 years ago on February 2nd.  And, Wil Yoder came into Rotary 42 years ago in 1970, also on February 2nd.  

MID-YEAR CONFERENCE

Ed Neff attended last week's District 7950 Mid-Year Conference in Westport.  He brought back to the club two certificates of achievement.  The first was a Health and Hunger Award recognizing the club for our good work, under Bonnie Sauer's leadership, in last year's Feinstein Hunger Challenge.  The second award recognized the club as ranking fourth in the district in Paul Harris Awards.  Also, it was noted that the Rotary Club of East Greenwich ranks second in per-Rotarian contributions to the Rotary Foundation.  Nice work!

GROUP STUDY EXCHANGE

Ed Neff is also our Group Study Exchange leader this year.  Group study exchange teams are made up of young (25 to 40 year old), non-Rotarian professionals, as well as a Rotarian team leader.  The District 7950 team left this week for Kashmir, India.  They will meet people there in similar professions, touring the local area and engaging in cultural exchange.  Our district will reciprocate in April as we host the Indian team here in Rhode Island and Southern Massachusetts.  Ed is looking for host families from East Greenwich Rotary to house the Kashmir team from Sunday, April 15th to Thursday, April 19th.  The District Conference will follow that weekend, from the 20th to the 22nd at the Viking Hotel in Newport.  Please see Ed if you are interested in helping with hosting the incoming Indian GSE team.

WINE TASTING AND 50TH ANNIVERSARY GALA

Pat Lenihan is very busy with two huge Rotary events coming up, and she invited volunteers to join her in preparation for both.  The Wine Tasting/Taste of the Town committee will be meeting at Pat's Coldwell Banker office on Main Street Friday, February 19th, at 8am.  You can also help with the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Rotary Club of East Greenwich.  This committee will meet on Friday, March 2nd, 8am, also at Pat's office.  And...mark your calendars...the 50th anniversary event is now officially booked for March 30th, 2013. 

SPEAKER/PROGRAM

Margie O'Brien, Communications Director for Edesia Global Nutrition Solutions

As a news reporter and anchorwoman, Margie O'Brien always needed to find a story and sell it to the public.  Working now for Edesia Global Nutrition Solutions, she says she has the easiest sales job of her life.  Edesia manufactures Plumpy'nut, a "ready-to-use therapeutic food, endorsed by the World Health Organization and UNICEF...proven to treat severe acute malnutrition with astounding success rates. It is an energy-dense paste made with peanuts, milk powder, sugar, vegetable oils, and a fortified vitamin and mineral mixture." 

Edesia targets their products to parts of the world in which children continue to suffer from serious malnutrition.  Plumpy'nut is manufactured in Providence, Rhode Island, and shipped across the globe to countries in need such as Chad, Sudan, Guatemala, and Honduras.  The Sahel region in Africa is where Edesia is now particularly active in helping chronically and severely malnourished children.  

Plumpy'nut is an amazing product.  It is incredibly rich in nutrients, has a long 24-month shelf life, and needs no water or additives once it arrives in the targeted area.  You simply open the package and consume.  The health transformation in kids after only 4-6 weeks of eating Plumpy'nut is also amazing, and, inspirational to the employees who are able to see the differences first hand.

Edesia manufactures several products, as you can see in this link:

http://www.edesiaglobal.org/pdf/edesiasynopticbrochure10_10opt.pdf

The Providence facility employs 38 people from 13 nations.  It is a 501(c)(3) partner of Nutriset, a company based in France.  Providence can produce 13 million pounds per year.  In the last two years, their production has been enough to treat 1,000,000 children in 18 countries.  

Finally, there is a tremendous social impact of Plumpy'nut.  Having healthier children at home enables the moms of the severely malnourished areas to stay at home, take care of their families, and avoid dealing with the harsh income loss corresponding with constantly caring for sick and hospitalized kids.

http://www.edesiaglobal.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=78&lang=en

Margie O'Brien, pictured with Lou Lepry

*One last note...Jane Boynton, our International Service Director, directed part of this year's International Service funds toward purchasing Plumpy'nut and having it shipped to families in need throughout the world.  She reminds us that each package of Plumpy'nut costs only 33 cents.  This means for only $1 per day, you can literally rescue a child suffering from severe malnutrition.