Rotagram for Wednesday, March 31, 2021

President Kaisch rang the bell and welcomed everyone to the Rotary Club of Fullerton. What a splendid day it is today!

As I write this, there’s a beautiful blue sky outside and the day is marvelously warm. You know -- a ‘Goldilocks’ day – not too hot and not too cold. The kind of days that I moved to Southern California to experience. We held the 30th Annual Jim Thompson Track and Field City Championship and it was a wonderful success. Rick Crane did a splendid job of organizing amidst the chaos. It wasn’t clear until the last few weeks whether we would actually have the track meet. The schools themselves were scrambling to decide whether athletic competitions could be held in person. While we weren’t able to cook food for our student athletes, it was a lot simpler for the club to put on the event without the food. And the students seemed really excited to be competing again. I spent some time at the track meet talking with Susan Ouweleen about when we resume meeting in person. She is busy exploring possible sites for our meetings. If you have any suggestions, please share them with her. We are looking forward to resuming our in-person meetings in May. Won’t that be wild? To actually see each other face-to-face? Just thinking about that puts a big smile on my face! As we look outside of ourselves and our Rotary community, we see that the pace of vaccinations is accelerating. There are fewer infections and fewer deaths in our country than before, and for this we can all be grateful. But as I read the paper this morning, I saw that the deaths in Brazil have topped 3000 a day. And in the U.S., authorities are warning against another surge, so clearly the fight is not over. And, as you might suspect, Rotary International is on the front lines around the world fighting the battle against Covid. In April, our Rotary club will be mobilizing to raise money for our local charities. For our fundraiser this year, Fullerton’s Schools Got Talent, we are partnering with Flock – the acronym for Fullerton Loves Orange County Kids. We are raising money to help support students in our community who are homeless. I’ve always thought that high school was pretty damn hard as it was. I can’t imagine trying to go to school when you don’t have a place to go home to. When you don’t have after school snacks and a hot meal waiting for you every night. And this is just one of the many groups that our efforts support. We are successful because each one of you contributes and works hard to help those in need. Here’s how I see you guys – you are heroes! You regularly put the needs of others above your own. You go out and labor – you work hard – to alleviate the desperation that others are fighting every day. On this beautiful spring day, as you gather here with your fellow heroes, take a moment and be proud. Proud not only for what you do, but also proud for the compassion, the character, and the integrity upon which you have built your lives. I am honored to be a part of this group.

Rick Crane led us in the pledge and Scott Dowds gave today’s invocation. President Kaisch welcomed all visitors today by recognizing the presence of Marty Burbank. Rick Crane introduced Judy Booth, who is the President Elect of the Sunrise Rotary Club and Acting Library Director for the City of Fullerton. Sueling Chen also introduced Judy as did Zoot Velasco, Matt Howells and Scott Dowds. President Kaisch also recognized visitors Ernie Deflin and our newest member, Jordan Abushawish.

Club news: We have a new member, just approved by the Board, Jordan Abushawish, who comes to us from a club in San Diego. On a sad note, Dick Matthewson has been in and out of the hospital this week. Please keep him and Jane in your prayers. We held the 30th Annual Jim Thompson Track and Field City Championship this past Saturday, led by Rick Crane. They did a bang-up job in the midst of our pandemic chaos. Rick, would you please take a moment and recognize your wonderful crew: Rick began by thanking Jim Thompson, who started the annual track meet and continues to support the event financially. Rick thanked all those who donated stuff: Joe Lins, Scott Dowds, Leslie McCarthy, Theresa Harvey, and Bailey Kline. Rick also thanked all the volunteer’s: Mike Oats, Howard Minkley, Bailey Kline, Joe Lins, Monica Fernandez, Dan Ouweleen, Susan Ouweleen, Jim Ripley, Cathy Gach, Ken Kaisch, Judy Atwell, Rikki Bains, Raco, Thad Sanford, John Phelps, Mike Cochran, and Matt Howells, as well as the Rotaract volunteers.

For all those who took pictures at the track meet, please send your photos to Susan Ouweleen so that she can get them posted on our social media. Our fund raiser this year, Fullerton’s Schools Got Talent, is set for Friday, April 23. Matt Howells did a fantastic job with the video trailer – I hope you take the opportunity to check it out. Again, I would ask 2 things of every member. 1) Become a sponsor for FSGT. Show your love for the coming generations and step up with a donation. 2) I would like to ask every member to ask a friend to sponsor this event. You are asking for money for the youth of our community, and especially for homeless kids – it’s a real easy ask! At this time, we are planning on re-opening for in-person meetings the beginning of May. If you have any suggestions for physical sites, please let me or Susan Ouweleen know. Rick Crane confirmed that the Rotary Foundation Board approved this year’s Community Investment Awards. Approximately $35k will be given to various charities and the Orange County Charitable Foundation will be adding a $10k match. A hands-on service project is coming up, Love Fullerton, on Saturday April 24. Monica Fernandez is heading this up. More on this as we get closer to the event. Another hands-on project, Reading by Nine, is also in the works. Again, more on this later. Zoot Velasco invited members to join him today for a webinar he is hosting for Board Development for non-profit organizations. Zoot also provided a link for the podcast in the chat box.

Club members that deserve special recognition for Service Above Self: This week I have seen members step up with donations to our fund raiser, create a track meet in the midst of chaos, work on the community investment awards, prepping a Reading by 9 project and Love Fullerton. I realized that the member I want to recognize for special Service Above Self today is … all of you! Look at the screen and let’s give some love to the heroes up there!

Finemaster – It’s a baby-faced youngster, today, who is set to fleece the flock. His seeming innocence hides a cold heart of granite and ruthlessness more typical of a pirate. Fitting, because he lives on a pirate ship. A multi-talented member, who took to the high seas with the Coast Guard, sinking innocent trading vessels (okay, so they traded in cocaine, so what!). Ladies and gentlemen, I give you your Finemaster for the day, Matt Howells. Matt fined Dick Mathewson for his 45th Rotary Anniversary, Faisal Qazi for his 8-year wedding anniversary. Matt then fined several attendees who failed at his Fullerton History Trivia game.

For our program today, we are honored to have Scott D. Hillstrom, the founder of the Healthstore Foundation who was introduced by Jim Williams. Scott introduced us to a program he helped establish to provide healthcare to developing countries with extremely high death rates of children. While recovering from server injuries sustained in a care accident, Scott read that over 25k children die every day in developing countries. Upon his recovery, Scott made a trip to Africa to find out for himself why so many children were dying. He soon discovered that these areas lacked even the most basic healthcare. Being a successful entrepreneur, he asked himself if it would be possible to create a franchise-based system that could deliver low-cost healthcare throughout the region. Along with other partners, the Healthstore Foundation was formed and the concept of selling healthcare franchises to nurse practitioners was born. Every franchise is supported by a physician who is linked to a local hospital. By leveraging today’s technologies, nurses can reach the most remote areas throughout the country. Each franchisee is paid in full for their services by donations made through employee payroll deductions and employer matches around the world. The cost per visit is only $4 and the clinics provide care ranging from headaches to surgeries. The plan is to continue growing donations and franchises wherever needed throughout developing countries. You can visit their website for more information: www.healthstore.org

Closing comments by President Kaisch: I have two quotes to close our meeting today: “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room on earth.” Muhammad Ali, and “I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted, and behold, service was joy.” Rabindranath Tagore

With that, my friends, “Go out and be good people and great Rotarians!”

The meeting is adjourned. Ring bell