Sunrise Rotary March 30, 2017  

 

President Tony called the meeting to order

 

Jack Anderson led the Pledge to the Flag

Father Bill Dopp offered an invocation

 

Guests and Visitors:

 

George Weir was visiting from the Escondido Club

Tina Pope was visiting from the Escondido Club

Robert Ludolph was introduced as President Tony’s guest

 

Edwin Oketch Otieno from Nairobi Kenya was introduced as Jim Ponder’s guest. introduced as a guest. Jim and George Beitner met Edwin when they were in Nairobi after the Kilimanjaro trip two years ago. Edwin will be one of the presenters at RYLA as he tells his story of his life in an orphanage and now his work through his foundation working with young people in Nairobi…

 

Jim Ponder pictured with Edwin Oketch Otieno…

 

 

Anniversaries and Birthdays:

 

Birthdays:

 

March     31    Donna Aeling…    

 

Anniversaries:

 

No anniversaries

 

Rotary Anniversaries:

 

None this week

 

 

Photos of the Week:

 

Dave Herbert, George Beitner and Jack Anderson delivering supplies to Fisher House at Camp Pendleton on March 23; Pictured with Kiana Bright, the General Manager of Fisher House

 

Carol Ponder completing the Carlsbad half marathon; a great achievement since her back surgery

 

Jack and Judi Anderson at Buona Forchetta at Liberty Station in San Diego 

 

Dates to Remember:

 

April        7-9:        RYLA; at Idyllwild Pines. Past President Jim Ponder                     shared about the opportunity to visit on Saturday and                         experience part of the program. He mentioned that the                     young leaders will have an opportunity to Skype with                         students in Afghanistan. Jim also thanked the Club for the                     RYLA support above and beyond in providing audio-visual                     equipment for the annual conference.

 

        8:        Mexicali Project “pre-build”; preparing footings and posts for                     playground equipment construction  

        

        15:        Gulls Hockey; Tickets for the special seats in the ‘Box’ are                     $60; see Past President Rich Aeling for more information

 

        20-23:        Mexicali project

 

May        4:        Evening meeting; more details to come

        

        6:        Bunco at John Boyce’s home    

 

June        17:        Wine, Brews and Blues at the Arts Center; a fundraiser                     in conjunction with the Bonsall Rotary Club

 

        22:        Demotion event; Bye, bye President Tony and welcome                     President Dave Casey    

 

October    7:        Grape Day 5K; only 192 days till the big event! Past                         President Jim Ponder announced that a joint venture with                     Palomar Health Foundation joining our Grape Day 5K is                     nearly complete… The event gets better and bigger!

 

High Fives and Announcements:

 

Dave Herbert  announced that he and his daughter Katie will be attending the final four competition in Phoenix as Gonzaga is in the event for the first time in the school’s history…

 

Linda Bailey announced that the current edition of the Escondido Magazine (available to our members at the meeting) has a great article on “homes for families.”

 

Rorie Johnston mentioned that she will be performing in the ‘Dancing with Our Stars’ event at the Art Center on Saturday…

 

Past President John Boyce brought President Tony some coffee from Hawaii… And John mentioned that his alma mater, Ashland University Women’s Basketball team are NCAA Division II National Champions… John is proud…

 

Past President Barry Baker announced that his grandson receive his Mission for a two- year assignment in Ghana West Africa.

 

 Program:

 

Jack Anderson introduced today’s program; Kiana Bright, the General Manager of Fisher House at Camp Pendleton. Kiana has worked in hospitality affiliation with Military installations; her most recent assignment before the Camp Pendleton Fisher House as the Manager of the “Inns of the Corps” at MCAS Miramar.

 

Kiana spoke about the need for distant family support at Camp Pendleton when a Marine is undergoing hospitalization; this need can be magnified by the fact that over 40,000 Marines are attached to and deployed from Camp Pendleton. With most of them from places other than San Diego, the need for family support accommodations becomes even greater. She shared a story of a severely injured Marine whose family was in New York; they needed to make an emergency trip to support their Marine, and their case manager facilitated the connection with Fisher House as a support base for the Marine’s family.

Kiana shared the need is even magnified more when one considers the average cost of hotel stays in San Diego is $140.00 per night; unusually high when many families’ means are insufficient for such costs, and there may be an extended stay depending on treatment needs. ‘Loved ones’ of a military member (active duty or veteran) receiving care are eligible to use the facility; the families of veterans or military members   receiving care in civilian hospitals are also eligible to use the Fisher House if space permits. Families that use the Fisher House facility are not charged for their lodging; the donations we make, as do many other philanthropic groups, are used by the guests during their stays. Since opening in 2015, the Camp Pendleton facility has served over 300 families.

Kiana shared further that there are 71 Fisher House facilities throughout the US located at military and VA medical facilities; there are five facilities at Navy and Marine Corps facilities across the country, the first being at Bethesda Maryland, serving both Bethesda and the Walter Reed Army hospital.

Fisher House facilities are donated to the military by the Fisher Foundation, and operations are the responsibility of the various medical facilities; Navy, Army, Air Force and Veterans Administration.

 

 

Kiana Bright with President Tony, Dave Herbert and Jack Anderson…

 

 

 

 

On March 23, George Beitner, Dave Herbert and Jack Anderson with Kiana Bright at the Fisher House Camp Pendleton; Sunrise Rotary donated two inflatable beds in addition to  innumerable consumable supplies for the Fisher House…

 

 

 

Next Week’s Program:

 

Linda Bailey and Mark Hoekstra presenting on Sunrise Rotary Club business, including membership development.

 

 

Opportunity Drawing:

 

Lunch Money:    $18;    Mark Crosby

 

Big Pot:        $306;    Tina Pope; sorry, no luck today…