President JohnMoffat (using a small bell that he stole...er..."borrowed" from our recent Salvation Army bell ringing activity) rang our meeting to order remotely via Zoom at 12:30 pm from his winter quarters in Hawaii.
REMINDER NO MEETING NEXT WEEK, JANUARY 19TH AND TO SIGN UP FOR THE JANUARY 26TH EVENING MEETING BY FRIDAY JANUARY 16TH AT NOON. CLICK HERE TO SIGN-UP FOR MEAL
Guests:
George Halsell introduced our speaker, Ebra Kouda and her 3 children Ben, Aden and Nathan.
Sue Parsons brought our Exchange Student, Janka, who thanked the club for her $200 Christmas gift to be applied to her upcoming Exchange Trip. She has now fully raised the funds she needs.
Joseph Garcia introduced James Dixon with Fresh Start and Bernard Franklin with Busy Bs Barbershop. Fresh Start is our Service Fund Grant recipient.
Zoom attendees: Bernard Bove, John Moffat, Catherine Riordan and Loch Trimingham.
Club Events and Committee Announcements
Roland Trenouth announced our 2026 meal packing event which is scheduled on March 14, 2026 at Assumption Gym at 8:45-12:00. The goal is to pack 35,000 meals and raise $12,400 to pay for the materials. Making this possible is only possible through the efforts of partners and volunteers like you. The meals packed will be sent to Sierra Leone, providing over 1,000 students nutritious meals so they can concentrate at school.
Project Purpose:
Skookum Kids is seeking funding of $140,000 to assist with the purchase of three slightly used vans. RCOB would contribute approximately $85,000 of this total with the remainder obtained from designated donors. While currently serving 200+ families each year, acquiring these vehicles will significantly improve the ability of Skookum Kids to serve a greater number of children and families throughout Whatcom County and Northwest Washington for years to come.
Your donation will enable his organization to replace aging minivans which are used to transport children to and from appointments, sometimes across the state! Eighty percent of foster children have court-mandated visitations.
Joseph Garcia introduced James Dixon, founder of the Fresh Start Initiative, the recipient of one of RCOB's Service Fund Grants this year.
This nonprofit serves the unhoused, veterans, single mothers, families and anyone in the community facing hardship, by providing free professional haircuts, delivering hygiene gifts bags, and providing Fresh Start vouchers for free grooming services whenever the need arises.
James thanked out Club for the $1,000 grant, which will help his organization provide more hygiene gift bags and Fresh Start vouchers to more people in need in Whatcom County.
Jim Lemerond reviewed The Splendid and the Vile, A Saga of Churchill, Family and Defiance during the Blitz.
The book describes England's role in World War II from the start of Churchill's term as Prime Minister until the United States entered the war. One of its main themes was the superb leadership that Churchill provided for England during very difficult times: Hitler heavily bombed England, in an effort to force Churchill to negotiate a peace with Germany, so that Nazi Germany could concentrate on its main goal, the invasion and occupation of Russia. However, Churchill refused to negotiate and, partly by placing top military and civilian leaders in positions where they were the most effective,
he was able to hold off Hitler's military until the United States entered the war.
Jim recommended this book highly, saying that it was fascinating history and an enjoyable read.
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Program Chair George Halsell introduced our featured speaker, Debra Kouda. She has a doctorate in education and was here to introduce us to her adopted country of Benin, a tiny country in West Africa next to Nigeria and Niger.
After college, Debra joined the Peace Corps and was sent to Benin, a country that she had never heard of, to teach children and adults multiple subjects. She realized, soon after arriving, that the people of Benin taught her much more about how to live a simple, healthy and productive life than anything that she could teach them. Debra found this to be a transformative experience that completely changed her life and her view of the world.
Debra grew up in Fairbanks, Alaska. Early in her education, took an interest in cheetahs. Once in Benin, she continued working with cheetahs and other wild animals. While in the Peace Corps, she met and married a native Benin man; they have three children, who accompanied their mom to this presentation and were very well behaved! The family has moved back to Fairbanks, Alaska, but spend at least half of their time in Benin. In fact, the family moved back to Benin during the Pandemic, where they had a thriving peanut shelling business. They also grew cashews.
Debra told us that the land that is now Benin was originally the Kingdom of Dahomey and was led by Amazon women warriors (Agojie). The slave trade provided most of the revenue for the Kingdom. Debra showed a picture of the Tree of Forgetfulness, around which the new slaves were required to walk multiple times before leaving, so that they would forget their place of origin while in slavery. Deborah also commented that there were three major religions in that area: Islam, Catholic, Voodoo, and they all got along quite peacefully.
Debra's doctoral dissertation involved examining how tourism can provide a transformative experience such as she had in Benin. She has pursued this as a new career by establishing two types of tourist activities in Benin, a 12 day in-person tour, with her large house in Benin as a base, and a 14 day virtual tour.
Closing:
After thanking those members who helped put this meeting on, President John adjourned our meeting at 1:35 PM, using the contraband bell.
REMINDER NO MEETING NEXT WEEK, JANUARY 19TH AND TO SIGN UP FOR THE JANUARY 26TH EVENING MEETING BY FRIDAY JANUARY 16TH AT NOON. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR MEAL
RCOB apparel, including polo shirts, dress shirts, vests and hats is now available. These are items that every Club member simply must have in his/her wardrobe! Besides looking great, Club members will be contributing to branding for the RCOB as well as supporting our Club's Foundation, which will receive part of the proceeds.
Click on the button below for the the clothing catalogue, with the Order Form on the last page. Fill out the order form, turn it into Vinson Latimore at a meeting or email a scanned copy to embroidery@choicesscrubs.com.
