President Paul welcomed everyone to the meeting and we enjoyed God Bless America from our Rotary Brass and an Invocation from Catherine Riordan
He recapped the recent board meetings:
Board goals are being achieved. Rick Kaiser is replacing Andy Day on the board.
It costs Rotary $3k/yr to utilize the WCC meeting space. Meal costs were expected to offset that cost, but since meals are not being utilized as much, dues will be increasing $50/person annually starting in July.
Executive Secretary, Sandee Lindhout received a 5% raise; her last one was 8 yrs ago.
Club and Committee Announcements:
Shawna Naf announced Rotary’s participation in the Memorial Day Parade, Saturday May 27th. Rotary’s float will be there and members are asked to participate. Rotarians will gather between 10:30am and 11am to prepare; look for further instructions as we receive them. Parade starts at noon.
Marty Haines announced that the annual Rotary cruise will be on June 19, so Save the Date! We will be traveling to Sucia Island with San Juan Cruises. Marty commented that several yacht clubs banded together and purchased Sucia Island in the 1960s and turned it over to the state to be a park. Cost will be $110 per person which includes lunch. Contact Marty to sign-up.
Volunteer & Social Events Upcoming:
1. MAY 20:Teri Treat announced that the annual Sunnyland Memorial Clean Up is coming up May 20, 2023. Contact Teri Treat at 360-739-6969 to sign up
2. MAY 27 and 28. The annual Memorial Day parade is on May 27 and RCOB will be both a sponsor and a participant. Stay tuned for additional information. Shauna Naf needs help staffing the booth Sunday, May 28th in Fairhaven.
3. JUNE 3:Ward Naf announced that volunteers are needed to help with the Whatcom Center for Early Learning Gala on Saturday, June 3 at the Four Points by Sheraton. WCEL was the recipient of our Major Project fundraiser this year. Contact Ward if you can help at 360-303-6671. He has shifts from
4:00-6:30pm for Greeters, Registration Helpers, Coat Check and Administrator of Games (needs 20 volunteers)
6:30-9:00pm for Recorders for auction, runners for auction, and Data Entry (needs 5 volunteers).
4. JUNE 19: Annual Cruise to Sucia Island with San Juan Cruises.
Breathtaking tour of the northern San Juan Islands and visit to Sucia Island State Park
Fabulous picnic lunch on the beach provided
Fully narrated tour with experienced wildlife guides on board each cruise
Two hours on Sucia – time for lunch and a beach walk with our naturalist – or explore the island on your own!
Deluxe 50′ tour vessel with indoor and outdoor seating
Contact Marty to sign up
Gear Up
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. Here is the clothing catalog, with the Order Form on the last page:(Click Here) Fill out the order form, turn it into Vinson Latimore at a meeting or email a scanned copy to embroidery@choicesscrubs.com.
WE MOVED TO THE SYRE STUDENT CENTER - SYRE THEATER AT WHATCOM COMMUNITY COLLEGE. HERE ARE THE DIRECTIONS.
The buildings address is 235 W Kellogg Rd. But this is not where you park. There is no parking off of Kellogg Road. You must enter parking off either Eliza Ave or Cordata Parkway. You are looking for the YELLOW lot (look on light poles for Y2 or Y3).
Enter from Eliza Ave: the driveway between Kellogg Rd and Westerly Rd has a driveway into the campus, follow that about 200 yards until it slopes down, park in the area between the three buildings.
Enter from Cordata Parkway: Just north of the WTA station and Cruisin Coffee before the round about is Orca Lane, take Orca Lane around the first two buildings until you find a large parking lot between three buildings.
You will still receive an email from Sandee each week prior to the Monday 12:30 meeting if you are unable to attend in person (you can start logging in at 12:00 for short socializing) with the link for that privacy-protected meeting. If you have n done so, please download the Zoom app on your computer (you need a camera and microphone on it), iPad or phone. There is no cost to you. If you cannot do either, you can also call in. On the invitation, there are US phone numbers you can call and enter the meeting ID number also indicated on the invitation.
Lunch is $17.00 for soup, salad and bread buffet. We must notify them by Wednesday at NOON the week prior to the Monday meeting as to the number of members attending. We are sending out meeting "Invites" weekly and members are asked to sign-up ASAP. You can also sign-up by going to the event section of our website at bellinghamrotary.org. If you sign up to have a meal at the meeting, you will need to pay the $17 even if you don't wind up attending the meeting after the numbers are turned in. If you plan to attend but not eat, PLEASE indicate that on your sign-up so we don't overorder meals and still make sure there is enough seating.
The Club will collect payments prior to the meeting or at the door by Venmo, check or cash.
We urge members of the RCOB to set up a Venmo account for ease in payment of Meeting lunches, Happy Bucks, Minister of Fun, Dues or donations to the club. Our account is @RCOB- Bellingham. If you do not have a Venmo account you can set up an account with your computer then download the app. on your phone (just Google "Venmo" and you will find all the information you need) You then attach it to a debit or credit card (a fee on your end) or attach to your checking account at no cost. Payment will be sent directly to the RCOB checking account. When you use it for the first time it may ask you the last 4 digits of the RCOB phone number which is 0282. Give Sandee a call if you need help. 360-734-5532
Other payment options are to bring a check in the correct amount to the meeting made out to RCOB or cash in the exact amount to speed up the payment process. There is also the option to pay by PayPal. We have a QR Code that you scan and simply click to pay thru paypal.
Website and Phone App instructions:
Here is a tutorial on how to login for the first time. (Click here) Go to belling mrotary.org first. In order to login you need t know your user name and password in your Clubrunner account. The user name is Your first name.Lastname.264 unless you have changed it. Example: Sandra.Lindhout.264 the password is initially set by Clubrunner at 264 unless you have changed it. Sandee can see your Username from her computer but not the password. She can also change your password for you from her computer at your request if you run into problems.
Once you have originally created your User Name and Password you can download the ClubRunner Mobile app on your phone:
Please contact Sandee at 360-734-5532 or rcob@comcast.net if you run into any trouble.
Guests:
Mark Knittel introduced Scott Herman
Doug Cole introduced Bill Day, retired Captain with Northwest Airlines
Zoom attendee members: Catherine Riordan and Dick Tucker
Vising Rotarian Bill Kirby from Carson City
Presentations:
New Member, Chris Lopez, gave his New Member Talk. He is former military and was able to see the world. He is now with North Star Accounting (formerly Thomson & Co) and provided our Rotary tax support this year. Chris enjoys soccer, running, and being dad to a 3yr and 5yr old. Welcome Chris!!
Program
Abbie VanDonge - Security Advisor for World Vision was our speaker.
Abbie felt at home in our meeting, remembering going to Rotary in Walla Walla with her grandpa, Bill Lloyd.
With former military and FBI backgrounds, Abbie helps provide security operations training for the 30,000 employees World Vision has around the world. World Vision is one of the largest Christian nonprofits in the world and meets a broad variety of needs for the poor from medicine, sanitation, housing, food, to water purification, etc. For World Visions employees, Abbie trains them in crisis response, in everything from vehicle ambushes, sexual assault, terrorism, riots, looting, explosions, etc. It’s high-stress inoculation training. In one section of the training, they even hood the staff so they know what it’ll feel like to be taken captive.
Abbie talked about a month-long work trip in 2018 she did to support World Vision staff in the world’s largest refugee camp located in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh—nearly one million people large. The Rohingyas had been experiencing genocide at the hands of the Myanmar government and had moved to the neighboring country of Bangladesh for safety. She was there to train World Vision staff to remain safe while Myanmar was looking to repatriate the Rohingyas back to their country by force. World Vision worked in collaboration with other NGOs and the United Nations through the “Saving Lives Together” initiative. They worked evacuation routes, phone trees, etc.
While there, Abbie got to see some of the World Vision teams and programs in operation:
Mother’s Club--learning how to be moms
Men’s Club--empowering business skills, relational skills, and just feeling normal in such a chaotic environment.
On a day when repatriation by the military by bus was scheduled, World Vision staff had to pivot to offering orphanage services since many parents had fled leaving their children behind. Thankfully, the buses never showed up.
Abbie had some humbling moments, such as her guide telling her not to eat her granola bar while walking through the refugee camp since most residents didn’t have snacks. At one point she told a young girl that she was beautiful with her lipstick on. The guide encouraged Abbie to say she looks “smart” with her lipstick on, because so many of these kids go into prostitution, believing they are valued solely for their appearance.
Abbie was impacted by her experience and hopes you are too. You can find Abbie and her husband hiking in the mountains with their dog, and preparing for their first baby.
