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Club Meeting Featuring Kathleen Pierz, ShelterBox Disaster Relief
The meeting was opened by the ringing of the bell at 7:35 by Club President Erin Dobbins, who then led the members in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. The Invocation was given by Bob Carris. Happy Bucks were then merrily collected by Sharon Pommerville. Past President Nancy Darga was happy to announce that 1 million dollars was donated by the Stevenson family to put toward the Sibley Prairie, and another 1 million dollars was taken out as a loan.
Next week there will be a Touch a Truck wrap‑up.
Jim Baringhaus, Chair of the Greenleaf Commission, will discuss gardens and the Sibley Prairie.
Thursday will be the Rotary and Friends get‑together at the Schoolcraft Vista Tech Center from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM.
Sunday is the Ninth Annual Good Old Fashioned Corn Roast. Kathleen Pierz mentioned some literature she used for the Rotary Club in Colorado, and Tom Martin mentioned having some generic business cards to hand out.
Our special guest, Kathleen Pierz, then gave a presentation about ShelterBox, which strives to do the right thing and is an important value at the heart of the organization. It was started 26 years ago with 11 of the iconic green boxes, which are critical to survival in disasters. Since then, ShelterBox has provided shelter and aid essentials to 3 million people in over 100 countries. Its global mission is to help the most vulnerable people and provide quick response to areas with various disasters in the U.S. and all over the world.
Their goal is to provide shelter and supplies to disaster areas within 24 hours, and after 72 hours it becomes critical. Shelter innovations include tents costing $800.00, kits to build new homes, and in war zones, kits containing supplies to build new roofs, etc. There is also pre‑positioned aid, such as in the Philippines, where emergency relief supplies are strategically stored before a disaster happens.
ShelterBox wants to also train every Rotary member to be able to explain how ShelterBox helps in disaster relief. The original green boxes have now been retired and replaced by white bags. ShelterBox has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times.
Kathleen was presented with the AM Rotary soccer ball.
The meeting ended with reciting the Four‑Way Test and the ringing of the bell.
Marlene Katafias
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