Meeting Notes from April 15, 2025

• Together we stand, a purpose we find
• Integrity, Excellence
• Bold and united; hope and compassion
• Building Bridges; building a global community

• Last Saturday, Hunger at Home video. 
• Rachelle Lopp, End Polio Now Campaign. If you’re a Rotarian, you are an ambassador to eradicate Polio. The “plus” in PolioPlus means that Rotarians are doing more than stopping the spread of polio in the last four countries in which it is endemic; they also are building a legacy of infrastructure and partnerships that will support the fight against infectious disease long after polio is gone. PolioPlus has many more implications other than Polio; however, our goal is to eradicate Polio. Please consider a donation to END POLIO NOW.
• District Learning Assembly & Speech Contest Finals West Valley College; Saturday, April 26
• JW House—1 of 3 events; first on April 29
• Fisher Middle School Track meet April 30
• First Tuesday, May 6, 5-7pm at the Terraces of Los Gatos

• Born in Long Island, New York, later moved to Saratoga
• Came from a very musically inclined family; her mother was a music teacher and her father was a chemist. Sarah began playing the violin, then, later played the cello.
• She graduated from Saratoga High. When her father became ill, she became an LPN. She also attended the world-class San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
• She was married to the love of her life Greg, who was later diagnosed with liver cancer and given 6 months to live…that turned into 3.5 years. During that time, they traveled and Greg bought a 1947 Woody. In 2022, sadly, Greg passed away.
• Sarah became a cancer patient advocate, worked as a Healthcare Marketing Executive at various companies including Abbott and Genzyme; partnered with NIH, CanCare, Blue Faery and Cancer CAREpoint.
• In addition to everything else, Sarah is taking grief counseling classes.
• Sarah especially enjoys the ocean, which she calls her heaven. She also enjoys Pickleball and travel.

• LeRoy Neider’s son Bryan received the Ignatian award at the 2025 Alumni Awards at Santa Clara University. LeRoy is giving $100 for each of his three children.
• Lissa Kreisler—Celebration of KEEN radio (Lissa was the morning personality), June 8th at History Park.
• Nicholas Welzenbach talked about his amazing trip with his family to San Jose del Cabo.
• Skip and Donna Brewster went to Colonet Baja to help build a Cassetta for a family of 5 in 4.5 days. 
• Ron Cassel spoke of the havoc of Polio, giving examples of the experiences of his relatives and the importance of supporting the PolioPlus campaign. 

Speaker: Ewell Sterner, Founder Hunger at Home.

• Hunger at Home is a FRO-Food Recovery Organization
• Globally, 40% of food is wasted; just 25% of that wasted food could feed every food-insecure person worldwide. 29% of the global population (2.3 billion people) are food insecure. In the U.S. alone, over 110 billion pounds of food is discarded annually. Over 50 million Americans face food insecurity.
• The population in Santa Clara County is 1.99 million. 37% of the population is food insecure; leaving 740K individuals in our county that will wake up without proper nutrition.
• Hunger at Home has recovered 15+million pounds of food since 2008; with 100,000 meals distributed annually. The meals reach: families and seniors, college students, veterans and more.
• SB1383 is California’s law to reduce food waste and cut harmful emissions; Hunger at Home recovers surplus food before it turns to waste.
• Food recovery partners include: Levi’s stadium, Sysco, Hilton, Shoreline and even See’s candies, which provides 250 pounds of chocolate/year.
• The goal of Hunger at Home is to be kind, impact a person’s life with love, hope and dignity and to feed as many food-insecure people as we can.