President Doug Brent opened the meeting at 12:30
Sergio Michel led the flag salute
Visitors
- Ina from Spain and Caleb from Los Gatos, newlyweds now living in Los Gatos
- Kim Thorton, who is checking out our club
- Sam Kotmel, Maja Nelson, Jennifer Zumarraga, Joseph Sandoval, Katie Kehriotis, and Kim Thorton from El Camino’s Aspire program
Inspiration
Dan Snyder led the inspiration by sharing an Ask Amy column. When she retired she wrote how to lead a good life: Show up for people, be gentle with yourself and others, lead with kindness and recognize kindness in others, reserve your harshest judgement, be of service, express your feelings, ask for forgiveness.
Fundraising
Doug Brent shared a video slideshow of the Crabfest and David Wells said we will announce full financial results soon. Then John Pencer auctioned off crab cakes and steaks with leftover crab from the crabfest and made over $1000 MORE dollars right there in our meeting!
Service opportunities
- Our club is hosting a blood drive at St Lukes on March 15. Please sign up to donate blood here https://www.redcrossblood.org/
give.html/drive-results? zipSponsor=LosGatosRotary.
Or to volunteer here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4DAEA82AA6F9C07- 54626493-blood#/ - We are serving food at JW House on Feb 25th. All slots are currently filled.
- Rise Against Hunger is an annual multi club fundraiser where we assemble packaged meals for global distribution to the most vulnerable areas. This year it is on Mar 29. You won’t regret helping out- it’s always a fun one. https://www.riseagainsthunger.
org/register/?id= 701Pj00000QDIZkIAP - And finally, we are distributing food with Hunger at Home on the mornings of April 7 and 14. Sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/
go/10C0F4DAEA82AA6F9C07- 54625052-jwhouse#/ - Remember grant champion forms are due by end of February.
- The weekly decorated hard boiled eggs for the homeless were Superbowl themed this week. Thanks Randy Cobb and Kathie Benko.
Social Opportunities
Our First Tuesday Social for March will be at the Gali Tasting Room in Los Gatos. Tuesday March 4 5:30-7:30
Need a printed club directory? Ask Ron Cassel.
Rotary Family
Judy Rodriguez introduced her family: Julian and all their extended family
30 for 30
- Tom Boyce celebrated his 63rd wedding anniversary with Carol. Congratulations!
- Kirsten Bridges commemorated National Donors Day by thanking the donor who saved her husband's life when he had a heart transplant last year.
- Nicholas Welzenbach gracefully thanked the Chiefs for their amazing run and looks forward to Super Bowl next year.
- Ron Cassel talked about visiting Lahaina and updated us on the damage and the beginnings of the rebuild
- Erin Harnett teased Doug by sharing an embarrassing story that this notetaker will omit from public record. ;)
Guest Speaker
Barbara Fishman introduced El Camino Hospital’s ASPIRE program
Then John Cowan introduced Dr Jennifer Zumarraga, El Camino psychiatrist and founder of ASPIRE, as well as Sam, a former patient, and her mother Maja.
Dr Zumarraga shared that 20% of children and adolescents experience a mental health disorder each year. Anxiety disorders affect 32% of adolescents aged 13-18 while depression affects 13% for the same group
Suicide is the second leading cause of death for the 10-24 age group, just behind motor vehicle accidents.
ASPIRE (After School Program Interventions and Resiliency Education) is an El Camino Hospital out-patient program for youth in need of help with mental health. It also 1) promotes awareness and understanding in the community, 2) advocates for better insurance coverage and telehealth for underserved areas, and 3) builds support networks for youth across communities.
ASPIRE aims to reduce stigma by normalizing mental health challenges and to share recovery stories to give hope. They support schools, which are the frontline for mental health crisis, by educating educators and building programs to create safe environments on campus.
ASPIRE’s outpatient program is designed for ages 11-25. They opened doors in 2010, starting with a high school program, and then moving to middle school and transition-to-adult ages. Their Quest program reaches high school students with substance abuse and anxiety/depression. They address what they see in the community, try to meet the needs, and pivot when they need to. They are located right here in Los Gatos close to the Los Gatos El Camino Hospital. Parents are very involved in all programs.
Sam and Maja, daughter and mother, spoke about their experience.
Sam was diagnosed with OCD at age 12 and it was really scary for her- it affected everything and it led her to a dark place. Maja started to look for support and it wasn’t easy. There were so many roadblocks and few willing to talk about it. Meanwhile Sam was getting worse. They finally found ASPIRE 10 years ago and it gave them hope. There was a waiting list - because there aren't enough of these programs - but when they finally got in, Sam found what she needed. She had felt so alone and now she was getting help. She feels lucky to be standing here to talk to us today. It saved her life.
Sam went to ASPIRE every day for 8 weeks. There’s also a parent education component. They used DBT emotional regulation therapy to help her manage her thoughts, behaviors, and actions- things Sam thinks we should be teaching in schools. After 8 weeks putting it into practice, they saw a difference. Maja learned the transformative skill of validation and Sam learned the coping skills she needed.