President Marty F. brought the meeting to order
 
Erika B. led us in the pledge
 
Visiting Rotarians:  none
 
Guests of Rotarians:
  • Tina introduced Hadeel A. who is a prospective member.
  • Don M. brought his wife Beverly and his granddaughter who is visiting from University of Utah.
  • Dan S. brought his daughter Elizabeth who is home from school.
 
John P. inspired us with a poem entitled 'It couldn't be done' from his favorite poet, Edgar Guest.
 
Upcoming and Past Events:
  • Marty gave us a recap of the event at Zanotto's "Wine Down".  The wine went down well, and the buffet and tastings did too.
  • West Valley Community Services August 3rd.  Please volunteer to help chaperone a young shopper in finding back to school items. Please contact Suzanne B.-G. for more info
  • Help wheelchair bound veterans to a car show in the VA - looking for volunteers on September 14th. See Lisa N.-C.
  • Backpacks for kids - could use more volunteers August 8 & 9 to pack and distribute backpacks.  Please contact Gae L.
  • St. Luke's coming up on August 20th.  Tina O.-H. will give more information as the event approaches.
Announcements:
  • Committee assignments are almost complete, and chair people should be in contact soon.  Notify Andrew S. if you have any changes. Marty wished to thank Andrew S.for all his help with this effort. 
  • New Member categories - spouse partner/adult/child can get reduced dues
  • Next week's program is Michael Sera who is the President of the Japanese American Museum of San Jose.
  • He will be talking to us about the internment of Japanese Americans in WWII.
  • There is an opportunity to attend the Rotary leadership academy which is a year long commitment that enables you to participate in leadership positions within the club, or in district Rotary Service.
  • First Thursday will be at Gae L.'s home
  • Marty gave a recap of the Tuesday July 9th meeting where we had Chyrle Bacon who did whip and rope work and enchanted our members with her laugh as well as her skills.
 
Don M. gave a special 20 for 20 where he challenged our Rotarians (who are about to go on a fishing trip in Alaska) to catch a fish as big as the ones he has taken in the past (German Brown in New Zealand at 11.25 lbs, Rainbow Trout in Argentina at 20 lbs, and  King Salmon in Alaska at 39.5 lbs). If any of our fellow Rotarians catch a fish that is close to one of the ones Don has caught, he will donate to the scholarship fund in honor of their catch.
 
 
Our speaker was Donna-Lee Young Rubin who is the CEO of Rotaplast International.  She was originally from Boston Massachusetts and came to California to work for Rotaplast.  Her son was an interactor and her husband was a Rotarian as well. She shared a nice story about her interview for her position at Rotoplast where she was questioned about how she would fair in California
where she has no family, friends, or home, and she responded that she would 'always have brothers and sisters in Rotary'.
 
The motto of Rotaplast is 'saving smiles and changing lives'.  They partner with clubs to provide reconstructive surgery for children and families with cleft lips. They have performed over 20,137 surgeries in 26 countries over the past 27 years. They also do vocational training to teach surgeons in other countries how to do these surgeries.
 
Rotaplast organizes medical missions to do these surgeries, and there are non-medical members of these missions which are typically Rotarians. They ask that mission members cover their airfare and all else is covered in case you may be interested.
 
She told a very inspiring story of a young girl from Bolivia who had been very badly burned as an infant.  Her surgery was not going to be possible through Rotaplast, but a few Rotarians there noticed this child, worked together and got her tickets to the US and set up her medical care so she could have reconstructive surgery.  She was able to go to school, and was top in her class. One of the Rotarians who had been instrumental in her medical care volunteered to pay for her college and med school, and she just got accepted!
 
She also shared  a peak into a recent medical mission Rotaplast did to Cebu in the Philippines, and they are looking for volunteers for future missions!  They are also a four-star charity which is the highest rating for non-profits based on the efficient way that they manage and use donations.