Mike Norcia called the meeting to order and Suzanne Boxer-Gassman led the pledge of allegiance. Mike thanked Suzanne for the great video she made for the Great Race.
For our inspiration, Henry wished all the mothers a happy mothers day. He also recommended we be kind to servers in restaurants, to be fair with tips, and to have patience as they do a hard job. Enjoy your next meal!
Visitors
- Our guest speaker Mike Brickley and his wife Cathy
- Arley Marley, a past district governor
- Joe Albers and Luis Lope Alfaro from Grande Workforce Initiative
- Barry Bronson from the senior group in Los Gatos, visiting to see what Rotary is about.
- Andy Garcia Romo, community engagement manager from Sunday Friends
Tom Boyce updated us on his wife’s Carol’s condition. She is doing great after her 8 week hospital stint with a bad infection. He thanked Rotary for our support and prayers.
Announcements
- National Clean Up Day is on May 20. We will be doing a river clean up from 9-12. Sign ups are now closed, but thank you to those who volunteered.
- We are hosting a Work Party to update Live Oak Senior Services at the Methodist church by the high school on Wed May 24 at 1:30. Contact Tom Picraux for details. Our Rotary club helped establish this facility, which is now celebrating its 40th anniversary! There will be a reception on June 1.
- Our annual Family BBQ is on June 2 at 5pm at Oak Meadow. RSVP to Tina Orsi-Hartigan and bring a dish to share.
- Patti says if you are a committee chair to make your budget requests by June 1.
Joe Albers and Luis Lope Alfaro from Grande Center in rural El Salvador updated us on the Grande Center for Education and Grande Center for Economic Opportunity. They just opened a data services training program in El Salvador. Luis came all the way from El Salvador where this program has helped him and his family. He says the goal is to work hard and give opportunities to keep the families in El Salvador, so there is no need for migration.
They invited us to come in October to see the work in progress.
Andy Garcia Romo from Sunday Friends updated us on their program. For 27 years this organization has focused on low income families to break the cycle of poverty in San Jose. In 2020 they focused on helping people learn digital literacy needed to succeed in the Covid era. Now they are re-opening community days to partner with organizations like credit unions, STEM, art programs, health programs, etc so families know resources available to them. They thanked Rotary for our contribution that made possible some basic necessities to those who need it most.
Arley Marley, a past district governor, let us know he is now district web manager and district PR/marketing manager. He can help us develop strategic plans to get us connected to our greater community.
He gave a shout out to Marlon Smith who gave a compelling presentation on ELC to the Sunnyvale Rotary Club many many years ago, which ended up growing the program across the district.
30 for 30
- Dick Konrad is feeling great after his hip replacement surgery. He thanked his MD daughter who came out from Texas to help in his recovery.
- Doug Brent has been traveling a lot, most recently Italy.
- Andrew Howard had some grand adventures in Columbia.
- Ron Cassel went fly fishing with his son on the Platte River. Also, Randy Cobb let him know about an opportunity for an intimate concert with Andrea Bocelli in Italy. The singer was his late wife’s favorite, so he got tickets to go with his daughter in her honor.
- Skip Brewster talked about his trip across 12 states to reconnect with cousins. He says to grab those opportunities!
- Mike the Greek retired from the military.
Mike Brickley - guest speaker from Families Set Free
In Pakistan there are thousands of brick kiln camps that get the poorest minorities to borrow money and then enslave them for life for debt conditions impossible to pay back.
Families Set Free changes the trajectory of these people’s lives for only about $200 each. So far they have successfully rescued 2000 individuals and set them up in school or with a job.
They have helped start 200 small business and have enrolled hundreds of kids in school who’ve never been to school before. They’ve made a huge impact.
Mike was retiring and he heard about this situation from a friend in Pakistan. He found out he could rescue someone from a lifetime of enslavement with just $100-$150 and a bit more to set them up with a job or school. So he started Families Set Free.
You can watch them live on zoom to actually see the team go in to the camp to negotiate the freedom of families. It’s very moving.
Mike shared some harrowing stories of people they rescued, how they ended up there, what conditions were like, the horrific sexual abuse, and the lack of hope.
He now has a growing network of people in Pakistan - business people, religious leaders, all kinds of people. He is looking for help from us for small business coaching, for trauma counselors, and more. He is looking for help to get the word out.
It’s a big problem. It’s a complicated problem. But we can change this. We can end this.