Bulletins - 2008 - 07/09/2008
This
Week's Bulletin Was Written
By Judy Bambace
President Mel Gallegos called the meeting to order at 7:30 a.m. The invocation was given by Jeanne Merrill. Sandra Schrift led the pledge of allegiance and Mary Engles led the members in a rousing rendition of "Yankee Doodle Dandy."
Paul Marsh raffled two restaurant gift certificates. Donations were made for the followin g brags: President Mel attended the change-over dinner for district governors; Steve Waterman won a blue ribbon at the Del Mar Fair for his Scottish home-brewed ale; Maureen Eberle is helping "Julie" (here on a cultural exchange from South Korea) find new housing during her six-month stay in San Diego; Maureen also shared some insights written by ambassadorial scholar Daniel, who says Rotarians really do change the world; Pete McGuire celebrated his 29th wedding anniversary; and Gary Green finally obtained a Notice of Occupancy on his building iin East Los Angeles. On a sad note, Jane Barry asked for our prayers for her nephew who was recently diagnosed with cancer.
We had one visiting Rotarian from Club 33 and several guests: Paul Marsh introduced Amy Marren; Leah Swearingen introduced Robin Bottomley; Karny Stefan introduced Marti Hess; and Maureen Eberle introduced Jeff Lee , Giovanni (from Italy), Unju "Julie" (from South Korea) and Daniel (ambassadorial scholar from Brazil, soon to be returning home).
Rotary night at the Padres game is this Friday, July 11th.
A Rotary membership seminar will be held on July 26 (with free breakfast).
The 21st annual Stand Down is this weekend. Dave Ferguson and Frank DeFrancesco are organizing our members who will be participating on Saturday and Sunday, July 12 and 13, by serving breakfast to homeless military veterans and their families. For those unfamiliar with Stand Down, it is a weekend event sponsored by Veterans Village of San Diego at which various charities and service organizations provide temporary housing, food, clothing, medical and dental care, counseling, legal advice and other support to veterans in need.
Update on Jeff Hogue: he continues to improve and has an angiogram sc heduled in the near future. Many thanks to Jonathan Stone for coordinating meals for Jeff and Sara.
The next Board meeting is Monday, July 14 at 5:30 p.m.
 Amanda Huynh, sponsored by Jim Mulvaney (who was not present), was inducted as our newest member. Amanda graduated from USD and works in marketing for John Laing Homes. One of her hobbies is surfing. Amanda's boyfriend is a Rotarian in the La Jolla Golden Triangle club. Members gave Amanda a standing ovation. Congratulations and welcome to the club, Amanda!
 Karny Stefan introduced the amazing and awesome Maureen Eberle, who spoke about her recent trip to Bolivia and the important work that Rotary is d oing there. Maureen's trip was almost canceled because five days before her scheduled departure, a political referendum was held, resulting in civil unrest and violence in Bolivia. Despite these concerns, representatives from six Rotary clubs made the trip. Maureen and the others arrived in La Paz and were greeted by that city's Ro tary club president and a U.S. diplomat. Bolivia is the poorest country in South America, with 97 percent of the population livin g below the poverty level. Rotary projects in Bolivia include: a school for disable children; gree n h ouses, where the people grow vegetables to eat and sell; a micro- credit cooperative, which has produced a thriving business for women who make clothing and hats (Maureen modeled several hats she had purchased); a psychiatric and drug rehabilitation facility; and a nursing school. Perhaps the most important project is facilitating the ability to bring potable water to the villagers in remote areas such as the eastern Andes Mountains. With Rotary's financial help, the villagers perform the work to lay pipes and build cisterns. Another water project is Altiplana where the soil is poor and the growing season is short, resulting in widespread ma lnutrition. The Sivincani Water Project will bring water pumps to the region and allow the residents to dig wells in order to ensure clean water for proper hygiene and sanitation. Our club will be applying for a matching grant for these water projects. Thanks, Maureen, for an informative and inspiring presentation.
The meeting was adjourned promptly at 8:30 a.m.
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