October 24, 2001
This Bulletin was written by Steve Waterman
THIS WEEK’S MEETING
President Melissa Blackburn called the meeting to order. Hugh Largey led the pledge of allegiance and Maureen Eberle gave the invocation to applause. Linda Jalving led us in singing It’s a Grand Old Flag.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Ø Ron Erbetta pitched business sponsorships in the range of $500-1000 for the annual fundraiser for the cocktail reception, entertainment, table wines, program printing, valet parking and table decorations.
Ø President Melissa also reminded us to keep filling our piggybanks so the Club can achieve 100% contributions to the Rotary Foundation.
CHAIR OF THE DAY
Christine
Thompson was born in London, Great Britain and has two children. She has run a variety of businesses,
from a bakery to antique automobile restoration to a restaurant in Mexico. She moved to San Diego in the early
1980’s. She lives in Golden Hill
in a house built in 1928. She is
interested in politics and is an elected member of the Greater Golden Hill Planning Board. She is now the Director, Marketing and
Fund Raising for the Home of the Guiding Hands Foundation. This non-profit organization provides
housing and promotes maximal independence for the developmentally disabled, eg
persons with cerebral palsy and autism.
She has successfully increased fundraising to over $1 million last
year. Her Foundation is looking
for the donation of a small office downtown.
NEW MEMBER
Mike Jones introduced new member Mike
Lewis. Mike grew up in West Virginia
and attended Ohio State University.
He lives in Point Loma with wife and two very young children. He is associated with the Ford Motor
Company and markets alternative fuel vehicles. He has been very active as a guest Rotarian, so much so that
some in the audience thought he might be able to step in as President of our
club next year.
Sgt.-At-Arms
Time yielded to speakers.
THIS WEEK’S SPEAKER
Tana Cleaves introduced Dode Rotherham, CEO
of the San Diego-Imperial Chapter of the American Red Cross. She in turn introduced Mickey Stonier
who led a group of volunteers sent to New York City as part of a Red Cross
coordinated Spiritual Care Aviation Incident Response (SAIR) Team. Mickey Stonier is the Executive Pastor
of the Horizon Christian Fellowship.
Mickey serves as Chaplain for the San Diego Fire Department as well as
Chaplain for the SAIR Team.
Mickey was one of 8 coordinating interfaith chaplains for the SAIR team in the New York World Trade Center disaster. This national team was funded by Congress in 1996 through the National Transportation Safety Board in the wake of the Value Jet disaster. It provides spiritual care to the victims and families of airline disasters. Although Mickey was beeped shortly after the disaster, it took two days to reach New York because of the grounding of flights. When he arrived he encountered considerable confusion as many of the coordinators for mass disasters had had their offices in the World Trade Center. He worked as a counselor in 12 hour shifts in the Compassion Center with families, firefighters and police.
The magnitude of the disaster at Ground Zero was overwhelming and evoked many strong emotions. He recalled that whenever the body of a firefighter or policeman was recovered, the site would go silent with worker’s hats off and saluting. The pictures of missing persons at the Armory were moving. At the same time, the dark side of human nature was evident in heartless pranks and corrupt fund raising. New York victims have an ongoing need for counseling and outreach so Mickey will return in December. He pointed out that grief can continue for years.
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