Greeters: Jeanne Hermens, Edwina Castle; John Larsen provided the Inspirational Moment. He spoke about the recent release of Roxana Saberi, an American journalist who was convicted of spying and sentenced to prison in Iran. She was a1999 Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar, sponsored by the Rotary club in her hometown of Fargo, N.D. Prior to her release, Rotarians and former Ambassadorial Scholars worked to establish a network of support for her though a campaign of protests, letter writing, phone calls and emails. The Pledge of Allegiance was then led by Gene Zinda

Al began by asking Walt Haight to contribute all of his spare cash to the donation basket.

Ryan Arzner and his wife are celebrating their 9th anniversary. They had a bit of a scare recently. Their two year old daughter escaped under the crack of garage door they leave open for the cat and wandered down to the neighbors’, where she crawled through their doggie door into the garage. Fortunately she was recovered, safe and sound. Ryan says that this anniversary will be very special.

Bob Rhoads and his wife are celebrating their 57th anniversary. They have 4 children, 7 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. He told the story of purchasing his first home 55 years ago—it cost $11,000 and his mortgage was 4%.

Scott Chambers announced the “Give a Little” foundation fundraiser taking place in the ballroom Friday the 22nd. Tickets still available.

TOM VALE of Sunrise Rotary announced that his vineyard and winery, Calamity Hill, will be open over the Memorial Day weekend for wine tasting. He is releasing his first vintage and wants us all to support the economy by getting out and drinking wine!

Jill Methven invited everyone to her winery this weekend. There will be BBQ pork, risotto, cheese, bocce ball…and even wine! Her winemaker got a double gold for their Pinot Gris at the recent Oregon Wine awards, held at Waverley Country Club. It was one of only two whites to get a medal.

Art Bradley is seeking committee members for the “Polio Plus” Fun run and walk to be held sometime in August.

Stephanie Jensen needs help with the brand-new Oktoberfest fundraiser scheduled for this fall.

Lynda Wiegan reminded members that rose orders and money are due next Friday—the pick-up date is Friday, June 5th at Citizen’s Bank. She is soliciting volunteer help for painting and small repair projects at the Henderson House shelter, which will be closed during the first week of June.

Al Owen made everyone put a dollar in the donation basket on general principles and then returned to his seat.

BILL MILLER of the Sunrise Rotary spoke about their club’s efforts to create a new community event, one they hope will eventually grow into a fundraiser. It is the downtown “Artist’s Village,” held during the “Who’s on Third” festival during the second week of July. They are holding a wine raffle again this year. Tickets are $5.00 each or 5 /$20.00. Last year Richard Weed won the big prize.

President Chuck thanked Stephanie Jensen and BILL MILLER for their photos of the flag pole ceremony last Saturday.

 

John Larsen presided over the election of three board members to the Rotary Club of McMinnville Foundation Board. It was moved by Guy Everingham and seconded, so Lee Vasquez and Steve Fitzpatrick were reelected to another term and Dan Gardner was elected to the board, all by a unanimous vote of the club.

Dianne Haugeberg reminded members to bring a bottle of Yamhill County Pinot Noir to the next meeting as a donation to the Wine and Art auction.

MAIN EVENT

President Chuck introduced the speakers, LISL STADLER and JOSH BABCOCK, founders of the Bicol Change Education Foundation. These two were exchange students during 2007-2008 and met during the year they spent as Rotary exchange students in Naga City, in the Bicol Region of the Philippines.

LISL is from White Salmon/Bingen and JOSH is from Grandview, Washington, District in 5060.

After a planned service project, the two students asked one of their advisors how they could become more involved with the local children. He took them to visit a local orphanage and found that most of the children living there have parents, but the parents are simply too poor to support their children and so they are being raised by Carmelite nuns.

They were horrified by the extreme poverty they witnessed and found the staff at the orphanage lacking even the most basic hygiene knowledge. (For example, the students purchased toothbrushes for the kids and then had to teach the nuns how to brush the kids’ teeth.)

In this region of the Philippines, 41.8% of the population lives below the poverty level. (By comparison, in Yamhill County the figure is about 13 %.) That means over 422,000 families make less than $324 dollars a month.  In fact, the per-capita monthly income in this region is about the equivalent of $135.00.

334,000 children under the age of 17 work full or part time to help support their families and 41% of students drop out of school before graduation because they can’t afford it.

The cost of sending one child to school for one year is $500.00.

LISL and JOSH decided to make a significant and lasting contribution to better the lives of the children and their families.

They created the Bicol Change Education Foundation to provide funding for education and to facilitate community development. They are partnering with universities and Rotary clubs in the Philippines and the United States.

For those of you who missed the meeting, LISL and JOSH were poised and eloquent speakers with a compelling message.

For more information about their foundation please visit their website: www.ChangeEducationFoundation.org. Or email them at info@ChangeEducationFoundation.org.

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