Corazon Healdsburg with Glaydon De Feitas, CEO
Prez Pam called on a patriotic Rotarian to lead the pledge, prior to handing off the microphone to Mike Merrill for an inspirational quote.
I missed the front end of the meeting, but I assume the bell rang at 7:30 sharp, and that President Pam Moulton
Words by Tom Boylan, and images by Catherine Hanron.
Guests of Rotarians:
I arrived in time to hear Linda Favre introduced as a guest… possibly one of the last guest introductions for this future Rotarian.
Monica and Gary McCabe were back for breakfast and friendship.
Kathryn Williams was sitting with her son Brian Williams
Renee Hyde introduced Domingo Callegas… all the way from Peru and looking for things to do.
Our returning former member Mitch Grandi was on hand and is likely to become a new member… again.
Michael Juric introduced Dev Sodagar, a returning visitor destined to join us.
Announcements:
The following are the President’s notes from the meeting today:
- BUDGET (Carol Martin and Ed Turner)
- All Good!
- YOUTH (Pegi Ball)
- Looks good for interest in an Interact Club at the High School
- Dictionary Project moving forward
- Looking to have a Golf Tournament in the Spring for Rotary Youth Exchange
- Rotary Youth Exchange moving forward with selected countries
- CLUB OPERATIONS (Chris Landwhere via Michael Juric)
- R2D2 – new member of the club!
- RECOGNITION (Doug Williams)
- OUR Veteran’s Day event will be on NOVEMBER 16th
- FOUNDATION (John Hackenburg)
- Purple Pinkie
- MEMBERSHIP (Renee Hyde)
- Added 9 members since July 1, with 5 additional in the wings!!
- Club Culture (Joan Mora)
- 3rd Thursday is for Rotary – October 21, November 18 but
- December 11th (Holiday Party!!)
- COMMUNICATION (John LeCave via JB Leep)
- WEBSITE – almost DONE!!!
- ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE (Barbara McChesney)
- Continued coordination with WHS on a student project thru Committee for Change
- SERVICE (Sue Nelson and Susan Cole)
- 18 applications received for grant requests! November 15th decision!
- Toy and Food drive co-chaired by Robin – opportunities for hands on
- FUNDRAISING (Bill Conklin and Kurt Michener)
- Date: March 26, 2021…..Location : Agatha Furth
- GETTING TEAMS TOGETHER!!
- STILL working on the particulars of the Covid Protocols….
- And
The Mission of the Rotary Club of Windsor is to serve our Community and the World.
We strive to better communicate with our members and with the community to inspire and mobilize both our local and global community in health, education, and peace to create transformative change.
Pres Pam recognized that Maureen Merrill did an excellent job last week introducing the Downtown Windsor merchants.
Patrick Dunn says October 28th at his home is the official kick-off of the Wine Fellows group.
John Hackenburg says next week we are going to celebrate World Polio Day. Be prepared to paint that pinky in purple ink.
Joan Mora says get on board… our SMART Train is heading to Brewsters in Petaluma. The train leaves from the Airport station at 5 PM. If you miss the train, plan to be social on November 17th. Please arrive ten minutes early and bring an umbrella.
Bill Bolster says there is a big blue sign along Shiloh Rd, and a few I didn’t get the name of, that reads “Thanks to Windsor Rotary for the Clean Up.” Bill says he can get you hooked up with your own road, just contact him and he can help make it happen.
Renee Hyde gave a final report on the Club’s bar activities on the Town Green. Everyone that had a hand in helping raise funds were asked to stand, but several people failed to remember, so Pres Pam reminded them they did good. Renee went on to tell us we raised over $5400 that will go towards international projects.
Bill Conklin says he had a wonderful time at the Pigs and Pinot event at his home. This was an auction item for last year and he is asking that we consider this type of event for our future fundraising efforts.
Pres Pam thinks I is a good idea to get together with another member so she is asking for names to be thrown in the hat so each week we can see who can connect with a fellow member.
Tom Hassur took on the roll of Fine Meister, He immediately picked on Renee Hyde to tell us about the Stones concert she and Paul attended. Carol Martin got called out for taking JB Leep to South Dakota to see who was on the rock… after that they went off to a place called Las Vegas… and we all know that what happened in Vegas stays in Vegas. JB had such a good time he forgot what he did. He says he will be making a donation toward Polio eradication. Kurt Mitchner took a trip with his son to the Grand Canyon. Kurt tried to buy his way out of a fine by giving Pres Pam jewelry.
Program:
JB Leep took the mic to introduce our speaker for the day Glaydon de Freitas, CEO for Corazon Healdsburg, a non-profit organization with a great purpose.
JB shared that Glaydon spent his youth in both San Paolo, Brazil and the Amazon, not the package delivery kind. His Amazon was so remote that Amazon won’t deliver and the nearest grocery store was more than five miles away from his home.
At a very early age, his father made it a point to read to him, The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As a young man he was selected to be a United Nations Fellow at the Oxford Consortium for Human Rights. He initially came to the U.S. to study law at The University of Houston. We found out that he spent time as the head of strategic planning sfor the refugee and immigration center for education and legal services in Houston providing legal services to indigent immigrants and asylum seekers in ICE detention facilities.
Glaydon let us know that Rotary is very familiar to him because his father was both a Rotarian and a Free Mason. He also let us know that just days ago he became a U.S. Citizen.
He shared that although he is familiar with the environment of Rotary in Brazil with his father being both a Rotarian and a Free Mason. He gave a lot of accolades to the work of Rotary.
We heard the history of how Corazon Healdsburg got started because of a restaurant in Healdsburg that took note of the problems that LatinX people were having with work schedules and community integration in general. The history of the program is available at corazonhealdsburg.com
The mission of the newly formed non-profit organization was to promote people getting together as a Latin American community. Many of the LatinX people they were trying to reach were caught in a web of poverty and work requirements that overrode any social interaction.
Just as the Corazon was getting started the organization found itself caught in the problems of 2017, including fires. The program has excelled in recent years to gain a foothold on fighting poverty. The organization now has funds greater than five million.
Glaydon took over the program last Fall and immediately began promoting the new motto, Together We Are More.
We were introduced to three phases for their actions to improve Individual Empowerment, Collective Empowerment, and Community Strengthening. The outreach they do tries to assess and provide guidance to help families cope and advance to a higher level. All their efforts are meant to bring Corazon Cohesiveness.
Corazon Healdsburg is also focused on the educational needs of the children in their community focus. The organization works with children to help them achieve an academic life, which can lead to college counseling and financial support.
This scribe can’t possibly share all the important work that the organization provides, so take a look at the website corazonhealdsburg.com
Pres Pam was thankful for our being there along with all our guests. She also added the unofficial and unabridged Mission Statement:
The Mission of the Rotary Club of Windsor is to Eat, Drink, Dance and Party while making the world better.