Cleft Palate Project in Mexico

Good Day fellow Rotarians and friends and family who are reading our weekly bulletin. Today’s minutes are from TUESDAY, June 7, 2022.

Pledge of Allegiance: Led by Monica McCabe

SONG: Susan Cole led an impromptu singing of God Bless America!

Rotary Moment: Pam announced that gift bags are on a table for a price. Money made will be put towards air conditioning for cleft palate clinic. She auctioned off Mickey Mouse Bubble wand for $50!!

INSPIRATION: The inspiration for today was the friendly reminder to sign up to attend Pam Moulton’s debunking. It will be a fabulously fun affair at the home of Barbara McChesney and David Doht. Susan Cole and Bill Bolster provided a description of the party and a special request from all members. There will be an email sent to all members, other than Pam, with details. Be sure to read!

VISITING ROTARIANS: No visiting Rotarians today.

GUESTS OF ROTARIANS: Kate Smith and Bekah Mortensen

Rotarian of the month: Congratulations to Beth Smith, June Rotarian of the month. Pam acknowledged Beth for many reasons, but especially the incredible amount of work she put in to creating Project Grad 2022.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Passport Meeting in Lakeside room was canceled due to lack of attendees.
Ed Turner announced that the Rotary Bar made $2,322 for our International project fund the first night of the Town Green concerts. Thank you to all who made this fun event possible.
Top Gun Movie night mini-fundraiser is happening on Wednesday, June 22 at 6pm. $25 gives you entrance, wine, and popcorn. Airport Cinemas.
Sandie shared photos and the story of her 75^th birthday sky diving experience! She loved everything about it and would like to do it again!! She didn’t remember to put her arms out during the free fall portion. JB, Carol, Kurt, Jo, Sue, and, of course, Wally cheered her on!
Beth thanked all the Rotarians who participated in Grad Night 2022. It was a wonderful success even with the rain. This event allows a safe and sober fun night for the graduates. Beth expressed sincere gratitude for those Rotarians who gave their time and gave up sleep to make it possible.
Barbara and Bill drew 5 names of the 21 who participated in the May ‘Find your carbon footprint’ challenge. Prizes included plastic and tree-free napkins and paper towels, steel drinking cups, mesh produce bags, and laundry sheets. Winners were JB, Pam, Daniel, Mitchell, and Joan! Thank you to all who participated!
June Challenge is to “Reduce your carbon footprint”.
Bill announced and encouraged club members to join him on Saturday June 18^th for the Adopt-A-Road clean up party.
Rotary Club of Windsor knocked it out of the park with our hospitality suite at the recent district conference. The theme was “Rockabilly – Rocking in the Redwoods.” Pam’s wardrobe crew switched her out of rockabilly wear into Marie Antoinette, suitable for the Windsor Rotary “Paris Bistro” themed hospitality suite in a corner of the ballroom. French cafe music blared, Brian Ling served up “Les Drops de Limon” in martini glasses with blueberries in a fabulous mélange of mixed metaphors! For this effort, our club was awarded the grand prize winner of $1000 to be used for a district or international project. Congratulations to the team who made this possible.

June Challenge: Reduce your carbon footprint

Walk, ride your bike, or carpool to club meetings, grocery store, or other errands.
Eat a 100% plant-based diet for a week.
Eat only locally grown food for a week.
Do a project to improve energy efficiency at home.
Cut your trash in half.

SPEAKER: Our very own nurse extraordinaire, Diane Brabatz, shared her experience assisting with the Cleft Lip and Palate Clinic in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Diane was educated at John Hopkins and is the only woman in the Rotary club of Playa del Carmen. The Community Center built by Rotary is used for club meetings and Saturday health clinics. The community has a high incident of hyper tension and diabetes.

There are two primary doctors who do the cleft surgeries and both happen to be named Dr. Ricardo. The cleft surgery process begins with a meeting with a psychologist who spends time with parents to explain the process and talk about their fears and concerns. Children with disabilities are hidden from view in Mexico so this surgery makes a profound difference in their lives. The clinic is very careful to ensure long-term success, so there is a lot of follow-up, including speech therapist services. Children usually experience speech challenges.

The process for babies begins with a feeding tube to make sure they are nourished. This is followed up with the installation of screws in the upper gumline to hook rubber bands and make a prothesis to pull teeth back. Treatment and evaluations happen and the surgery is done elsewhere. The goal is to fix the nose as well. Cleft lips and palate are generally the result of both genetics and a lack of folic acid in the diet of pregnant women.

The club in Playa del Carmen is all men except for Diane but the Rotary Annies are very involved in the clinics helping in every way they can. The clinic faces many challenges and Diane thanks the Rotary Club of Windsor for our generous $10,000 contribution. This amount funded doctor costs including airfare and hotels for 9 clinics per year. There is tremendous attention to detail making sure kids can live productive lives. Diane invites any member of our club to help at a clinic. No Spanish necessary. . . just a hug, smile and embrace.

Pam thanked the following:

Set-up: Daniel Myers
Greeter: Wally Krutz

Secret greeter: Mike Rausch
Song: Susan Cole
Scribe: Barbara McChesney

A/V set-up: T.B.D.
Zoom team: Michael Juric

Next week: Jaime Carroll talks about the impact of Rotary.