News & Updates
12-2-22 Concord Rotary Newsletter
By Anthony A. AkinsMonday, December 5, 2022The meeting was called to order by Pres. Memory Woodard, The pledge was led by David Litty and the 4-way test was led by Brad Prescott.
Introductions:
Guests in attendance were a high school friend of Dave Litty's, Matt Fantin, Carol Longshore from the Concord Historical Society, and for the third time, Rick Ernst introduced Monica Bullet, who is considering joining our club. Gwynn Jones introduced his associate from the Salvation Army, Sean Pierce. We also had in attendance Rotarian Russ Anderson from the Walnut Creek noon club.
Rick Ernst inducted Josephine Leiva into our club. She is an insurance agent, enjoys hiking, volunteering, reading and being a mom to her two young sons. She has already joined the club at the food bank sorting food with her older son, Abraham, and is ready to dig in and help our community even more.
Welcome aboard Josephine! We are lucky to have you and your family join ours. Abraham was positively beaming at Josephine's recognition!
Pres. Memory thanked Russ and Carolyn Anderson for lending us their beautiful showroom for our Ukrainian visitors to tell us about themselves and their busy week.
Club member Susan Grossman was given a plaque from the Honduras Rotary Club where she and Michael Barrington have been leading a project for about 6 years.
As always, international projects prove to be so rewarding and I think our members get just as much out of it as those they help. A big thanks to Michael Barrington and Susan Grossman for all of their hard efforts in getting this project off the ground and completed.
Parmod Kumar shared with us some pictures from the last Food Bank food sorting, noting that those club members and guests who attended sorted 1,650 bread items and 2,900 lbs of produce. Great Job!
Chris Moulis sent around the sign-up sheet for our annual Salvation Army bell ringing. Gwynn reminded us how important this project is to the Salvation Army, as 45% of their annual budget comes from the kettle collections.
Dave Litty updated us on exchange student Maurice's "goings on" at Y.V. He is getting all "A"s but for one "B" and is pissed off about that. Good for you Maurice! American football is over, so Maurice joined world football (that's soccer to us Americans) and is proud to be (jokingly) the only one who speaks English.
Greg Grassi introduced our guest speaker Jim Kennedy, who is a board member of the Kennedy King Foundation.
This non-profit was started in our community in 1968 by a group who were so upset by the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, they wanted to do something to honor these men.
Hence the name and the beginning of a wonderful non-profit. The Kennedy King Foundation gave out 34 scholarships in 2022 to help struggling students to advance their college education. Primarily a $12 K scholarship to help the individual get through community college. It is all based in Contra Costa county for county residents.
Jim Kennedy introduced three fellow board members, all of whom had been recipients of this scholarship, had advanced in their careers and are back in our community now; being highly productive members and going full circle by joining the board of Kennedy King.
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The three members, Eva Preciado Lumden (Speech Pathologist), Miguel Mauricio (a Yale graduate and now an attorney) and Robin Lopez ( who has a PhD in hydrology) all shared with us their struggles in life, their struggles to get into and through college and how much the Kennedy King Scholarship helped them. Their stories were quite inspirational! This is a truly deserving organization and these individuals are now paying back ten fold.
The Kennedy King's next gala/fundraising event is May 12th. Reserve the date for a truly special event and more inspirational stories!
We tried to end the meeting but a few more club business announcements were given:
Rita Corbinook reminded us about the Toys for Tots collection, and the upcoming holiday party at Inge's. Check your emails for details.
Elizabeth Andreason bought out the entire Ruth Bancroft Gardens Christmas light gala last Friday evening and invited all to attend as their guests.
Rick Ernst updated the club on Dianne Ernst's recent second broken femur, and gave a special thanks to Rita. Rita was with Rick and Dianne when it happened and took over, calling emergency etc. - letting Rick take care of Dianne.
Dennis Woodard had the raffle /drawing winning number, but did not draw the winning marble, and so the pot grows.
WASH in Schools - Honduras
By Susan Cohen GrossmanFriday, May 10, 2019WASH in Schools
Photos provided by Susan Wood Photography
The Honduras Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Schools Project has a team of Rotarians from Concord and Tocoa, Honduras, working together, along with each school’s Parent Committee, school principals, education officials, and teachers, all contributing to healthy schools, healthy children, and healthy communities. All the schools are in the underserved Colon Region of Northern Honduras, a remote area adjacent to the Mosquito Coast, with one road in and out.
drinking water at this school!
This is the water supply in the schools currently and the kids drink from the spigot (water is usually contaminated).
During construction
In addition to construction, WASH in Schools involves weekly data gathering via MWater by Parents and Rotarians.
CDM Smith, a large engineering firm, is doing data analysis of the information obtained in our surveys.
Teacher training, where the initial 30 trained teachers will serve as trainers for the additional 200 teachers on water, sanitation, hygiene, and menstrual hygiene management, is being coordinated by the Education Ministry and Tocoa Rotary. Teachers in all subjects and grades will be given tools to use to teach WASH in various subjects, including a customized WASH manual to help develop grade and subject-appropriate curricula for their students.
The actual construction has been completed in five of the six schools and we were able to see the results; especially heartwarming was the assistant principal at a school called “Centro America”proudly showing off the supply cabinet with menstrual materials, cleaning supplies, and toilet paper.
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Finished Construction (with soap at each sink!)
Internationally, we are working closely together as the host (Concord) and international (Tocoa) clubs, to radically improve the physical and educational environments of targeted schools in Honduras, with the resulting monitored results demonstrating a sustainable model for schools, communities, regions, and educational systems in this part of the world. We thank Concord Rotary Club for funding and supporting the project and helping to assure the success of this project.
For more information, please contact Michael Barrington or Susan Cohen Grossman. Both of us, and the President of the Tocoa Club, will be presenting on various aspects of the WASH in Schools project in Hamburg to the Water and Sanitation Rotary Action Group (WASRAG) on May 31, 2019.
12-2-22 Concord Rotary Newsletter
The meeting was called to order by Pres. Memory Woodard, The pledge was led by David Litty and the 4-way test was led by Brad Prescott.
Introductions:
Guests in attendance were a high school friend of Dave Litty's, Matt Fantin, Carol Longshore from the Concord Historical Society, and for the third time, Rick Ernst introduced Monica Bullet, who is considering joining our club. Gwynn Jones introduced his associate from the Salvation Army, Sean Pierce. We also had in attendance Rotarian Russ Anderson from the Walnut Creek noon club.
Rick Ernst inducted Josephine Leiva into our club. She is an insurance agent, enjoys hiking, volunteering, reading and being a mom to her two young sons. She has already joined the club at the food bank sorting food with her older son, Abraham, and is ready to dig in and help our community even more.
Welcome aboard Josephine! We are lucky to have you and your family join ours. Abraham was positively beaming at Josephine's recognition!
Pres. Memory thanked Russ and Carolyn Anderson for lending us their beautiful showroom for our Ukrainian visitors to tell us about themselves and their busy week.
Club member Susan Grossman was given a plaque from the Honduras Rotary Club where she and Michael Barrington have been leading a project for about 6 years.
As always, international projects prove to be so rewarding and I think our members get just as much out of it as those they help. A big thanks to Michael Barrington and Susan Grossman for all of their hard efforts in getting this project off the ground and completed.
Parmod Kumar shared with us some pictures from the last Food Bank food sorting, noting that those club members and guests who attended sorted 1,650 bread items and 2,900 lbs of produce. Great Job!
Chris Moulis sent around the sign-up sheet for our annual Salvation Army bell ringing. Gwynn reminded us how important this project is to the Salvation Army, as 45% of their annual budget comes from the kettle collections.
Dave Litty updated us on exchange student Maurice's "goings on" at Y.V. He is getting all "A"s but for one "B" and is pissed off about that. Good for you Maurice! American football is over, so Maurice joined world football (that's soccer to us Americans) and is proud to be (jokingly) the only one who speaks English.
Greg Grassi introduced our guest speaker Jim Kennedy, who is a board member of the Kennedy King Foundation.
This non-profit was started in our community in 1968 by a group who were so upset by the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, they wanted to do something to honor these men.
Hence the name and the beginning of a wonderful non-profit. The Kennedy King Foundation gave out 34 scholarships in 2022 to help struggling students to advance their college education. Primarily a $12 K scholarship to help the individual get through community college. It is all based in Contra Costa county for county residents.
Jim Kennedy introduced three fellow board members, all of whom had been recipients of this scholarship, had advanced in their careers and are back in our community now; being highly productive members and going full circle by joining the board of Kennedy King.
The three members, Eva Preciado Lumden (Speech Pathologist), Miguel Mauricio (a Yale graduate and now an attorney) and Robin Lopez ( who has a PhD in hydrology) all shared with us their struggles in life, their struggles to get into and through college and how much the Kennedy King Scholarship helped them. Their stories were quite inspirational! This is a truly deserving organization and these individuals are now paying back ten fold.
The Kennedy King's next gala/fundraising event is May 12th. Reserve the date for a truly special event and more inspirational stories!
We tried to end the meeting but a few more club business announcements were given:
Rita Corbinook reminded us about the Toys for Tots collection, and the upcoming holiday party at Inge's. Check your emails for details.
Elizabeth Andreason bought out the entire Ruth Bancroft Gardens Christmas light gala last Friday evening and invited all to attend as their guests.
Rick Ernst updated the club on Dianne Ernst's recent second broken femur, and gave a special thanks to Rita. Rita was with Rick and Dianne when it happened and took over, calling emergency etc. - letting Rick take care of Dianne.
Dennis Woodard had the raffle /drawing winning number, but did not draw the winning marble, and so the pot grows.
WASH in Schools - Honduras
WASH in Schools
Photos provided by Susan Wood Photography
The Honduras Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Schools Project has a team of Rotarians from Concord and Tocoa, Honduras, working together, along with each school’s Parent Committee, school principals, education officials, and teachers, all contributing to healthy schools, healthy children, and healthy communities. All the schools are in the underserved Colon Region of Northern Honduras, a remote area adjacent to the Mosquito Coast, with one road in and out.
drinking water at this school!
This is the water supply in the schools currently and the kids drink from the spigot (water is usually contaminated).
During construction
In addition to construction, WASH in Schools involves weekly data gathering via MWater by Parents and Rotarians.
CDM Smith, a large engineering firm, is doing data analysis of the information obtained in our surveys.
Teacher training, where the initial 30 trained teachers will serve as trainers for the additional 200 teachers on water, sanitation, hygiene, and menstrual hygiene management, is being coordinated by the Education Ministry and Tocoa Rotary. Teachers in all subjects and grades will be given tools to use to teach WASH in various subjects, including a customized WASH manual to help develop grade and subject-appropriate curricula for their students.
The actual construction has been completed in five of the six schools and we were able to see the results; especially heartwarming was the assistant principal at a school called “Centro America”proudly showing off the supply cabinet with menstrual materials, cleaning supplies, and toilet paper.
Finished Construction (with soap at each sink!)
Internationally, we are working closely together as the host (Concord) and international (Tocoa) clubs, to radically improve the physical and educational environments of targeted schools in Honduras, with the resulting monitored results demonstrating a sustainable model for schools, communities, regions, and educational systems in this part of the world. We thank Concord Rotary Club for funding and supporting the project and helping to assure the success of this project.
For more information, please contact Michael Barrington or Susan Cohen Grossman. Both of us, and the President of the Tocoa Club, will be presenting on various aspects of the WASH in Schools project in Hamburg to the Water and Sanitation Rotary Action Group (WASRAG) on May 31, 2019.