"Me The Human": 8,000+ high school students helping Syrian refugees
This Meeting’s Highlights
Program: "Me The Human": 8,000+ high school students helping Syrian refugeesSpeaker: Misaki Otani, International Director for Interact District 5170Meeting for the week of December 26, 2016 to January 2, 2017
Is this your first time to visit us? If so, welcome to our weekly online meeting! To complete our meeting, please continue reading from here to the bottom of this page. Each Monday our week’s meeting is posted early in the morning, U.S. Pacific Time. These meetings are designed so that you can read and watch what we post anytime during the week. The entire meeting takes about 60 minutes to complete, with the video conference recording of the program being the bulk of the time.Note that you can easily read this meeting with your favorite device, so feel free to take our meeting on the go with you; read it while on public transit, waiting in line for coffee, or even at the park! Please also make sure to complete the attendance form at the bottom and leave a comment. Enjoy!
Welcome to the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley!
Message from President Mitty
Happy New Year!
Members and returning guests, welcome to the last meeting of 2016 and the first meeting of 2017!Happy New Year to everyone! As 2016 comes to a close and we each do our own reflections, I want to thank all of our club members for the continued support in being part of our family. Our Rotary club turns 2 years old in January, so this is an exciting month for us!As I'm writing this post, I'm still in Shanghai, where I've been traveling in and around for the past few days. I'm here because of a friend's wedding, but I love how my fellow Rotarians have connected me to the Rotary Club of Shanghai. While I most likely won't have a chance to stop by their club meeting since I'll be on a plane by then, it's wonderful to know that there's Rotary wherever you go. I'd encourage all of our members and visiting Rotarians to consider reaching out to a local Rotary club the next time they're traveling to a new destination. It's always great to meet locals and find more like-minded people around the world. Of course, here are some of my photos from my trip so far in Shanghai. (Naturally, food photos are included since I love going on food adventures!)
New Member Challenge:Since this meeting is our sendoff to 2016, and our kickoff to 2017, I want to start off with a new member challenge that one of our own members, Kristi Govertsen, suggested in last week's meeting comments. We'll be trying a photo challenge every month, where members are welcome to submit one or two photos that follow the month's challenge theme. Members are allowed to interpret the theme as they wish, and photos that provide an insight of your personal life or local environment (wherever you are this week) are a plus. Photos will be featured in upcoming meetings. This month's member photo challenge theme is "Something New." Members, please post in the comments section your photo(s), along with a short caption of the photo and how it relates to the theme. You may make this photo post during any meeting in January (including this meeting). Complete the challenge early or repeat the challenge and submit multiple photos every week if you would like!Looking forward to seeing everyone's photos!Enjoy your holiday everyone! Have an awesome and safe New Year celebration!Yours in service,Mitty Chang, PresidentRotary eClub of Silicon Valleypresident@siliconvalleyrotary.com
P.S. I've been receiving your Secret Santa photos and your Coffee with a Rotarian videos! Those will all be posted on a rolling basis. Keep them coming!
Weekly Inspiration: A Human Postcard from 10-year old George
Every week we bring you videos of innovation, inspiration, and entrepreneurship. This week we are featuring a video from Human Postcards, about a 10-year old entrepreneur named George who is just helping the world.
George is 10 and lives in a small town in New Zealand. In his spare time, he designs "Cool Stuff for Boys" made from recycled materials, which he sells online to customers around the world.
George shares how he believes his designs are helping to make a better world. (PS: He screen prints himself!)https://vimeo.com/131203084
George, you're inspiring! Rotarians and guests, after seeing this human postcard video, what do you think you could be working on? What video would you film if you were to send a human postcard? Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section!
Laughing Out Loud (L.O.L.) with our Lady of LOLs
We believe that laughing a little every day keeps you healthier. Every week we try to share with you something that will make you smile! This section is curated by Rotarian Yvonne Kwan, our club’s “Lady of LOLs.”
Happy New Year everyone! Enjoy this New Year themed funny.
Coffee with a Rotarian
This new segment of our meeting is dedicated to featuring stories from members about other members! We pair our club members with other club members for one-on-one coffee sessions either digitally or online. It's an opportunity to get to know your fellow Rotarians better. After the coffee session, each of our members records a short video message about what they learned about their fellow Rotarian, and we feature those videos here.
This week's featured Coffee with a Rotarian video comes from member Tzviatko Chiderov from South Africa. Tzviatko met with member Chris Cochrane from Canada, and they had a great time getting to know each other! This is what Tzviatko had to say about Chris:
We'll feature Chris's video next week!
For Members: Updates
This segment of the meeting is dedicated to our club members. This section includes announcements and new initiatives. Guests, you are welcome to read this section or just skip it.
New Monthly Member Photo Challenge: "Something New"
Hi Members! Member Kristi made a terrific suggestion in last week's meeting comments about a monthly photo challenge. I've included it in the President's Message for this week. Please re-read the president's message at the top of this meeting if you didn't read the part about the member's challenge. Start submitting photos whenever you'd like by posting them in the week's comments! I'll feature photos in future meetings. :)
Reminders - Ongoing Initiatives:
Club elections and club assembly coming up in January! Keep an eye out in your email inbox!
Dues are due by the end of the week!
Coffee with a Rotarian is still ongoing! Videos coming soon
Secret Santa should be completed! Looking for some photos and videos!
Last call for December service blotter!! Update below
Members, want to get your service update into the next service blotter? Please share what you’ve been up to, as it allows us to get to know each other better in the process! Just click on the link below to let us know!
For Members Only: Click here to fill out The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley Service Survey
Our Events & Projects
We hold our meetings online, but we hold regular service projects and social events in the Silicon Valley every month! This section is updated every week with our upcoming events. We welcome guests to all of our events and service projects listed here.
Also be sure to join our Meetup Group for automatic calendar updates and to RSVP for our events! These are open to all guests as well!
https://www.meetup.com/siliconvalleyrotary/
Upcoming Events:
All times are Pacific Time! (San Francisco time)Stop Hunger Now Service Project (Cupertino), Saturday, January 14, 2017 from 8:30 AM to 12 PM
(Please note the date change; it is now January 14.) Come assemble Stop Hunger Now food packages with Rotarians from Cupertino and Sunnyvale during our Rotary Area-wide service project on Saturday, January 14, 2017 at Monta Vista High School, 21840 McClellan Road, Cupertino, CA! There will be two separate shifts - one from 8:15 AM to 10:30 AM, and another from 10:15 AM to 12:00 PM. Sign-up will be available on Meetup. Guests are welcomed but will need to check-in with our club. This is a great opportunity to make a difference in someone's life with a hands-on service project while getting to know some of the other Rotarians in our area!
Event chair: Mitty Chang (please check-in with Mitty once you arrive)
Rotary Wilderness Expedition to Big Basin (Boulder Creek), Sun. Jan. 29, 2016 from 11 AM to 3 PM
Join fellow Rotarians and friends for an adventure expedition into the gorgeous redwood giants of Big Basin Redwoods State Park. We will be meeting at 11 AM (exact location to be announced) and will aim to return to our cars by 3 PM. Please pack your own lunch and water.
Event chair: Andrew Taw
Rotary Area 8 Talent Show (Cupertino), Sat. Feb. 4, 2016
Join Rotarians from through Cupertino and Sunnyvale for an area-wide social featuring talent from every club! Details to be announced.
Happy Dollars
Each week we ask our members to share stories with the club and toss in a few dollars to support our efforts. The primary goal of this section is to provide a fun way of getting to know each fellow members and guests, while giving back to a good cause.
Happy dollars is an opportunity to share something positive that has happened in your life whether it is personal or business. Think of it as your opportunity to brag a little, but also put a little bit into a karma jar. The money donated through happy dollars is put to charitable use, and the message that you leave for happy dollars will be posted in our online meeting the following week for the entire week for folks to see! (Pending that it's appropriate!)
Last week's happy dollars went towards funding club projects! Here are messages from last week's happy dollars:
Thank you to member Monique Ziesenhenne for her $15 donation! Monique had this to say:"Happy that this week there is less traffic going to/from work! Best wishes for a happy holiday to all."
Thank you to member Brian Liddicoat for his $15 donation! Brian had this to say:"We have so many famous people in Rotary. But who were the most "infamous" Rotarian? I don't think Mao, Stalin or Hitler found time for Rotary; weekly breakfast meetings would have been problematic for dictators who did not sleep well. While a lot of Rotary meetings take place in venues with awful food, some meetings are really gourmet. Need to retire early and get to work on my website, "the worldwide guide to Rotary dining".
Thank you to member Rory Olsen for his $15 donation! Rory had this to say:"My wife, Trish, and I have been married 44 years today. That date--December 23, 1972--is also significant to football fans as the day of the 'Immaculate Reception.'"
Thank you to member Nate Gildart for his $10 donation! Nate had this to say:"Happy Holidays to all!"
Thank you all for your donations last week! The money from the donations last week went towards funding club projects including supporting club service grants!
This week's donations will go towards the general club fund to power club projects!
So what are you happy about? Share with us below!
Selected Six
Every week at the bottom of our meetings, there is a comments section for members and guests to tell us what they enjoyed about the meeting or to ask questions to the speaker. We select six comments every week from last week’s meeting to be featured during this week’s meeting.
Here are six comments selected from last week's meeting about Everything you need to know about Rotary:
From member Rory Olsen (Texas, USA):
"Mitty, Thank you for giving us a great, concise informative program. I have been a Rotarian since Reagan’s first term, but I still managed to learn a couple of things from your program. Good job!"
From member Kristi Govertsen (Montana, USA):
“Thanks, Mitty! Rotary Nerd Approved! It was cool to see everyone’s photos in the selected comments. Would it be too complicated to do a monthly photo challenge for our members (optional, of course)? A theme/subject could be provided at the beginning of each month, and then we could all submit a photo or two from that we’ve taken from our respective corners of the world with our interpretation of that month’s theme/subject. These could be posted in our weekly meetings throughout the month–interactive and a literal snapshot of our members’ lives. Let me know what you think, and I would be happy to spearhead the project if it seems like something that would be fun for everyone."
From member Nathan Gildart (Tokyo, Japan):
“Merry Christmas everyone! Mitty, thanks for that. The “Rotary education” meetings we have are informative. It’s difficult to go through all that the parent website has to offer, so that and shared links are great. That Could Piano piece is way cool! I need one of those for my guitar!"
From member John Lozano (California, USA):
“Nate, thanks for the video. I love visiting Japan and maybe I’ll plan a trip through Tokyo next time. Rushton and I meet when I was doing some work with Okayama city many years ago. I miss my time there. Mitty, thanks for the information. I appreciate the background on Rotary and this gives me some focus for the new year. Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all."
From member Raquel Juncal (Costa Rica):
“Nate, a pleasure to see you again! Cool video! Thanks for the info, Mitty!"
From guest Jayprakash Deshpande (India):
"Nice presentation Mitty on Rotary … Merry Christmas! I am a member of WASRAG"
Be sure to leave a comment at the end of this week’s meeting after you watch the program below, and perhaps you’ll see your comment featured next week!
Program: "Me The Human" - How 8,000+ high school students are banding together to help Syrian refugees
Every week we bring to you a program on innovation, education, technology, and humanitarian service. This week our guest speaker is Misaki Otani, the International Director of Interact District 5170. Their project this year is called "Me The Human," and works to band together the over 8,000 Interact Club members (high school students) in their district to help Syrian refugees.
Our recording this week is presided by president-elect Stephen Zhou! Misaki Otani, 16 years old, is a junior at Lynbrook High School. She is the International Director this Rotary year for Interact District 5170 (our club's home district), which represents the greater Silicon Valley from Oakland to Fremont to Santa Cruz to Palo Alto. A budding motivational speaker at a young age, Misaki has a huge passion for service.
Members and guests, please join me in welcoming Misaki from Interact District 5170!
Related Links:
Meeting Schedule
All of our guest speakers and programs are recorded live online. We welcome members and guests to join us in one of these upcoming recordings. Recordings are approximately 30 to 45 minutes long and are subject to change without notice. (Sometimes speakers cancel on us!)
Upcoming Recordings:
N/A
If you would like to join us for any of the live recordings, please email president@siliconvalleyrotary.com with your request. Requests will be checked up until 5 minutes prior to the recording time. Please note the timezone is all California, USA time.
Upcoming Meetings:
Week of January 9 - TBA
You’re Almost Done! One last thing: The Attendance Survey...
Thanks for reading and watching this week’s meeting. You have two last things to do before you’re done. First, we have a very short attendance survey below for you to fill out to record your attendance.
Visiting Rotarians, this is how you can get an email receipt to pass along to your club’s secretary as proof that you’ve attended our meeting if you need it for makeups.
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