Unforgettable Stories: Writing about Rotarians
MEETING FOR THE WEEK OF Dec. 2, 2024
This Meeting at a Glance:
Program: Unforgettable Stories: Writing about Rotarians
Speaker: Kate Silver
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. Please also complete the attendance form at the bottom and leave a comment. Enjoy!
To properly attend this meeting, please:
Read and watch the content below in its entirety.
Complete the attendance survey.
Everyone is encouraged to leave a comment in the Disqus section at the bottom of the page.
Message from our President
Welcome our members, fellow Rotarians, friends, and guests. Thanks for joining our weekly meeting!
WEEKLY FUNNY WITH SHAGS
We believe laughter is an important part of life, and we should all make time to laugh a little. This segment of our meeting is meant to tickle you just enough. These funnies are curated by member Steven "Shags" Shagrin!
How to Get Rid of Telemarketers
- Tell the telemarketer you are on "home incarceration" and ask if they could bring you some beer.
- Ask them to fax the information to you, and make up a number.
- Tell the telemarketer, "Okay, I will listen to you. But I should probably tell you, I'm not wearing any clothes."
- Insist that the caller is really your buddy Leon, playing a joke. "Come on Leon, cut it out! Seriously, Leon, how's your momma?"
- Tell them you are hard of hearing and that they need to speak up...louder... louder... LOUDER...
- Ask them to repeat everything they say, several times.
- If they want to loan you money, tell them you just filed for bankruptcy and you could sure use some money.
INSPIRATION
As a part of how we gather content for the meetings, Shags and I (Rushton) share various videos and articles that we think are interesting. Last month, he spotted a story about this technique developed at CU Boulder for 3D-printing "band-aids for the heart," and this video will convince you that medical advances are still awesome!
LEARN SOMETHING NEW
Amazing Handiwork Tricks
That will take you to another level of work!
Club News For Members
We are pleased to announce a new tradition for the eClub of Silicon Valley. We will be adding a new club fundraising project in the Fall/Winter season. This year, our efforts will be for Sanku in Tanzania, Kenya, and other countries in East Africa. As you know, we also support the Walk for Alzheimer’s for our Spring/Summer fundraiser. Please watch this short video to learn more about Sanku.
You may remember a program called Ending Hidden Hunger for 100 Million People from September of last year. The speaker was Felix Brooks-church, the CEO of Sanku, a highly rated U.S. nonprofit operating in Tanzania, Kenya, and other countries in East Africa. Felix spoke passionately about the opportunity to address the tragedy of malnutrition in many communities.
The fundamental problem is that thousands of children die every day from entirely preventable diseases. Why? They have so few nutrients in their diet that they haven't built up the immunity needed to sustain health. They have enough food to eat, but it's lacking in what children need to be healthy - hence, hidden hunger.
Sanku created a device - a "dosifier" - that allows millers in these communities to fortify the flour families buy to feed their children. These mills get technology and support from Sanku to make this an innovative and sustainable enterprise.
A dosifier costs about $2500 to build, transport, and install. Once in place, these devices can provide nutritious flour to 5000 people daily for a decade. The impact on a town is tremendous, and between now and December 22nd our club will work to raise enough money to purchase a dosifier for a town in Tanzania, matched by a mini-grant from our club for a second dosifier for a second town. Please donate today and share this email with those you know!
Next week, we'll share more information about Sanku and challenge our members to get to know food banks in their communities. At a time when we are enjoying the opportunity to meet friends and family and enjoy a meal together, let's also do something about those, locally and globally, who deal with hunger every day.
Please support our efforts to help fight malnutrition in East Africa.
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PROGRAM: Unforgettable Stories: Writing about Rotarians
SPEAKER: Kate Silver
We bring you a new program every week on innovation, entrepreneurship, and education and how they contribute to service to others.
In 2021, freelance journalist Kate Silver got her first assignment for Rotary Magazine: to write about the power of music when it comes to memory, even in those who have Alzheimer’s and dementia. In the years since, Rotary has become a favorite outlet for Kate, because of the rich, inspiring stories and characters she gets to meet, who also happen to be Rotarians. In this Q and A with Rushton Hurley, Kate will talk about some of the more memorable stories she’s written for the magazine, and why it’s admirable that Rotary invests in good journalism to share the work of its members.
Kate Silver has been writing professionally for more than 20 years. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, O the Oprah Magazine, Bloomberg Businessweek, Men’s Health, Chicago Tribune and Rotary Magazine. In addition, she works with businesses, non-profits and universities to write content that brings their work—and their mission—to life. Silver has also ghostwritten several books about individuals and their legacies. Some of her work can be found at www.thekatesilver.com.
Members and guests, please welcome Kate Silver!
To learn more about Silver's work, go to:
https://www.thekatesilver.com/
Our Three Podcast Series
Our main program speakers are available as podcasts in addition to YouTube videos! Each week, they are available on Spotify and Apple podcasts.
Or you can click below for this week’s speaker:
The Weekly Rotarian
Inspiring Solutions
And our original podcast, featuring some of the best of our previous speakers, is still available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
Development Success Stories
Our third podcast features success stories about economic development from around the world. It is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, or you can click below.
UPCOMING PROGRAM RECORDING SCHEDULE
All of our guest speakers and programs are recorded live online over Zoom video conference. We welcome members and guests to join us in one of these upcoming recordings. Recordings are approximately 30 minutes long and are subject to change without notice.
Our online video conference room link for these recordings is always http://zoom.siliconvalleyrotary.com/. You are welcome to join us! Please note the timezone listed for all recordings is US Pacific Time (San Francisco, California, USA).
If you can’t join the live recording, please send your questions for an upcoming speaker to programs@siliconvalleyrotary.com.
THE ATTENDANCE SURVEY
Thanks for reading and watching this week’s meeting. You have two last things to do before you’re done.
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 makeup.
Non-Rotarian Guests, we would love to see who is dropping by our meetings! This part is optional for you. If you think you may want to join our eClub at some point in the future, we would strongly recommend you fill out the attendance form as it will improve your chances of success for your membership application.
For all members and guests — we strongly recommend and ask that you leave a comment in our comments area below. Tell us how you enjoyed the program. Ask this week’s speaker any questions you might have. Or just stop by and say hello and tell us where you’re from!
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