Welcome, Neighbor
Meeting for the week of December 30 - January 05, 2019
This Meeting at a Glance:
Program: Welcome, Neighbor
Speaker: Miry Whitehill
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 make sure to complete the attendance form at the bottom and leave a comment. Enjoy!
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Read and watch the content below in its entirety.
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Everyone is also encouraged to leave a comment in the Disqus section at the bottom of the page.
Table of Contents
Welcome to the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley!
Here’s a message from President Tzviatko:
Tzviatko
President, Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley
Guests, we are happy to have you join us this week!
As we see it, our flexibility as an online, asynchronous club allows a special type of service to Rotarians around the world: we make it easier for anyone to strive for and maintain 100% attendance. That keeps you engaged with Rotary's events and ideas, and provides a moment of inspiration for devoting your creativity, talents, and resources to good causes.You are certainly not required to pay anything in order to attend our meetings. However, if you would like to make a small contribution to our service efforts, you are welcome to do so in our secure Happy Dollars section down the page. This could be what you normally pay at your own club's meetings for lunch, for example. Any amount is welcome, but first and foremost, we're happy you've joined us, and hope you will share with others who we are and what we do to help inspire Service Above Self.And don't forget to fill out our attendance form so you get an email you can pass on to your club's secretary!
The Four Way Test
The Four-Way Test is a nonpartisan and nonsectarian ethical guide for Rotarians to use for their personal and professional relationships.Of the things we think, say or do
Is it the TRUTH?
Is it FAIR to all concerned?
Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
Brett from Sydney, Australia
Weekly Funny with the Lady of Laughter (LOL)
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 Yvonne Kwan, our “Lady of Laughter!”
This week, we're ringing in 2020! What better way to welcome a new decade than with a squeaky clean start!
How much fun is doing your laundry?Loads!
What kind of soap does a dolphin use?All porpoise cleaner!
What did the first sock say to the second sock in the dryer?I'll see you the next time around!
Weekly Inspiration
Every week we start our meetings with a short video highlighting innovation, inspiration, entrepreneurship, or social change.
We’re all trying to restart our lives. We have fallen down, and we’re learning how to get up again, says Karen Carter.She is a veteran who lost her home after she got divorced. Today, she lives in a veterans’ village made up of tiny homes in Kansas City, Missouri.It’s a neighborly place where people look out for each other. Mark Solomon, a REALTOR®, co-founded the Veterans Community Project, using his skills as both a real estate professional and a veteran to provide transitional housing to veterans who need a fresh start.
World of
Did you know these experts can help you with your next project?
Learn more at https://blog.rotary.org/2019/11/25/did-you-know-these-experts-can-help-you-with-your-next-project//
Through a Rotarian's Lens
Sometimes a photo can capture an amazing moment. In this section Member Keith Marsh shares his incredible photography!If you'd like to submit a photo for this section please contact Keith.
The Palouse area of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho is one of the richest wheat producing areas of the nation. It is where I grew up. This overhead view taken from an open airplane has several compositional elements.It is organized by the Rule of Thirds with the creek and tree at the crossing lines. The rows of in the hay field on the left creates an interesting pattern and texture. The shadow of the tree is a shape and the tree itself is a form.
Learn Something New
This section is curated by members Shags Shagrin and Rushton Hurley and aims to teach our members and guests something new, fun and useful! If you have any ideas on a fun trick or skill you'd like to share please contact Rushton or Shags.
10 STRANGEST New Year's Traditions From Around The World
There certainly are some very different ways to celebrate the start of another collective journey around the sun. Enjoy!
Coffee With a Rotarian
A natural part of Rotary is the networking and the fellowship you get out of meeting other Rotarians. Coffee With a Rotarian is a monthly program of our club where we match participating club members for one-on-one virtual (or in some cases in person) coffee meetings, so they can learn more about each other. This program is organized by member Tzviatko Chiderov.
This week we have Shags from Walnut Creek, CA, USA reporting on a chat with Raquel from Costa Rica / MexicoI had a delightful Zoom chat with Raquel today, and we talked about many things, including what she has thought about to help our eClub thrive and grow. We are a great place to connect, plus it's very easy to attend a weekly meeting when there are 10,080 minutes in a week and it takes just 30 to 40 of those. (If you tweak the playback speed on the settings of the videos, you can get through them in less time -- just use subtitles to keep up!)We also talked about food, and she's making something traditional from her hometown in Mexico that sounds amazing, but I can't remember what it's called. As our eClub's President-Elect, she's excited about her upcoming year of service, so when she reaches out to you, please consider what she has in mind.
We encourage all club members to participate in Coffee With a Rotarian. You can sign up here!
Service Report
Tell us about service you’ve done recently in your community.Click here to fill out The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley Service Survey
On the first meeting of every month, we feature service reports from club members for the previous month. Thanks for your service everyone!
Club Announcements
Haven't joined the conversation on Facebook yet? Consider joining the conversation by signing into our club members-only Facebook Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/rotarysiliconvalley/
Our Events & Projects
We hold our meetings online, but we do regular service projects and social events in the Silicon Valley! This section is updated every week with our upcoming events. We welcome guests to all of the events and service projects listed here.
Past Events:
Upcoming Events:
All times are Pacific Time! (San Francisco time)
District 5170 Events
All times are Pacific Time! (San Francisco time)More events coming soon! All events are open to guests, unless otherwise mentioned. Feel free to join us! If you ever have questions, please email inquiries@siliconvalleyrotary.com
Happy Dollars: Do Good by Sharing Something Good
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!)
Here are the happy dollars contributions from last week!This section is usually updated on the early hours of Saturday, so contributions made over the weekend may not be listed here.
Rory Olsen made a $20 donation.The weather is in the low seventies. Beautiful week is forecasted. Please apply my gift to Polio Plus. Season's greetings to all!
Caleb LaPlante made a $20 donation.Happy to have been approved as a new member of the club! Looking forward to interacting with you all via socials, program videos, Coffee with a Rotarian, and maybe even in person, too. Thank you for including me in your ranks. Grateful for Rotary, and for new club and service opportunities.
Selected Comments
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 a few comments every week from last week’s meeting to be featured during this week’s meeting.
Here are the comments selected from last week’s meeting.
Nathan Gildart said:
Bill, your experience really comes out in your presentation. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise with us and encouraging us to do the right thing.Loved the gentleman in Bangalore. It pleasantly reminded me of a friend who passed away this year. (he loved everything red) The Christmas traditions video was great - and yes, chicken is the norm on this children's and couple's holiday in Japan. (we don't quite do it that way in my home...) If you're up for a little Christmas learning and Jeopardy, here is something I've done recently on Google Earth:
Have a little fun with this Christmas History tour on Google Earth.https://tinyurl.com/rzcewlq
Read through and then test your knowledge with a Jeopardy game.https://tinyurl.com/st2ohyh
Happy Holidays to those celebrating!
Tzviatko Chiderov said:
Interesting video about the unusual Christmas traditions from around the world :)Thanks Bill for the nice discussion on ethics and how The Four Way Test embodies all that is important in living an ethical life.
Nan Herron said:
50 years of perfect attendance ..... wow! and, the 4-way test is such a nice scaffolding to live life by! I love seeing Ferheen recitation, obscure Xmas traditions around the world, and a red-n-white in Bangalore! Another quality array of programming! Happy holidays, everyone!
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: Welcome, Neighbor
Speaker: Miry Whitehill
Every week we bring to you a new program on innovation, entrepreneurship, and education, and how those contribute to service to others. Special thanks to member Roger Plested for leading our club's Programs Committee in finding us amazing speakers each week.The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley seeks to explore perspectives on service from across the world. The views of the speakers in our programs are their own, and unless stated otherwise, are not necessarily reflective of the views of our eClub nor Rotary International.
If you have an idea for a cool speaker, please feel free to reach out to them directlyor submit THIS FORM so our Program Committee can contact them!
Welcome, Neighbor is led by Miry Whitehill, founder and executive director of Miry’s List. Miry started Miry's List in July 2016 when a friend introduced her to a family of new arrival Syrian refugees resettling in Los Angeles with kids the same age as her own.Until then, she was a stay-at-home mom and community activist with 10 years experience in digital marketing. She speaks fluent Hebrew and is learning Arabic in the car on an app with her sons. Learn more at miryslist.org.This talk focuses on three areas of refugee resettlement:The refugee system and how it worksHow it feels for families resettlingHow we can help our new neighbors
Additional ResourcesLearn more and get involved at miryslist.orgSocial Media:
Share your thoughts or ask our speaker a question in the comments at the bottom of this meeting page!
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 https://zoom.us/j/5104080000. 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.
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Thanks for reading and watching this week’s meeting. You have two last things to do before you’re done.
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