It's More Than a Tree
Meeting for the week of May 21-27, 2018
This Meeting at a Glance:
Program: It's More Than a Tree...
Speaker: Jonathan Duddles
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!
Here’s a message from President Stephen:
Hello Everyone!Welcome to all our members, guests and Rotarians around the world. This week we have Jonathan Duddles, the Director of Development for Greening Australia, share his work around tackling some of Australia’s greatest Environmental challenges using the best science and people, to return life to landscapes and balance to the natural environment in ways that work for communities, economies and nature.I hope you enjoy this week’s program and, as always, please don't forget to share your thoughts on the Disqus below.
Sincerely,
Stephen Zhou,
PresidentRotary eClub of Silicon Valley
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!”
May 25 is National Wine Day! Enjoy these jokes with a glass in hand. Just remember: no whining, only wining.
He said his non-alcoholic wine was delicious.I said he had no proof.
I've trained my dog to bring me wine.It's a Bordeaux collie.
A bee walks into a bar.He comes out 2 hours later a little buzzed.
Weekly Inspiration
Every week we start our meetings with a short video highlighting innovation, inspiration, entrepreneurship, or social change.
Most of us town-and-city dwellers spend our days pounding hard, paved ground. But in Giethoorn, Holland, residents float through canals. Built without roads, a series of waterways and bridges connect the town’s 2,400 residents. This incredible aquatic infrastructure has even earned the town the nickname “Little Venice.” We have to admit, a life without asphalt, gridlock and the DMV sounds pretty enchanting.
World of Rotary
Tennessee Rotarians fight fire with logistics!On 28 November 2016, high winds blew through the drought-stricken area around Gatlinburg, Tennessee, whipping a few isolated wildfires in Great Smoky Mountains National Park into a massive natural disaster.“The whole horizon was aglow,” says Roy Helton, a member of the Rotary Club of Pigeon Forge. “My wife and I were taking turns getting up, checking to make sure the fire wasn’t getting close to our home. We have roughly 100,000 people in Sevier County, and I don’t think any of us slept very well that night.”Learn more at https://www.rotary.org/en/tennessee-rotarians-fight-fire-logistics.
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 Nicole from Livermore, CA, USA reporting on her chat with Angela from Sydney, Australia.
I had a wonderful time getting to know Angela. She and I had a lot more in common than we expected! We had a wonderful time connecting about our feelings as children of Vietnamese immigrants. We both discussed especting the traditions of our parents but paving a future of our own as well in our respective countries. Angela is also a pharmacist and I learned a lot about her passion for her patients. From the conversation I had, I was able to see how kind and energetic and loving Angela is. We both hope to meet one day, whether in the USA, Australia, or Vietnam. (:
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
Service reports from club members for last month:
John Lozano coordinated and lead a training for CISV (Children's International Summer Village), a non-profit for youth that educates and inspires action for a more just and peaceful world. Over 25 youth from the Bay Area will travel international to participate in several domestic and international programs including Washingtonm, DC; Athens, Greece; Genova, Italy, and Cario, Egypt.
Monique leConge Ziesenhenne volunteered cleaning Mt. Zion Lutheran Church/Crestmont school to prep for Easter celebration
Richard Knaggs donated 15 Robotics Sets to West Riding Preparatory.
Yvonne Kwan volunteered with Oakland's Plant Exchange as a traffic controller, helping to direct participants to the plant pickup zone and ensuring that pedestrians are safe.The San Diego Rotaract Club hosted a house build in Tijuana, Mexico with the nonprofit Casas de Luz. Over the course of one and a half days, we worked with master carpenters to build a house from the ground up as well as decorate and furnish the interior. The house was given to a family of 5 who also had the opportunity to work alongside us.
Nate Gildart: Edcamp Kansai. Planned and coordinated a free teacher's event in Osaka.
Raquel D'Garay-Juncal helped with logistics, supply chain and leisure activities throughout the Holy Week missions.
For Members Only
Past Announcements
Member name badges will be shipped out soon.
Claim your @siliconvalleyrotary.com email address! Email Webmaster Mitty at mittyc@siliconvalleyrotary.com to get set-up with your own @siliconvalleyrotary.com email address.
Join our 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.
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)
June 1-3, 2018 – San Jose, CA – Rotary District Conference for our home district, District 5170 – conference activities begin Friday night at 6 PM, includes an all-day Saturday conference, and Sunday morning service projects in San Jose
June 22, 2018 – Toronto, Canada – Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley’s RI Convention Friday Happy Hour in Toronto from 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM
June 22-27, 2018 – Toronto, Canada – 2018 Rotary International Convention
August 2018 – Our eClub’s second annual charity fundraiser is coming up! More details coming soon!
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
What would you like to do?
Hey Members! What would you like to do? We’re working on putting together some exciting socials and impactful service projects for our upcoming quarter’s event calendar. Let us know what you want to do by posting in our members only Facebook Group (if you don’t have access, please request it with Webmaster Mitty). Remember, you’re only taking advantage of the full impact of Rotary when you’re stepping up to get involved.
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!
Member Rory Olsen made a $20 donation. Here is what he had to say:I am feeling better--slowly. Hope to be back to work next week.Please apply my gift to Polio Plus.
Member Brian Liddicoat made a $15 donation. Here is what he had to say:Planning my family's trip to Alaska this summer: haven't been to our northernmost state since I was a kid....
Member Rushton Hurley made a $10 donation. Here is what he had to say:Happy to help the EPC effort!
Visiting Rotarian Paul Andrus made a $10 donation. Here is what he had to say:Enjoying a makeup meeting from Carpe Diem Exclusive Honeymoon Hotel in Santorini. Thankd for making make ups so easy and enjoyable!
So what are you happy about? Share with us below to help with doing good around the world.
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.
Jacob Willey said:Every time I have joined one of this club’s meetings, I have found something very relevant to my life or what I’m currently doing. The first meeting I attended a year ago, your club explained “coffee with a Rotarian”. At the time I was looking for ways to reach out to other clubs as the social media director for my club in Crestview, FL. A few weeks ago I attended one of your meetings where Rotarians had formed a surfing club. I had just moved to California from FL and wanted to get back into surfing and find like-minded folks. This week, youre featured club is Las Vegas Rotary, and I happen to be in Las Vegas! I’m here for two weeks on business, so I will definitely try to find time to visit those folks!Thank you, Jan, for all you are doing with the disabled folks in Cambodia. My wife (who just joined a Rotary club in Lemoore, CA) has a passion for helping those with disabilities, and I’m going to share this meeting with her. Rotary is a great many things to many people, but more than anything else, it is service, and your work with these wonderful people exemplifies what Rotary is all about.
Rushton Hurley said:Cool story about the tamales, and wonderfully cool Rotary moment from Jan being inspired to help the students in Cambodia. Let's all toss in a few dollars to help with that!
Soli Kiluta said:First time doing an online meeting, great experience. Thanks Rtn Jan for the wonderful presentation and the awesome work you're doing in Cambodia.
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: It's More Than a Tree...
Every week we bring to you a new program on innovation, education, technology, and humanitarian service.
Jonathan Duddles, Director of Development for Greening Australia, talks to us about his organisation's efforts in building relationships and securing funds to tackle some of Australia's greatest environmental challenges through government support, philanthropy, corporate partnerships and environmental finance. Greening Australia started conserving and restoring Australia’s landscapes in 1982 and haven’t stopped since. They tackle Australia’s biggest environmental challenges with the best science and the best people, to return life to landscapes and balance to the natural environment in ways that work for communities, economies and nature. From restoring Tasmania as an island ark for Australia's most threatened mammals, to improving the health of the Great Barrier Reef, Greening Australia works to create healthy, productive landscapes across Australia, where people and nature thrive.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpDQrqQqvsMAdditional resources:
‘We are Greening Australia’ video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhBYSzge55s
Greening Australia Website: https://www.greeningaustralia.org.au/
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 for all recordings are listed for San Francisco, California, USA time (Pacific Time).
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.
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.
More importantly, for all members and guests — we strongly recommend and ask that you leave a comment below 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!
