The one when Bob Lawrence looked guilty, President Teresa actually was guilty, and the American Red Cross is helping to support the needy.
March 10 weekly meeting notes
Judi Maier served once again as our official greeter, and Zoomxecutrix. Jeannie Hill offered the invocation. We welcomed guests Dee Ebsen, a past president of our club, and our guest speaker Daniel Wirth of the American Red Cross local chapter. Accompanying Daniel were Red Cross board members Mike Michener and Will Willis.
Sunshine Report: Jeannie Hill noted happily that she knew of no issues to report.
Announcements:
President Teresa Nye noted that DG Greg Horn’s wife Mary Horn had put out a net call, saying that the Emergency Food Network needs 10 volunteers on Thursday, March 11, 1200-1430 to pack food alongside National Guard and other volunteers. If you can help, please contact maryjhorn@gmail.com.
We welcomed Heather Svitak, RN, who is Covid Vaccine Clinic Director for St. Clare Hospital. Heather is a former Medical-Surgical Ward nurse, now promoted to run the vaccine clinic. They have delivered 14,000 immunizations since December, running 3-5 days/week. You can get an appointment through www.chifranciscan.org, or through your MyChart account. If you don’t have an account yet, you can create one as you sign up through the CHI Franciscan web site. You can also schedule an appointment by calling St. Clare’s vaccine clinic at (253) 985-6380.
They post the new appointments schedule every Friday at 11 AM for the following week. Pierce County’s health department is also accepting sign-ups for their pop-up clinics weekly around the area, but those go fast.
The St. Clare vaccine clinic offers Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, which have nearly identical clinical results. When you come in to get your first dose, the staff make you an appointment for your second dose.
Alan Billingsley offered up notice to “save the date” of May 1 for a Rotary work party at the South Sound Wildlife Area. We will be working alongside Lakewood Rotary members, who will be installing their two donated benches, and other area volunteers working on improving this gem of a “park”. Expect more details to follow.
Future Programs:
March 17 Melody Meyer, Pierce Co. Noxious Weed Control Board
March 24 Nichole Ayres, The Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic
March 31 Susan Warner, Lakewold Gardens
President’s Minute:
Teresa Nye asked the assembled group, what’s the first thing you want to do or visit once Covid restrictions are lifted:
- Jeannie Hill offered up that she wants to attend a Rotary meeting in person, and hug everyone.
- Hallie McCurdy would like to attend her son’s college basketball games.
- Becky Newton says that she would like to see her grandson.
- Guest speaker Daniel Wirth noted that he had just moved to the area in January 2020, and he would really like to attend a Tacoma Rainiers baseball game.
Fun And Fines
General Ed was unfortunately away, and no deputy was appointed. But several Rotarians offered up confessions anyway.
President Teresa noted that she still owes for her crime of shortchanging the finemaster last week, and for celebrating a birthday. Marie Barth noted that both she and Bruce also owe for their own birthdays.
Marie also, it should be noted, absented herself briefly, to the great alarm of the assembled crowd.
Teresa ratted out Randy Black, who it turns out is hiding out in Arizona. There reportedly may be some golf involved. More details to follow.
Sheri Hodson offered her own confession for having to leave early.
Bob Lawrence was called out for “looking guilty”.
This Week’s Program
Daniel Wirth is the director of the South Puget Sound and Olympics Red Cross Chapter, serving Pierce, Lewis, Thurston, Mason, Grays Harbor, Kitsap, Jefferson, and Clallam counties. He was joined at this meeting by his son Zephyr, age 5 months, not really by design but more by Zephyr's insistence. As the father of 3 children under the age of 6, Daniel is an expert in emergency/disaster response.
He was also joined by chapter board members Mike Michener and Will Willis. Daniel noted that the American Red Cross (ARC) has made significant organizational changes over the past 10 years, which helped the organization weather the changes mandated by the Covid crisis. It has reduced its physical footprint, offering more public support virtually. The ARC offers support to communities in several “business lines”:
Disaster Services – The most common disaster type is the single family house fire (60,000/year). ARC offers temporary housing support, and funds to get the family back on its feet. It also connects fire victims to follow on services through community partners. The local chapter assisted 75 families last year related to the Sumner Grade wildfire.
Home Fire Campaign – The ARC installs free smoke alarms, and conducts fire safety education. See https://www.redcross.org/local/washington/about-us/our-work/home-fire-campaign.html for more details.
Blood Services – The ARC accounts for 40% of the national blood supply, more than any other single agency.
Military Support – ARC assists military members during difficult times, offering “coping with deployment” workshops, and certified messaging services in case of family member death, births, or other types of emergencies.
First Aid and CPR Training – Visit www.redcross.org to sign up.
International Services – Teams deploy to support overseas disaster response.
If you have additional questions, contact Daniel at daniel.wirth@redcross.org.
And Finally…
