A REVIEW OF THE PANDEMIC’S EFFECT ON OUR YOUTH

PRESIDENT BOB MILLER (VP Business Services, First US Community Credit Union) called the meeting to order with his usual aplomb.

We had an enthusiastic team of greeters, Tuesday, consisting of CLAYTON LEE (C.K.L. Trust), LEV KAGONOVICH (Consultant/Energy Leed & Commissioning Consulting), and JAMIE FURLONG (Securitized Real Estate Specialist/Bangerter Financial Services). Special thanks to KEVIN WILLIAMS (Chief Sponsorship Manager/KVIE) who graciously hosted the Wine Reception. Our steadfast photographer JOHN SWENTOWSKY (Owner/Swentowksy Photography) along with our Pulse Reporters, the dynamic duo of SHIRLEE TULLY (Chief Development and Brand Officer/CapRadio) and JIM CULLETON (Strong and Associates), who made sure we wouldn’t forget even a second of this meeting.

KELLEY MORAN (President of Moran & Associates) our fellow Rotarian and resident yogi shared his thought for the day on the theme of mental health. KELLEY shared that yoga and meditation can offer a path to a healthy mindset, but taking action is also critical. He recommends incorporating the following three actions into daily life: maintaining a sense of humor, practicing supreme compassion for yourself and others, and committing to radical gratefulness.

KELLEY- thank you for these timely words of wisdom!

To watch KELLEY present his thought for the day, CLICK HERE.

Sergeant-at-Arms, GUILIANO KORNBERG (Chief Revenue and Development Officer/Sacramento Philharmonic & Orchestra) welcomed Jennifer Parcelles, guest of PAST PRESIDENT JOHN LEMMON (Managing Partner at Knox, Lemmon & Anapolsky, LLP), Aricella Solis guest of ERIC SOLIS (Solis Financial Strategies Group of Wells Fargo Advisors) and Julie Hirota guest of PAUL KEEFER (Executive Director of Pacific Charter Institute). We all gave a warm welcome!

Tuesday’s spotlight was on the work of the INTERNATIONAL SERVICES COMMITTEE (ISC), chaired by CLAYTON LEE. JAMIE FURLONG informed the club about the committee’s work and shared our club’s goal of collaborating to provide clean water, enhanced hygiene, and reliable sanitation to 1 million people around the world. Our ISC currently has projects in Uganda, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The committee accomplishes this by partnering with other clubs, districts, Rotary International and nonprofits around the world. In a typical project, when a member of our club donates a dollar locally, that gift can be multiplied 7 times by matching funds from these partners to support projects that our ISC had committed to – a worthy investment to bring clean water to those who deserve it just as much as we do!

Sponsored by MIKE MIKLAUS (Mortgage Broker at Integrity Mortgage) and GERI DABI (Compliance and Risk Manager), our newest member KATHY TOSCHI (Financial Advisor/Edward Jones) was introduced by PAST [RESIDENT PETER DANNENFELSER. KATHY moved to Sacramento in 2000 from the Bay Area and has 2 adult children. KATHY will fit right into our club because of her commitment to volunteering, which she began at the age of 12. With her passion for causes related to children and animals, there will be no lack of opportunities to welcome her into service among Rotarians.

Sacramento Century – JAMIE FURLONG reminded us all that the Sac Century Challenge is this Saturday, October 2^nd, and that we need volunteers! She recommended that everyone present commit to helping out and call a club member who has not been involved recently to invite them to join in.

Now is a great time to donate to this worthy cause. Click Here to aid us in helping the Sacramento Crisis Nursery.

Loaves & Fishes – JOHN SWENTOWSKY asked for 2 more volunteers for Thursday’s afternoon session (10:30am to 1:00pm).

Blood Drive – KATHE NATHAN (Vice President Relationship Manager Merchant Bank of Commerce) shared that there will be a mobile blood drive on October 12^th at the Greek Church and we need 15 people to participate.

Many people were thankful, generous, and shared their good will:

DANIELLE MCGARRITY (Development Director, Sacramento Children’s Home) introduced our speaker, KELLY RICHARDSON. According to DANIELLE, KELLY has been in private practice in Sacramento as a licensed Marriage, Family & Child Therapist since 1997. She is known for her direct approach to therapy and the belief that proper communication and clear boundaries help build strong and lasting relationships. While she focuses on serving teens, KELLY connects well to all ages of patients and provides real-world solutions to problems. She strives to create a safe and nurturing environment where patients feel supported and encouraged to explore areas in their lives that are creating stress or difficulty. Also known as “Thera-Mom” (as a therapist and a mother of three), KELLY offered to share about her work, experiences, and what she’s seen over the past year and a half – certainly important conversations given everything we’ve collectively been through in the pandemic.

KELLY RICHARDSON began her talk by sharing video clips gathered from an Instagram survey among teens across the country during the pandemic. As the quotes showed clearly, everything that teenagers hold dear was taken from them during the pandemic and the effect was profound in three major ways – academically, socially and emotionally.

From an academic standpoint, teen’s bedrooms became their classroom overnight and they had to learn everything through a screen, no matter what type of learner they are. They lost out on important milestones in their lives that they had been looking forward to. Many students literally stopped trying because schools promised that their grades would not go lower than before pandemic. Students were in their bedrooms nearly 24/7 and as a result, the Class of 2021 dubbed itself the “Forgotten Class.” Kelly emphasized that all of these pandemic-related conditions were added on top of a system that had already made the stress of getting into college insurmountable.

From a social standpoint, the words teens used to describe their experience are “isolated, disconnected, withdrawn.” Connecting with peers is an absolutely defining part of being a teen and the pandemic robbed them of the ability to make new friends. The fact that students had to isolate in small pods made many fell like outsiders due to not having a normal a peer group. To make matters worse, social media kept images in front of them of others doing what they would love to be doing, which emphasized the feeling of isolation. Both extroverts and introverts suffered a developmental gap in learning how to talk and connect with people since everything was done through the screen.

The emotional toll of the pandemic was dramatically illustrated by the 2020 CDC survey showing that 26% of teens had suicidal thoughts during the prior 30 days. Mental health visits to ERs increased by 31%. Eating disorders were on the rise due to body dysmorphia fueled by increased exposure to influencers and online body filters. Issues with sleep cycles, aggression and depression/anxiety all went through the roof and therapists could not keep up with the demand for mental health services and began to suffer from compassion fatigue.

Given all this disturbing information, what can we do to help? We can offer our teens a safe place to talk and support any request for therapy. It is critical for them to be able to share their concerns with someone who is not in their family. Remind that it’s brave not to struggle in silence and it’s “ok to admit you are not ok.” KELLY stressed that her practice is full of high achievers who are over-stressed, not under achievers and that we should not make them feel like failures if they did not succeed during the pandemic. We should also encourage them to unplug and lead by example by turning off our own screens. Exercise can also play a key role in alleviating stress and is another area where parents can model good behavior. Finally, KELLY recommended that we encourage teens to take advantage of the California Warm Line (855-845-7415), which is a peer-run support service for those who are not in an emergency, but need someone to talk to,

CLICK HERE for a recording of KELLY RICHARDSON’s presentation.

If you missed Tuesday’s meeting, don’t fret! You can watch a recording of it HERE.

Sergeant-at-Arms GUILIANO reminded everyone that we are dark next week and encouraged everyone to attend the Sacramento Century Ride. The next meeting will be on October 12^th. See you there!