Rotary Meeting: May 4, 2021

 

Introduction & Guests Galore

PRESIDENT KEVIN SMITH-FAGAN (Executive Director of Fairytale Town) ushered in May the 4th Be with you in dramatic fashion. As it turns out, Darth Vader attempted to take over Presidency – but through a high energy heroic light sabre battle, Kevin was victorious! Whew. We also were pleased to have a visit from our German Rotarian friend KRISTIN OLBERT who will be moving to Sacramento (Folsom) soon. We met KRISTIN a few months ago and she has been very busy getting married and completing her Masters! We look forward to her arrival. DR. PAUL KEEFER was the scribe for the day and MEGAN WYGANT patriotically led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Our Rotarian guests included BRANDON T. (Health & Benefits Consultant at AON), who is interested in our Young Professionals group. We had a colleague of PRESIDENT KEVIN, STEVE CARRILLO, who is part-retired, part-musician, and part-fundraising support team for Fairytale Town. KIMBERLY KEY (CEO at Boys and Girls Club of Greater Sacramento) announced herself and thanked the Teichert’s for inviting her. Finally, BOBBIE HALES, (Shareholder at Gilbert CPAs) was happy to be joining us.

 

Thought for the Day

NANCY TEICHERT reflected on World Press Freedom Day on May 3rd. NANCY provided insights into the dissemination of local news and its impacts on civic society. Print advertising revenue continues to plummet; Without local news, we are left with the grim picture that it portends for a thriving democracy. NANCY noted the Sacramento Bee ownership changing from McClatchy to a hedge fund that outsources some of its journalism. She concluded with quotes from John Adams and Walter Cronkite, who was one of her favorites.

 

Meeting Sponsor

PAST PRESIDENT FRED TEICHERT (Executive Director / Teichert Foundation) graciously sponsored KIMBERLY KEY, the Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Club of Sacramento, for our meeting. The Boys and Girls Club of Sacramento is one of the many youth led programs the Rotary Club of Sacramento helped to establish in the region. KIMBERLY talked about the development and implementation of Club Connect when schools and locations were closed due to COVID protocols. Club Connect allowed staff and volunteers to deliver boxed programs to the doorsteps of students and parents to keep children  engaged for the upcoming week. 1300 at-risk students across the region at 10 sites are being supported (virtually and in person). Club Connect also distributes over 500 fresh food boxes each week. This Summer, the Boys and Girls Club will work to minimize the effects of the learning gap that is resulting from the disruption in school curriculum since COVID. KIMBERLY invited Rotarians to their club’s “Broke Ball: Tuxedos & Takeout” on June 10th to continue supporting youth that need us the most. The Broke Ball fundraiser will be a drive-thru event; a ticket costs $125 which gets your two (2) dinners, appetizers, drinks, and a top-of-the-line drive-thru experience. A link will be sent to the Rotary members!

CLICK HERE to learn more about the upcoming Broke Ball 2021 by the Boys and Girls Club of Sacramento.

Club Updates and Announcements

  • Loaves and Fishes – Our club did a fantastic job showing our support by preparing and distributing meals at Loaves and Fishes. JOHN SWENTOWSKY (Owner of Swentowsky Photography) really knows how to lead the troops; thank you JOHN for organizing and recruiting Rotarians to participate in our quarterly shift. Please consider signing up for the next Loaves and Fishes opportunity.

 

  • Pinewood Derby Car Race – PAST PRESIDENT PETER DANNENFELSER II (President of Architectural Arts) could not have represented our Club any better, as he skillfully engineering our Pinewood Derby car and a full presentation for the big showdown with District 5180! His expertise for Formula One allowed him to maximize the potential for our RCS car successfully beating the Point West car! He was forced to use all of his experience and ingenuity to ensure our car was competitive with the seemingly changing rules. The presentation and execution of a car race has never looked so effortless, thank you PAST PRESIDENT PETER! The full results of the car race will be announced at our upcoming virtual conference.

 

  • Golf for Kids – CALLEE SETZER (Sales at Setzer Forest Products) smiled check-to-cheek during her weekly G4K update. May 21st is our 99th annual Golf for Kids. Just over two weeks until the big event and we still have tee signs available at $175 each. This year’s auction is all about experiences, and the bidding begins May 14 through the end of the golf tournament. Top shelf items include: 49er tickets, golf at Rancho Murieta, Del Paso, and Northridge, a trip to Sedona, Dinner for 12 in the fab 40s at the house of FRED and NANCY TEICHERT with a home-cooked meal by chef Teichert, Dinner with PRESIDENT KEVIN and NANCY SMITH-FAGAN (co-hosted by PAST PRESIDENT DAN MCVEIGH and his wife Rebecca). Sign up if you want to play for only $99 or sign up for lunch $25.

 

  • YP Mother’s Day Fundraiser – BOBBY REED (CEO at Capitol Tech Solutions) mentioned Mother’s Day is this Sunday… uh oh? Is this news to you? Don’t break a sweat – the YP’s have got you covered! We still have a few slots for the Flower Farm Extravaganza. Your $50 per ticket includes a professional portrait by our own JOHN SWENTOWSKY, live music by the Rotary Rockers, a tour of the urban flower farm, and a live demonstration by JAMIE FURLONG (Securitized Real Estate Specialist at Bangerter Financial Services) on how to create a boutonniere. If you can’t attend the flower farm, there are bouquets for order ($75) to be delivered on Mother’s Day. Please help us meet the goal of $25,000 for the big sign project!

 

Rotary Good News

  • PRESIDENT ELECT LINDA GEERY (Shareholder at Gilbert CPAs) was recently able to reunite with her granddaughter for the first time in over a year.
  • NANCY TEICHERT’s is going to Indiana to support her sister for 10 days as she recovers from a successful, albeit very nerve-wracking open-heart surgery.
  • TIM MAURICE (CFO at UC Davis Health System) celebrated the birth of his granddaughter Madelyn, who joined us on planet Earth on April 23rd.
  • TODD ANDREWS (President of Andrews Construction, Inc.) celebrated his grandson visiting. Additionally, his middle son, who was training to fight in Afghanistan from a Marine assignment, will be coming home soon thanks to the cutback in U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

 

Sierra Health Foundation, The 1300 and YMOC

FRED TEICHERT (Executive Director of Teichert Foundation) introduced CHET HEWITT (President of CEO Sierra Health Foundation). CHET began public service at the YMCA in Stanton Island as a counselor. He has kept his valuable experiences at the YMCA as he works to create equity and access for young men of color.

CHET explained Foundation Health as a health conversion program. He then went on to discuss the social determents of health. He asserted that approximately 80% of health issues are not access to health care but rather determined by where you live, work and play.

Education is the most important and influential of a health determinant over time because your education dictates your economic status and where you live. This is a disproportionately big problem in the greater Sacramento region. CHET discussed the PPIC report and how critical of a matter education is to the general community economic health. To sum it up, the need for the educated person will only continue to grow.

CHET explained the 1300 Campaign is driven with the intent of sending an increasingly higher number of young men of color (YMOC) to and through college. He talked about the many valuable partnerships that have provided assistance in their mission, including: Improve your Tomorrow, My Brother’s Keeper, Sacramento county school districts, Los Rios Community Colleges, Sacramento State, and UC Davis.

According to CHET, graduation rates are getting better for the target sub-groups but there is still considerable work to be done. The graduation rates and A-G college prep course completion of African American, Latino, and Native American students are lower than the average. Perhaps most surprising of the 1300 YMOC students monitored from 2018 cohort was the staggeringly low number of students enrolled at UC Davis and CSU Sacramento.

CHET is well positioned to change the narrative and outcomes for Young Men of Color. His partnerships and his laser focus on YMOC student success will see to the positive change that is vital for the youth and our future for Sacramento. Thank you

CLICK HERE to see CHET HEWITT’s entire presentation.

CLICK HERE to see CHET HEWITT’s Q&A.

Next Week

ALLISON CAGLEY (Sergeant in Arms) (Executive Director of Friends of Sacramento Arts) stepped in before the meeting came to a final close to announce next week’s guest speaker: DR. JAMES POLO. DR. POLO is the Executive Medical Director at Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon and also the Executive Medical Director of Cambia Health Solutions. He will be talking about how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted addiction. We hope to see everyone at the same time next week!

CLICK HERE to read an article about DR. JAMES POLO and his career prospects.