President Chris Krueger called the meeting to order, asking Dr. Ron Thompson to offer the invocation and Jack Rosenberg to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. To acknowledge the Kentucky Derby, which was scheduled for Saturday, May 3, Ray Smith led everyone present in singing "Camptown Races," which was composed by Stephen Foster in 1850.Announcement
Past-President Allan Cady was invited to the podium to announce results of the sponsorship drive. He stated that with pledges, it looks like the campaign will bring in just under $48,000 - well over the $40,000 goal set for this Rotary year.
Team Ribeye, led by Dan Coons, was the top team bringing in t total of over $13,000 in sponsorships and donations. Six of the team's members participated by either successfully soliciting one or more sponsorships or by making a personal donation. Team Diedrick, led by Terry Diedrick was the second place team gathering over $6,700 in sponsorships and donations. Sponsors and donors had the option of choosing which avenue of service or project they wanted to support. Those totals to date are as follows:
International Service
Hearing - $15,800
Aqua Africa - $7,200
Micro Credit - $1,100
Youth Service
No Specific Project - $3,000
Undesignated
No Specific Project or Avenue of Service - $17,900
Guests
Assistant Governor, Lee Holmes, was introduced as a visitor. Jeanie Morgan introduced Jennifer Morrill, a candidate for a vocational education grant from The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona. Erwin and Joan Reiman chose NOT to be introduced as guests. Jennifer G, a Guest of Greg Okonowski, came to hear the speaker who would be introduced later.
Drawings
Our most recently inducted member, Tom Bradford, was the lucky $5 winner when the token with his badge number was drawn in the weekly attendance drawing. Chuck Flint explained that the lucky holder of the ticket drawn in the weekly raffle would win $25, and have a chance to draw the ace of clubs which would entitle the weekly winner to also win $893. Chuck asked our Assistant Governor Lee Holmes to draw a ticket. The ticket he drew belonged to Warren Williamson. After Allan Cady suggested he visualize the card he wanted to draw, Warren did draw the ace of clubs. Warren indicated the majority of his winnings would go to his Paul Harris account at The Rotary Foundation.
Happy Bucks
Allan Cady was happy that our youth exchange student, Caio, was at the meeting. Polly Cady was happy that Caio was there as well as she had a belated birthday card for him - Caio had celebrated his 18th birthday on Sunday, April 28. Polly was also happy Carolyn Jones and Jane Benedict were both at home and both doing much better. Polly confessed that she had to reveal her fear of stairs without rails when she became paralyzed and had to ask for help climbing three steps to the podium at the Club Leadership Academy Saturday, April 27. Several members felt we should sing Happy Birthday to Caio, which everyone enthusiastically supported. AG Lee has been in Rotary 20 years. He joined Rotary because he was invited to do so. He reminded members it is each of our job to actively recruit new members to be a part of our wonderful organization. Bob Zarling pad sad dollars because he was unable to attend CLA as he had a prior commitment at a Chandler giveaway. John Benedict paid happy dollars. April 30 marked his 39th anniversary of being a member of Mesa West Rotary. Jack Rosenberg paid happy dollars. Don LaBarge paid tribute dollars to a commanding officer he served under in Viet Nam. Don had the privilege of visiting him in South Carolina in the fall of 2018. Don was proud to have known him and serve under him, but sad to report that he has been taken off life support. Chuck Flint paid happy dollars reporting that any member wishing to know their donation status with The Rotary Foundation could check with him as he had the latest reports printed and available at the meeting. He was also happy to report that Don LaBarge had been treated to a colonoscopy on April 30. Joan Reiman reported that their grandson and his wife had visited with their seven-week-old baby boy. Their grandson, Tony, who recently spoke to our club had again scored as the top American in his most recent meet, taking him another step closer to his Olympic goal. Dick Myren contributed his $1 remembering Rod Daniel's tradition of "being happy to be a member of Mesa West Rotary." He contributed a sad dollar as he had been unable to attend Spring Olympics on April 27. Dan Coons contributed, stating that Caio has moved to the home of Bob Zarling, the Coons family has improved cash flow due to savings in their grocery budget.
New Members Inducted
Membership Chair, Don LaBarge, invited Joan and Erwin Reiman to come forward to be inducted into Mesa West Rotary. They are both experienced Rotarians from South Dakota. Erwin explained that their club in South Dakota had funded Storybook Park, a frequently visited free park, in their city. Joan has fewer years as a member of Rotary, but has participated with Erwin on friendship exchanges both as hosts and travelling abroad. She was their South Dakota club's music person, but has no aspirations of displacing Ray Smith who holds that role in Mesa West. Now that Erwin and Joan will be spending more time in Mesa than in South Dakota, they were welcomed as members of Mesa West Rotary.
Program
Bob Zarling introduced our guest speaker from Starbright Foundation, Inc. a highly ranked charity which qualifies for Arizona Tax Credit donations. The work of the foundation is to educate the community and work to combat sex trafficking. Lori, a Vice President of Starbright, has been ranked as one of the top 10 women of courage, and has appeared on the Dr. Oz show.
When Jeanie asked if she could take the speaker's photo, she was told that she would prefer not to be photographed as they often receive death threats and they would prefer to have very little information about the individuals fighting this battle available on social media as they frequently have their lives threatened.
Lori explained that the average age of girls who are trafficked is 11-13. She is helped by a retired minister and his wife who moved to Arizona to do what they could to make a difference. The victims are frequently lured through patient grooming through on-line and websites. Children of good, careful, parents who have established good boundaries, are just as vulnerable as any other child. A local firefighter's eight-year-old daughter was targeted, as was the daughter of a Scottsdale police officer.
A little-known fact is that Snap Chat is partially owned by pornographers. She told of speaking to an audience of schoolgirls whose parents and instructors were not present. The majority of the girls admitted that they had taken nude photos of themselves and posted them on Snap Chat. They felt safe, because those photos disappear off the site in a short time. They were all naive enough not to understand about screen shots being made and available indefinitely. As technology has rapidly advanced, safety for our children has not kept up. Some school districts issue tablet to students so that all students have equal access to learn in the most technically advanced ways. Unfortunately, those same machines are often the source of access to target those children by predators.
The facts that Lori shared were staggering. The Phoenix metro area is the fifth worst metropolitan area in the nation for this problem. Because of all the events held here, there is a demand. Starbright Foundation has a safe house for victims who are rescued. When asked to describe the men they were "sold" to, they said they all seemed like regular people. Some were dressed like businessmen and had briefcases in their cars. Others had carseats in the back seat. One spoke of being snuck into a judges chamber repeatedly.
When Jeanie asked Lori if she could get a picture of her following the meeting, Lori declined. She said that they try to avoid having their photos and names available on websites or social media as those who work hard, like she does, to combat this horrible societal ill are often the recipients of death threats.