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Program Pam introduced Donna Goetzenberger to present a program about her personal, professional and Rotary life. Donna said she can't say "No." She has gone from hosting Rotary Youth Exchange students to being the District 5495 Chairperson of the district's youth exchange program. To have this much responsibility (and credibility) at the district level is extremely impressive since Donna has barely been a Rotarian for two years. Donna was born in Texas. She was asthmatic, and frequently had to be hospitalized. Her parents were urged to move to a different climate. Her parents are still living, and reside in Prescott, Arizona. Her brother, Dave also lives in Prescott. Donna is married to Brian, who is also a member of our club. She has a stepson who lives in Seattle, and two daughters. Donna loves to travel, but her adventures are quickly being surpassed by her daughters. Emilee was an outbound exchange student last year, and Paige will be an outbound student next year. Some members of Donna's family own a vineyard in Sonoma, California, and Donnal loves to go there. She also loves Cape Cod for the beauty and the history. Donna's maiden name was Fuller. She loves genealogy and has been able to trace her roots back to the Fuller family that came over on the Mayflower. and has direct ties to other Mayflower families as well. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Professionally, Donna is a paralegal. When she was young, she wanted to go into law, but did not pursue the educational requirements as the needs of her young family became her priority. A year and a half ago, an attorney offered her a position where she could work from home and set her own hours. She and Brian jointly own a land surveying business, which does work all over Arizona nd in Nevada and California. She doesn't know details about surveying - that is Brian's specialty - but does know that they have become specialists in providing the survey stamp of approval that is required on commercial real estate transactions. Donna has been an active non-profit volunteer for a long time with the Phoenix Youth Symphony and various choral programs. She has been an active fundraiser for the Phoenix Children's Chorus and in six years has raised nearly $1,000,000. Donna's involvement with Rotary Youth Exchange began when Polly Cady, who is a neighbor, asked she and Brian to be host parents for Clem from Belgium who recently returned to visit them. They have also hosted Angelina from TAiwan, Arthur from France, Lisa from Austria, Jacob from Sweden and several others for brief periods. Their involvement with Youth Exchange led to both she and Brian becoming members of Mesa West Rotary. They first got acquainted with the club at one of our annual Spring Olympics events. Two years ago she joined the District Youth Exchange Committee, then became Outbound Youth Exchange Chair, and last June she became Chair of the District's Youth Exchange Program. Donna believes in the Youth Exchange Program. Most Rotarians are aware of the traditional 11-month exchanges that are reciprocal district to district, but are less familiar with short term exchanges which last from two to eight weeks and are reciprocal family-to-family. This year 5,986 students are involved in long-term exchanges, 2,601 in short-term exchanges for a total of 8,587 total Rotary Youth Exchange students. North America has 2,122 students involved - roughly 25% of the total. Our district is in the upper tier of the number of exchanges. Arizona ranks as the 18th state in the nation in participation numbers. Donna would like to grow the program, but would need more active volunteers to serve on her committee to do so. Donna's daughter, Emilee, was a long term exchange student last year, but now wants to go on a short term exchange to learn Spanish. The cost of a long term exchange is about $5,500 for airfare, application fees, administrative costs (including insurance) language camp (when required) and costs of obtaining a Visa. Short term exchanges require a $25 application fee. Participants pay their own airfare and health insurance. Clubs who host an in-bound exchange student typically provide an monthly allowance for the student. Host families treat the youth as they would their own child. If the family goes out to dinner, the parents pay for the student's meal. If the student goes out with friends, the student will use their own money or their allowance. Typically, the family provides transportation to school, but public transportation, biking, or walking to school are also available options. Long term exchanges ideally have three host families to optimize their experience of the American lifestyle, which can vary greatly from one home to the next. Families and volunteers have to go through a simple background check and then go through period recertifications to ensure the inbound students are in safe environments. Donna said it is getting harder and harder to find willing host families within the family of Rotary. Clubs often use the families of the outbound students to help recruit hosts from non-Rotarian families who live in proximity to the school the student will be attending. In fact, for some clubs this is a requirement as part of their application process.
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Pam Cohen opened the meeting in the absence of President, Chris Krueger. Dick Myren offered the Invocation. Jack Rosenberg led the Pledge of Allegiance. Pam recognized Steve Ross and thanked him for serving as Greeter. Ray Smith led all present in singing Auld Lang Syne.
During the past months I’ve been submerging myself in Brazilian culture. I have fallen in love with their food, landscapes, and people. I want to thank you and all of Mesa West rotary club for letting me have this amazing opportunity.
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In Arizona, Rotarians have a unique way to do great Vocational Service in our local communities through The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona. Individual members can support vocational education grants for the working poor and get a dollar for dollar credit for their donation as a deduction from their state income tax obligation. Individual donors have until April 15 to make their tax credit donation for the 2018 tax year. They can make their donations on line at 
