What a blessing it is to live in a community where we can enjoy such amazing weather! I hope you all had a great weekend and were able to go out into the community to spread a little sunshine!

This is a gentle reminder that the "Celebration of Life" services for our dear friend Robert Ming will be held on Saturday, March 19, 2022 at 9:30 a.m. at Saddleback Church. There is information on the flyer that is included in this President's News Flash below that also asks that in lieu of flowers, individuals consider honoring Robert with a gift to South County Outreach or the Laguna Niguel Military Support Foundation.

Rotarians enjoyed a beautiful, sunny day in Laguna Niguel with great food and friends at Fratello's on Friday! Our amazing Former Past President Mark Montgomery led us in the recital of the Pledge of Allegiance to our country's flag, as we all proudly stood together with our hands over our hearts! Our fabulous Devi Pillai provided the inspiration for the day on behalf of the citizens of Ukraine for all that they are doing to defend their country and their freedom. She stated, "If prices go up at the pump, grocery prices go up, and materials you like are not available, think of it as a temporary problem. It's just a price for freedom. At least you are not sitting on a cold concrete floor in a dark subway, holding onto your cat or your child and all your belongings. It's all relative." This quote puts it in perspective when you realize all that Ukrainian refugees are experiencing at this tragic time in their lives.

This led to Mike Gerard introducing his guest, Tatiana Shabelnik. She spoke of a Ukrainian woman and her young son that fled to Poland and were in need of financial support. Our generous Rotarians immediately pledged to provide financial assistance individually for this family in need of our help. She has already been in contact with Rotary Clubs in Poland and was grateful for our donations.

In response to the deepening refugee crisis, the Rotary Foundation Trustees have decided to prioritize contributions made to the Disaster Response Fund until April 30, 2022, to support disaster response grants for districts affected by these events. These expedited disaster response grants can be used to supply water, food, medicine, shelter, and clothing. This is primarily an appeal for individual donations so please feel free to give any amount possible. Please follow the link below if you would like to make a person donation for this worthy cause. There is also information in the flyer posted at the end of this President's News Flash.

As you all know, we also need to have humor at our meetings to keep our Rotary spirit positive and upbeat so John Veytia handled that for us! He told a joke like only John can about a teacher that told her students it was a special day. She asked each student to stand up and tell the class what their father does and what he would do if he were here. In his funny voices, he mocked Rotarians and acted like he was each student telling the teacher what their fathers did and had us all laughing! Our Sergeant-At-Arms for the day was Mike Gerard and he did a great job going around the room collecting Happy Bucks from generous and grateful Rotarians!

We had a great program that was provided by Mary Ann Sprague-Denison, Founder and Executive Director for Active Discovery! She spoke about how her non-profit helps financially vulnerable elementary-aged kids get active and find new passions! She brought samples of games with QR Codes that led users directly to cool YouTube videos that demonstrated how each exercise was done that coincided with the game! Mark Montgomery was very interested in the exercise game kits distributed by Active Discovery volunteers so hopefully he can pick up a few for some of his favorite young campers!

I had to add this picture of our favorite waiter at Fratello's, Michael D.! Before everyone arrived to our Friday lunch meeting, he showed me this beautiful plaque he created himself and began to tell me what a pleasure it is to serve our Rotary Club, his favorite group! He displayed the plaque in the area where we sit for everyone to see!

In case you were not able to read it, the words inscribed are, "Be Kind To Everyone, Love All, Every Life Matters, God's Got Your Back, Smile Always, and Be Forgiving To Others!" Michael is one of the kindest people I have ever met and we are blessed to have him as a dear friend and awesome server! Please be sure to give him an extra "thank you" when you see him!

After speaking with our Governor Cisca about PETS, she let me know what a great experience it was and our President-Elect Chandra said the same! Governor Cisca sent photos of her with Chandra and the group so I had to share them! The group photo is the District attendees with the Incoming President of Rotary and First Woman President, Jennifer Jones! The other photo is Chandra, Governor Cisca, and Sita Gyan-Gorski, the Incoming President for the Mission Viejo Club!

As approved by our Rotary Board, President Eileen delivered $150 worth of food items to St. Timothy's for their food drive. The volunteers there that received the items expressed the utmost gratitude so thank you Rotarians! Many Rotarians also have special friendships and love spending time together in the community! President Eileen, Chandra and Janet had a great time celebrating birthdays together!

Please remember to email any photos with a brief description when you are out and about having fun with other Rotarians or volunteering in your communities! My email is egomez.lagunaniguelrotary@gmail.com. We are currently looking for volunteers for the Niguel Botanical Preserve & City of Laguna Niguel Earth Day Celebration on April 23, 2022, to help plant, weed and clean up! There will be a sign-up sheet available at Fratello's on Friday, and also please feel free to email me!

And on that note, we are always looking for great speakers in our community! Devi invited President Eileen to visit the Pacific Marine Mammal Center and we were able to tour the facility and coordinate a speaker for April 1st! We are excited to hear all about the work they do nursing stranded marine mammals back to health to be released back into the ocean! We have lots of great programs scheduled so don't miss out!

I look forward to seeing you all at Fratello's on Friday at Noon!

11:45 am - Socialize

Eileen Gomez is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting!

Join Zoom Meeting

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