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Irv Nichols provided a beautiful invocation, giving thanks for the blessings to all of us provided by the American Red Cross, in honor of our speaker of the day.
During guest introductions, Berl Schwartz introduced State Representative and Lansing mayoral candidate Andy Schor. Berl held up a copy of the most recent City Pulse with Schor’s picture on the cover, proclaiming, “He’s still talking with us!”
Irv put on a second hat today, providing the remembrance report. Joe Wald’s mother died and Joe thanked the club for flowers. Dick Amons had surgery at the McLaren orthopedic hospital on Pennsylvania.
President Jack Davis reminded the club that Rotary Club of Lansing Foundation grant applications are due March 31.
Diane Sanborn presented President Davis with a flag from Puerta Plata Rotary Club in the Dominican Republic where she did service work as a member of the international committee.
President Davis encouraged club members to attend the 2017 Rotary Peace Conference in Ann Arbor, March 31-April 1. Rotary International President, John Germ, will be the keynote speaker. Go to www.2017peaceconference.org for more info.
President Davis promoted the Lansing Arts Council’s “Arts Night Out” that night in Old Town, including 30 venues, musicians, artists, bars and more bars, and restaurants. Debbie Mikula added some flare to the promotion by flashing her “Arts Night Out” t-shirt to the club. The club roared and I couldn’t tell if it was because of Debbie’s enthusiasm or President Jack’s expression or both.
President-elect Darwin Brewster took over the meeting and promoted a book about MSU by Rotarian Ron Flynn, who retired from MSU Engineering after 58 years. We will hear more about the book at an upcoming Rotary meeting.
Before introducing special music, Courtney Millbrook told the club, “I’m super happy I didn’t wear my LSO t-shirt today!” Courtney went on to introduce Dmitri Berlinsky, international solo violinist with a prolific performance career in reknown venues around the world. He is also a professor at MSU School of Music. His performance for the club was outstanding and he received an enthusiastic standing ovation. We are lucky to have him in our community.
John Cauley, recently retired from the American Red Cross after 27 years, noted March is Red Cross month and introduced ARC Mid-Michigan Interim Executive Director, LaForese Neal. Mr. Neal’s expertise is in disaster response after 27 years at the Red Cross in southeast Michigan. Originally he was from the southside of Chicago and is a fan of both the Cubs and the Sox. He said he was glad to see others in the club wearing bow ties like his.
The Red Cross is part of a global network – one of the largest humanitarian organizations in the world with 190 Red Cross Society members. They are a neutral and independent organization, allowing them to help with sensitive situations. As a convener, government and other organizations will talk with them.
The mission of the American Red Cross is to prevent and alleviate suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors. They provide
- Support for 60,000 disasters per year - most are fires
- 40% of nation’s blood supply
- Disaster relief – deployed 17,000 volunteers for Hurricane Sandy, 9,000 for Hurricane Irene, and 6000 for Hurricane Mathew
- Services to armed forces such as emergency communications
- Health and safety education, such as life guard training
- International relief
The ARC is headquartered in Detroit. In 2014 the organization restructured and brought together all regions in Michigan. There are chapters in Traverse City, Grand Rapids, Flint, Kalamazoo and Lansing.
They played a significant role during the Flint Water Crisis, providing 60,000 cases of water, 37,000 water filters, 9000 testing kits, and 56,000 home visits, and helping state government with a distribution plan. He noted the crisis is not over.
The ARC is currently engaged in a Home Fire Preparedness Campaign, installing smoke alarms and helping families develop emergency plans. Their goal is to reduce deaths and injuries in the US by 25% within five years.
The ARC-Mid Michigan Chapter is celebrating its centennial this year. In partnership with WILX TV-10 and with support from Auto Owners Insurance, a public service announcement campaign is running throughout March. Mr. Neal encouraged us to give blood, become a volunteer, take a class, make a plan, give a financial donation, and support their “megablitz” to install smoke alarms throughout the community. He challenged Lansing Rotary to get involved as a club.
Mr. Neal was asked about our local blood supply. He said we always have a need because of the shelf life of blood. They especially need “double reds.” People can donate every 56 day
Jack Bates thanked the Red Cross – he went through many infusions when he was very ill. Also when he served in Korea, the Red Cross helped in many situations. Jim Phillips also thanked the Red Cross for helping his son's family after a fire.
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