President Courtney called today’s meeting to order at LCC’s Michigan Room amidst a room full of green for St. Patrick’s Day and the MSU Spartan Basketball game. The Spartans playing at 12:15 gave us a smaller than usual crowd and a lot of cell phones in hand for those attending the meeting. Go Green!
Rotarians recited the 4-Way Test and Andi Earl shared an Irish Blessing as today’s reflection. Thanks to Hari Kern for leading today’s patriotic song God Bless America.
Rich Howard crisscrossed the room with the microphone to introduce 8 guests and 2 visiting Rotarians.
President Courtney updated that Bob Corwin had a hip replacement on March 16 and is doing well. It was also mentioned that John Cauley had successful cataract surgery this week.
Our Rotary District Governor attended today’s meeting and she invited everyone to attend the District Conference at Firekeepers Casino Hotel on May 5-6. There will be great speakers and a Kentucky Derby themed dinner. Register at https://www.district6360.com/
Prior to Irv Nichols’ update on Rescue South Sudan, he gave a fun story of his own Kentucky Derby experiences. Irv always has a great story! More importantly, Irv has been working with Rescue South Sudan since 2000 in helping the Sudanese refugees. At first, they helped provide life skills and employment and then focused on providing half the tuition costs for LCC. Many of the “Lost Boys” (as the refugees were called) have dispersed to employment throughout the state as well as Texas and Alaska. Kudos to Irv for his involvement in this important work!
President Courtney introduced Melissa Kaplan, LCC’s Academic and Arts Outreach Coordinator for our special music. Melissa intended to have the students perform in the March 16-19 performances of I Knock at the Door however the LCC closure this week included the theater which affected the performances of the show. Thankfully, the show was able to be rescheduled at Riverwalk Theater for the weekend. So, Melissa introduced us to Andy Callis who has been at LCC for over 24 years as a professor of theater and also happens to be Melissa’s husband. Andy shared three Irish songs on the accordion that they enjoy on their extensive travels to Ireland including a polka and Danny Boy.
Thank you to Kim Garland for serving as Chair of the Month and Michelle Reynaert for serving as Chair of the Day! Michelle introduced us to Kim’s boss Dr. Holli Seabury who is the Executive Director of the Delta Dental Foundation and also serves as the Chair of Delta Dental of Michigan, Ohio and Indiana’s IDEA Committee related to their DEI initiatives. Holli is a member and past President of the Rotary Club of Ft. Wayne and is the District 6540 District Governor Nominee. She lives in Lansing with her seven children and three grandchildren.
As Holli began, the MSU game was tied 34-34 for inquiring minds although no MSU scores were announced to keep Sandy Draggoo from hearing any updates before watching it when she got home.
Holli thanked the Club for our involvement with our international grant supporting a dental clinic in Guatemala through Global Dental Relief.
Holli shared Delta Dental’s priority for oral health equity rather than equality. They place a big focus on oral health for those with disabilities as the wait time for care can be up to two years due to the lack of specialized dentists and lack of acceptance of Medicaid that many of these patients require. In January 2022, Delta was the first to offer extended benefits to those with disabilities with no extra cost to provide four visits a year, unlimited desensitization and anesthesia to create more equity in care as well as to the dentists providing it.
Delta also engages in social justice initiatives to support partnerships that meet the needs of populations with barriers related to oral healthcare. They have initiated workforce development opportunities to increase diversity within the dentistry profession to increase the number of providers who look like the neighborhoods they serve. A great resource is www.smilehelpnow.com to locate a dentist for those who are uninsured or underinsured.
Human Equity is another focus for Delta Dental to recognize the unique and intangible assets each employee brings to the workplace. Emphasis is placed on qualitative aspects rather than quantitative to provide an individual employee focus within the organization. Each employee’s value is because of, not in spite of, their differences.
Thanks to Holli for her time with Lansing Rotary and a donation will be made in her name to our foundation to do good works in the community!
President Courtney announced our next meeting is March 24 at LCC featuring MSU Soccer Coach Damon Rensing. See you there!
And, MSU did win on Friday 72-62 and then won again over the weekend to head to the Sweet Sixteen! This week they’re not playing at the same time as Rotary so no MSU excuse to miss out on Rotary!
Julie Pingston's email is: jpingston@lansing.org