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Happy Deer Opening Day! President Rebecca Bahar-Cook opened the meeting on time as she always does! Can’t say she’s not as prompt as deer hunter on opening morning! The reflection was given by Joe Garcia, which of course tied in nicely with today’s speaker on immigration. John Dale graced us with the Patriotic Song, God Bless America, while surrounding himself with a dozen or more high school bodyguards…under the disguises of “special musicians.” And the introduction of two guests and visiting Rotarians was handled by Alex Hernandez…who also served as a double agent greeter. Madame President announced the Health of the Club was perfect, only then to be upstaged by a member of the audience requesting safe travels for Katie Krick, who is on a 10-day mission trip to Uganda. (I’m not sure I like the placement of Katie’s trip during the “health of the club report,” but that’s where someone chose to present it, so who am I to move it?) John Dale introduced his dozen or so guests, who performed very special, special, SPECIAL music! (Can you tell this is my favorite musical of all time?) Haslett High School students performed two numbers from their fall musical, Joseph the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which is next weekend, Nov. 22-24. Music director Matthew Calahan and accompanist Jeff English lead the students (and me) in the songs: “Any Dream Will Do” and “The Dreamer.” (Feel free to ask Courtney Millbrook how she enjoyed me singing every single word along with the teens! I think I missed my calling as a musical actress.) Announcements: - The Membership Committee will follow this meeting. (You’re too late if you’re just reading these minutes.)
- The Nov. 22nd Rotary meeting will be a field trip to Wharton Center. The speaker will be Eric Olmscheid. Cathy will send info on parking and other details prior to the meeting.
- Rotary doesn’t meet the week of Thanksgiving.
- Then get ready for the Kids’ Holiday Party in December!
Triple-agent Joe Garcia was Chair of the Month and of the Day, along with giving the reflection. Today  ’s speaker is a true advocate for justice who gives hope to individuals. Lesley Glennon, Immigration Law Clinic director, lives by the philosophy of respecting humanity and helping voices be heard for people who are immigrants and asylum seekers. She works to address systemic barriers to establishing stability and security for those who are far from their homelands and searching for safety and security. Lesley’s theme throughout her presentation was to “give people a big hug who have been through this process.” She stated that the law clinic is small, with only two attorneys and three part time legal assistants. Clients come from 100 different countries. Services are provided to anyone who has an immigration need. They also are a placement site for law interns. Volunteers can help with English as second language. 89% of their clients are deemed to be: a particularly-vulnerable person, survivor of a violent crime, have conflict in their countries or asylum seekers. They were able to help 1100 people last year with an average of 800 case filings annually. They help with issues like: process for people to become voting citizens of the U.S. by applying for citizenship and family reunification. While there are usually about 1 million asylum seekers, the approval rate is only 14%. In 2022, that bumped up to 40% because of the Afghan evacuees who were resettled in U.S. after our troops pulled out of that conflict. Lesley noted that if someone is here legally and wants a sibling to join them, they’ll be waiting about 21 years. If you want to bring over a spouse or unmarried child, you’ll be waiting at least 3 years. One question posed to Lesley was the difference between an asylee and refugee. Here is her answer: - Refugee: they’ve gone through the legal determination outside the U.S. and then came here
- Asylee: they didn’t have opportunity to go through that process elsewhere and is going through the process here (eg. Student with a college visa whose country comes under persecution while here and can’t go back because of the danger.)
Pres. Rebecca thanked our speaker and presented the customary donation to our foundation in their name. And while Rebecca does indeed like her fellow Rotarians, she told everyone in no uncertain terms, “Don’t come back here next week!” (And that’s because next week’s meeting will be at Wharton Center.) Email for Michelle Lantz is: michelle@glfoodbank.org |
Eric Olmscheid has served as Executive Director of Wharton Center for Performing Arts at Michigan State University since June 2022. A dedicated advocate for the performing arts, Eric is passionate about fostering meaningful connections between the arts, the community, and the MSU campus. Under his leadership, Wharton Center has broadened its impact through innovative programming, transformative educational initiatives, and collaborative partnerships.
