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Before President Rebecca called today’s meeting to order at LCC’s Michigan Room, Cathy Zell announced that Rebecca has enough statewide votes counted to serve as the next MSU Trustee following this week’s election. There were cheers all around and John Dale Smith led everyone in the singing of the MSU Fight Song. Rotarians recited the 4-Way Test and Joe Garcia provided the meeting’s reflection which focused on hope for our communities and being a welcoming place. John Dale led Rotarians in singing our National Anthem. We were able to welcome special guests to the meeting as Bob Hoffman introduced Carolyn who is the Philanthropy Officer for Major Gifts for the McLaren Greater Lansing Foundation and Ben reintroduced Melik Brown of the Women’s Center of Greater Lansing who has visited Rotary a few times over the years. President Rebecca updated that the Health of the Club is good! For Special Music, we recognized our veterans in honor of Veteran’s Day on Monday, November 11. There are 19 Rotarians who have served our nation in the armed forces and we sang each Service Song for them while they stood to be recognized. Thank you again for your service!! President Rebecca announced that the DEI Committee will meet following the meeting. She also re-announced our need for a Club Treasurer. Jennifer Marsh has served in the role and has great systems in place for someone to easily jump in. Please reach out to Rebecca or Cathy if you are able to help in this important role. For the last announcement, Rebecca shared that the link is now open for our International Grants submission and the deadline is November 15. Please note: there’s a big change for our November 22 meeting! We will meet at the Wharton Center for the meeting and hear from Bob Hoffman and Eric Olmscheid. All the details will be sent to you for parking and where to meet. Be sure to adjust your drive time accordingly for November 22! Chair of the Month and Chair of the Day Joe Garcia introduced our speaker Shirin Kambin who is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Jackson College and someone he works with as she is also the Director of Mid-Michigan’s  Immigrant and Refugee Resource Collaborative (IRRC). Shirin’s presentation focused on “New Americans: Stories of Hope and Resilience”. She helped us define that refugees are fleeing their home country from persecution and can not return which is a legal status. There are 117.3 people in the world who have had to flee their home. Fortunately for our community, there are many great organizations to provide services for refugees and refugee families. As a result, we have a multifaith, multicultural city in which 65 languages are spoken within the Lansing School District. The IRCC provides resources and builds community for the refugees in the area by providing educational resources, assistance with tax preparation, civics fairs, a book club and community read. In 2025, they are providing additional resources such as English classes, workforce development, legal services, health care assistance, and support for the youth. Shirin explained some of the unique ways they build community such as the Heritage Heart & Plate Supper Club and the Global Voices Book Club. These opportunities being people together to create community roots. In Michigan, 7% of the population has immigrant status and they have paid over $8 billion in taxes. 95.9% is the employment rate of likely refugees which shows they want to work and contribute immediately to the community. 72.4% of refugees are naturalized citizens. And, over the past 15 years there has been a $124 billion positive fiscal impact on the economy from refugees. In Lansing, over the past 15 years, we have welcomed a low of 65 refugees in a year and a high of 545 refugees in a year. There are three ways to resettle…through an agency like Catholic Charities, a sponsorship model and a private model. The growth in the sponsorship and private models have widened where refugees can settle, however, the hubs for Michigan remain Detroit, Lansing, Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo. We are fortunate in Michigan and especially in Lansing to have the amount of refugee services as other areas of the country are more isolated and limited in what they can offer. Federal support is only for 90 days so community support is essential. Thanks to Shirin for the informative and inspiring presentation. Please visit www.irrclansing.org to see learn more or how you can assist. President Rebecca announced the next meeting will be Friday, November 15 at LCC and our speaker is Lesley Glennon, the Clinic Director of Immigration Law. See you there! Email for Julie Pingston: jpingston@lansing.org |
