Online Meetings: We will continue to meet virtually using the Zoom Meeting platform for the foreseeable future. Our meetings will begin at our normal meeting time, Noon on Wednesday. All Rotarians are welcome and participating will count towards meeting attendance. Here are the login details…

Direct Link: https://zoom.us/j/183084884
Meeting ID: 183 084 884

To join by phone, dial 669-900-6833 or 346-248-7799 and enter the meeting ID number when prompted.

Zoom App Downloads
Zoom Cloud Meeting App For Android
Zoom Cloud Meeting App For iPhone
Download Zoom Meeting App For Desktop

Presidential Rotation Update: Due to an exciting new work opportunity, Josh Shinoda will be unable to fulfill the position of president of the Rotary Club of Forest Grove for the 2022-23 Rotary year. While we are sad that Josh will not fill that role, we are excited to announce that Janet Peters has accepted that role.

The presidential rotation for the next three years is…
2021-22: Bryce Baker
2022-23 Josh Shinoda
2023-24: Amy Tracewell

FGHS Community Food Pantry: Our club’s support for the Forest Grove High School Food Pantry continues. Thanks to its partnership with the Oregon Food Bank, food donations are still welcome but are of less need at this time. Of need, however, are toiletries and hygiene products as well as household cleaning materials. Our club is currently contributing $1,000 per month of toiletry items, cleaning supplies and feminine hygiene products.

Distribution events for these items take place on the first Monday of each month. The next scheduled distribution event will be on Monday, June 7.

The Food Pantry is open on Mondays from 2- 4 p.m. Donations are accepted on-site on Mondays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

For information on the Food Pantry, please contact Brian Burke, bburke@fgsd.k12.or.us. If you wish to make a cash donation to the pantry, Click Here.

Additionally, Rotarian Gwen Hullinger has put together an Amazon wish list of items that can be purchased and donated. Click Here To View That List.

Club Visioning Rescheduled For June 5: The District 5100 Visioning Committee session for our club has been rescheduled for Saturday, June 5, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. This visioning session will be done virtually through Zoom. If you are interested in taking part in this important part of our club’s future planning, please contact President Julia Kollar.

Club members should have received a survey via email asking questions about our club and its participation in the community and in Rotary. Please take the time to fill out this short survey.

Classics On Main Event: With the 2021 Concours d’Elegance unable to happen, the Concours Committee has decided a host a smaller event on Main Street on Sunday, July 18. The invitation-only even will feature up to 85 former class winners and judge. Requests for Rotarians to support the event with set-up, car-spotting, refreshments and more will be coming soon.

Due to logistical challenges surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be no Concours d’Elegance in 2021. Click Here To Read The Full Announcement.

Rotary Phone Tree: Keep up the work keeping our members in the loop with the Rotary Club of Forest Grove phone tree. If you have questions, or if your information on the Phone Tree is not correct, contact Paul Waterstreet at 503-888-7185 or h20st2@juno.com.

The goal of the phone tree is to reach out and check on every member of the club to make sure they are doing all right and to provide updates on club announcements and activities (Hint: You have a great list to draw from here). The plan is for the tree to be activated every Tuesday. The idea is that for each person to call the next one on the list. The last person on the list should call the team captain to make sure the list is complete.

Past Programs: Did you miss a meeting or want to go back and check out a program again? Most of our programs since May are archived on our club YouTube page. Visit https://bit.ly/fgrotaryprograms.

Around District 5100
District 5100 Peacebuilder Committee Update (Past District Governor Mike Caruso): Our March bi-monthly Peacebuilder Meeting gave us the opportunity to introduce U.S. Army Veteran and Rotarian Paul K. Chappell, executive director of the Peace Literacy Institute, headquartered in Corvallis. Paul and his core team have introduced his Peace Literacy program at Oregon State University and both Corvallis high schools (with the help of Rotary clubs and Rotary District 5110). Paul uses the tools he has accessed from his time in the Army and incorporates them into his Peace Literacy training programs using the latest technology from the likes of Google, Facebook, Apple, etc. to bring much needed peace literacy to our students at all levels and offers his courses at no cost to students.

Paul is also in the process of introducing his programs, again with Rotarian support, in the education system in Winnipeg, Saskatchewan and in the Orange County, California school system.

We are hopeful that with support from our own Peacebuilder Clubs and our district leadership, we may come to see Peace Literacy eventually introduced here in District 5100.

Tammy Haas, National Director of CFP (Creating Friendships for Peace), gave us an update on the program and mentioned that once we can meet in person again, there are plans to expand the program further with continued support from our district Rotarians.

Past assistant governor Larry Strober got us up to date on the ever-expanding Peace Poles project, both locally and globally under the direction and support of the Rotary Action Group for Peace.

Elizabeth Wilson gave us an update on the Peace Village Program and merger with the organization ‘Build Up’ and the upcoming plans to expand that program, which will hopefully incorporate some of the methodologies of Paul Chappell’s Peace Literacy Institute.

Rotarians Al Jubitz and Ron Herring gave the group an update of the ongoing Saturday morning Racial Justice meetings. This is a growing group of interested citizens (Rotarians and non-Rotarians) who wish to learn about the ongoing situation in Portland and surrounding areas since the murder of George Floyd last Spring.

Finally, the Fellowship of Rotary Peace Fellows is planning a second 24-hour virtual Global Peace Conference coming in mid-June of this year – shortly after the Rotary International virtual Convention in June.

Around Rotary International
Nonprofits Make Gains In Measuring Their Input: In December, for the 13th year in a row, The Rotary Foundation received a four-star rating — the highest possible — from Charity Navigator, an independent evaluator of charities in the United States. Charity Navigator determines its ratings by examining how nonprofits use their funds, how sustainable their programs are, and how well they follow industry standards of transparency and accountability.

In recent years, many nonprofits — including Rotary — have begun to increase their focus on measuring the impact of their work, and Charity Navigator has responded to that shift. In 2020, it acquired ImpactMatters, a ratings organization dedicated to assessing the impact of nonprofits. Based on the existing ratings of ImpactMatters, Charity Navigator will create impact ratings for thousands of charities.

In an effort to measure the impact of Foundation grants and other Rotary projects, Rotary is now also emphasizing the importance of incorporating monitoring and evaluation into the projects that Rotary clubs and districts carry out in their own communities and around the world. But measuring impact can be challenging, because there is no one-size-fits-all methodology. For some projects, large-scale surveys are useful. For others, impact might be assessed using economic indicators.

“What we are asking is this: Is this a good use of resources?” explains Elijah Goldberg, vice president of impact ratings at Charity Navigator. “Nonprofits are trying to solve a problem. The question is, is this particular type of activity efficient when you solve that problem?” Read More

Rotary Responds To COVID-19: Rotary is taking action in response to the pandemic as our clubs support COVID-19 vaccination and continued prevention efforts around the world.

Tapping into decades of experience in bringing polio to the brink of eradication, Rotary members worldwide are helping health authorities communicate lifesaving information about COVID-19 and vaccination, combatting misinformation, supporting fair and equal access to vaccines, and curbing the spread of the virus by donating protective gear and other supplies to clinics and hospitals that are under strain. Read About How Rotary Has Responding & Supporting

Last Week’s Program: George Nakata, Japanese Internment During World War II

Note: Due to technical difficulties, the video of this week’s program is not available.

George Nakata presented a program on his experience living in Japanese internment camps in Oregon and Idaho from 1942-45. Camp Minidoka in central Idaho housed 10,000 evacuees from Oregon, Washington and Alaska. George lived in Camp Minidoka for four years and described how living as prisoners in their own country based on their ethnicity affected his life and that of his family.

The federal government established the War Relocation Authority, which decided where to establish 10 internment camps throughout the United States. At the end of the war over 110,000 Japanese Americans were living as prisoners in the internment camps.

Upon their release, each family was given $25 to return to their homes. George’s family returned to ‘Japantown’ in Portland but their family business and home were gone.

George summarizes why he shares his story. “I believe that in America, freedom is fragile. We have been careless with our Constitution. Using the example of my people is why I tell my story.”

Club Calendar
Wed., May 12: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Program: Rod Diridon, Rotary Climate Action Council

Thurs., May 13: Board Meeting, 7 a.m.

Wed., May 19: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Program: DGE Jim Boyle, The Future of Rotary

Thurs., May 20: Thirsty Thursday/Satellite Club Meeting, 6:30 p.m.
Location To Be Announced

Wed., May 26: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Program: Andy Cartmill, Washington County Addiction Services, Suicide Prevention