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WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES
Rotary Onlinehttps://dunwoodyrotary.org
ROTARY CLUB OFFridays, 7:15 am |
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| President | Jennifer Shumway |
| President-Elect | Jack Sparks, Jr. |
| President Nominee | Louise Barden |
| Immediate PP | Carter Stout |
| Treasurer | Cathie Brumfield |
| Secretary | Matthew Johnson |
| Public Image | Imani Reynolds |
| Sergeant-at-Arms | Griff Ransom |
| Community Service | Rick Woods |
| Admin | Ed Holliday |
This Week's Speaker
Boris Salinas, CEO, Dunamis Foundation
Join us this Friday to welcome Boris Salinas, CEO of Dunamis, a non-profit organization in Quito, Ecuador serving underaged girls who have been rescued from sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and violence - teaching them life skills while providing a Christian-centered environment that's focused on enabling them to reintegrate into the world as healthy young women. You can join us in person at LeMeridien or via Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86202979419
Boris and his wife Fernanda met in their twenties while volunteering at a camp for children with special needs, and determined they were called by God to serve young people in need. They soon married and began their work by serving poor children every Friday from the community of Angamarca, a small city near Sangolqui, about 25 km. from Quito, the capital of Ecuador. Their work extended into Quito with a breakfast group with troubled girls, and Boris and Fernanda came up with the idea of helping them develop some life skills. They started with tagua jewelry workshops as Boris knew the skill already - and as organizations began to sell the jewelry to help take care of the girls, got professional training for the girls.
Dunamis was founded in 2010 - starting with training classes and Bible studies, and progressing to actually provide a home environment for girls to recover from exploitation. Today, about 15 under-age girls reside in Zoe’s Home on an 11-acre compound under the care of Boris, Fernanda and a specialized professional staff. There they learn the Word of God, receive counseling, and learn life skills such as sewing, beauty, tagua jewelry making and agriculture (including the operation of a greenhouse growing golden berries for export to the US). The girls also continue their education and have medical and psychological help.
Jackie Cuthbert and Susan and Bob Schwall were introduced to Boris and Dunamis through the Big Canoe Chapel's annual mission conference in 2018 - as one of their grant recipients for the year. Susan and Jackie have visited Dunamis twice while in Ecuador enjoying trips to the Galapagos. They were touched by meeting the girls and getting a strong sense of the peace and self-worth that Dunamis imparts to these girls. It was amazing to see them be able to be at ease, giggling and interacting as children after all they've been through.
Boris, his wife and three children live on the 11-acre compound. They are looking to expand their work - by building another house on the compound and more in a new property they hope to acquire in the south part of Ecuador. In addition to their work with rescued youth, they are working with the community to help with other situations of domestic abuse and to create awareness of trafficking issues and God's word.
They are on a month-long visit to the US - connecting with current and potential supporters, including Rotary, and premiering a new documentary that tells Dunamis' story.
Service Opportunity
Time to Rescue the Ferns This Saturday at Dunwoody Nature Center
We are
back at the Dunwoody Nature Center this Saturday, August 13, after a brief summer hiatus - from 9-11:00 AM or
so. Cathie Brumfield visited our site last week, and was very pleasantly surprised to see how
good it looked after our time off. We have really knocked out a lot of ivy
and wisteria. With a dedicated team next Saturday early - armed with garden gloves and your favorite garden tool), we can pull up the
nasty Japanese stiltgrass that has sprouted before it goes to seed, with a
little wisteria and ivy and be in really good shape for fall planting.
Cathie is thinking once we see how it cleans up on Saturday, she may donate some lady and
Christmas ferns to the forest area, and some mountain mint to the meadow from
her yard. The invasives have overwhelmed all the good stuff, but as we remove
invasives we can introduce natives and they will actually help us keep the bad
plants down while looking good. Nature hates a vacuum.
Service Opportunity
And if you want even more gardening fun ...
Plan on rising early and joining Ranger Fred Bounds at the Bounds Garden "Rave" the following Saturday, August 20. We're starting at 7:00 am in the hopes of getting some new gardeners involved in this long-time Dunwoody tradition of helping the Dunwoody community look beautiful! Don't let the regulars have too much fun on their own - set your alarm and join us across from the Dunwoody Library on Chamblee Dunwoody!
From Rotary International
Stephanie Urchick Selected to Serve as RI President 2024-25
Stephanie A. Urchick, of the Rotary Club of McMurray, Pennsylvania, USA, is the selection of the Nominating Committee for President of Rotary International for 2024-25, a decision that would make her only the second woman to hold that position. She will be declared the president-nominee on 1 October if no challenging candidates have been suggested.
With the world facing incredible challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, disasters driven by climate change, and conflict in many regions, Urchick says Rotary’s leaders can offer a vision and a plan for overcoming these challenges.
“Measures taken by Rotary leadership to survive and end critical challenges often make our organization stronger and more resilient for future events,” Urchick says. “This kind of essential leadership also creates new levels of cooperation, even among rivals, when Rotarians pull together as people of action to serve and solve a crisis.”
Making regionalization a priority is crucial, says Urchick.“Because Rotary operates in more than 200 countries and regions, it is vital to recognize that the organization has the potential to become more efficient and effective by understanding and reacting to how regional differences affect the way Rotarians work together to address providing service, promoting integrity, and advancing world understanding, goodwill, and peace,” Urchick says.
Urchick is partner and chief operating officer of Doctors at Work LLC, a consulting and training company. She holds a doctorate in leadership studies from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She is active on numerous community boards and committees, and has been honored by organizations including Zonta International and the Sons of the American Revolution. A Rotary member since 1991, Urchick has traveled to Vietnam to help build a primary school and to the Dominican Republic to install water filters. She studies several Slavic languages, has mentored new Rotarians in Ukraine, and coordinated a Rotary Foundation grant project in Poland.
Urchick has served Rotary in many roles, including as a director, Foundation trustee, and chair of the RI Strategic Planning Committee and the Foundation’s Centennial Celebration Committee. She currently serves on the Election Review Committee and the Operations Review Committee. She is a Rotary Foundation Major Donor and a member of the Bequest Society.