Please don’t miss our January 18th special lunch meeting: our Religious Panel. This meeting will run from noon – 1:30 due to its content. The program is: Religion; a Pathway or Obstacle to Peace? Please join us! See information on the speakers below.
We started the year off with two very exciting meetings!
“Speedy” who is a counselor with New Directions for Youth, received a standing ovation for his very moving speech about choices he made in his life as a teenager and how they still affect him today. He’s the perfect example of a pay-it-forward hero. Bernie Otis wrote more about this meeting below.
Bernie Otis wrote more about this meeting below. Thanks Paul Gross, for preparing for the January meetings! Thank youRon Supancic for your contributions to the Religious Panel on January 18th.
Our last meeting on the 11th was a Club Assembly. Wow! We have accomplished so much in a short period of time! Thanks to our chairs and co-chairs for all they’ve done for us. You made a difference!
Thank youAlice Muntean and Elizabeth Tilkian – Community
c and Dylette Davis – Youth
Matt Schaaf and Paul Lawler– Vocational
Anna Salvarelidze and Arturo Velasquez – International
Lynn Miller and Sandy Rosenholz – Club Service
Ron Supancic – Peace Committee
Jay Saltzman and Jill Mellman, Foundation co-chairs
We couldn’t have done all these projects without you!
Here’s several things that I hope you were part of, because if you weren’t you missed out!
Valley Women’s Center fundraiser; our club was honored
City of Angel’s Ballet, supported and watched the kids rehearse at their studio
Pacific Boys Lodge picnic
Provided 40 residents of SFV Rescue Mission breakfast with El Camino Real High students
Halloween Family Faire fundraiser. Our first of many!
Participated in pumpkin painting booth at Calabasas Chamber Halloween event
Members spoke to Taft High students about their careers at Finding your Calling Club
We prepared snack bags for the homeless at our meeting
Provided 80 food baskets to families at Fullbright Elementary School
Provided 20 baskets to Foster Youths for Thanksgiving
Donated food to the SFV Rescue Mission
Santa and his elves and reindeers delivered 400 gifts to the kids at Fullbright Elementary
Foster teens Holiday party at Mimi’s Café
Coats for Kids project
Vision to Learn – provided glasses to kids at the WV Boys and Girls Club
Peace Walk at Cal Lutheran University
Woodland Hills Academy school clean- up project
Chili’s restaurant fundraiser
Concerts in the Park
Holiday party
Music Nights
Foundation Dinner on the Battleship Iowa
Cowboy Cookout
District Picnic and Cardboard boat race
Braille Institute Holiday party
Angel’s City Celebration – raffled bikes to the needy
Wednesday night meetings (socials) held last Wednesday of each month at Pizza Cookery, Sagebrush Cantina, Pacific Boys Lodge – more to come!
Fireside Chat for new members
City of Hope Cancer Walk
We’ve honored LAPD officers from Topanga Station Quarterly
Supported locally: Cancer Support Community, Stillpoint, Boys Scouts, Fleet Street, Reseda Elementary, City of Hope, Calabasas Rotary Thanksgiving for Seniors, Adopt a Senior, Miss San Fernando Valley, Hunger Food Truck, Transportation for WV YMCA to see a play at CSUN, sending kids to RYLA aka Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, Days for Girls, bikes for Angel’s City Celebration,
Supported internationally: Scholarships, Operation Smile - Philippines, our Exchange student from Chile, projects in Columbia, Florence for Youth, Hippolyte Foundation, South African School projects in Mérida, Yucatan.
Did you know that Ron Supancic is heading our Peace Committee? They meet on the third Tuesday of each month. So far this year, they have developed a relationship with LAPD through the Topanga Station, as wells the West Valley Islamic Center in Canoga Park. They’ve offered training through the Cerritos Youth Training Program. It’s endless! Everyone is welcome.
We did all this in 6 months!
Upcoming activities:
January 17th – Peace Committee meeting at Sheri Polak’s house at 6:00
January 25th – Dinner party at Hookburger in Woodland Hills. 20% of proceeds come back to our club! 6:00 – 9:00.
January 26 – 30th – District 5280 Humanitarian Trip to Merida, Yucatan. See you when I get back!
Feb 1 – CPA panel. Tax law changes, business related changes, Obamacare, solar credits. Q & A time.
Feb 8th – Officers of the Quarter – Topanga Station. Discussion on bunco crimes.
Don’t we rock? Invite your friends and business acquaintances to our meetings. We are always looking for new members who want to be active in our community. The worst they can say is NO! Maybe they will join and become active members! Take a chance! I challenge you to bring one guest per month. The member who brings the most guests (prospective members) will win a prize at the Demotion Dinner in June.
Thanks again for all the great work so far!
Yours in Rotary Service,
President Diane
New Directions for Youth Rehabilitation Programs By Bernie Otis and photos by Neal Goldman
Following the opening of our meeting by our Rotarian of the Day Neal Goldman, who only led us in Pledge of Allegiance and recitation of the 4 Way Test. He also presented a most interesting Craft Talk about his life and career. The Club then voted to name Dale Barnes as our President Elect for 2018.
What happened next I must say was the most dramatic experience I have ever had in my 63 years as a Rotarian:
Monica Austin-Jackson the Executive Director of New Directions For Youth, Inc. our guest speaker introduced a 34-year-old young man “Speedy” Buenl (see pictures below) the organizations reentry counselor who kept all in attendance spellbound as he limped around the room with his damaged left arm dangling at his side as he told us of how his disabilities resulted from “Bad Choices” he made early in his life when he was involved with drugs, hanging out with the wrong people and being shot at.
He related how he came to his senses and has devoted his life to working with high risk youth at New Directions Rehabilitation Programs and amazed us with his spirited and emotional appeal to all of us to join in their efforts.
Neal Goldman opening the program on January 4. President Diane Nelson is holding one of Neal's photos.
Monica Austin-Jackson, executive director at New Directions for Youth.
"Speedy" Buenl, rehabilitation counselor at New Directions for Youth.
Rotary Youth Outreach: Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical
Rotary Youth Outreach is a program that gives Rotary Clubs the opportunity to share new experiences with under privileged children. Join us for Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical at the beautiful Segerstrom Center for the Arts on January 22. Thanks to the generosity of Rotarians and the Segerstrom Center the cost of this day has been significantly discounted. The cost includes the theater performance and lunch. Sponsoring Rotary Clubs are responsible for transportation and appropriate clothing for the children attending the theater. Clubs may purchase tickets for deserving children and an appropriate number of Rotarian chaperones. Child participants suggested age is between 7-11 years old. Tickets are limited and cost $25.00 each. To purchase tickets, contact Downey Rotarian Diane Davis at dianedavis4sc@gmail.com
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Stories
Religious Panel Speakers
Religion: A Pathway or Obstacle to Peace?is the topic of a panel discussion which will be held at the Woodland Hills Rotary Club luncheon on Wednesday, January 18, 2017, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The three experts that will be exploring this highly relevant subject are:
Rabbi Paul Kipnes, MAJE, who views Judaism through the prism of healing. “Each ofus carries around within himself or herself the burden of unfinished business or unresolved pain. Jewish tradition, through healing prayers, religious acts and teshuva (a path of change), invites us to bring age-old wisdom to recent problems. The results can be astounding as we transform our values and change our lives,” he says.
Kipnes is a popular lecturer on raising spiritually balanced and emotionally whole children and is the spiritual leader of Congregation Or Ami in Calabasas. He also is a former camp director and North American Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY) regional advisor. Kipnes and his wife, Michelle November, MSSW, co-wrote Jewish Spiritual Parenting: Wisdom, Activities, Rituals, and Prayers for Raising Children with Spiritual Balance and Emotional Wholeness.
The second panelist isShaykh Suhail Hasan Mulla, who has been an active member of the Southern California Muslim community for many years. He is a resident scholar at the Islamic Society of West Valley. Sh. Suhail has served as Tarbiya Coordinator for the San Fernando Valley chapter of the Muslim American Society (MAS); lectured at educational and religious institutions; conducted weekly courses on tafsir, tajweed, seerah and Arabic; and served as a mentor and online counselor for Muslim youth. He has taught ‘Fiqh of Fasting’ and ‘Introduction to Qur’an Sciences’ courses on SuhaibWebb.com.Sh. Suhail is a native of Los Angeles where he earned a bachelor’s degree from CSU Northridge in African-American Studies and a master’s degree in social wWork (MSW) from UCLA.
The final speaker is Dr. Ross Porter, who is a teacher, author, executive, spiritual director, and deacon aspirant in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Porter earned his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara and his graduate degrees in Theology (M.Div.) and Psychology (Ph.D.) from Fuller Theological Seminary. He specializes in the integration of psychology, spirituality, and virtue ethics. He also is the executive director of Stillpoint Family Resources, which provides services to the underserved, with a particular focus on special needs families. Porter has written seven books, and is working developing a virtue curriculum for teens. His popular radio series ‘Heroes You Should Know,’ focuses on ordinary people who have done extraordinary things, can be heard on Immaculate Heart Radio.
The luncheon will be held at the Woodland Hills Country Club, 21150 Dumetz Rd., Woodland Hills, CA 91364. Cost is $25 for the buffet lunch and RSVP by January 12 by calling 818-754-4743. For more information, contact Paul Gross:
Today I went with some of my Rotary friends to help with a project for Days for Girls International making cloth sanitary kits for young girls in impoverished countries. When I walked in, the lady in charge asked if I know how to use a sewing machine. I said yes but I haven't used one in more than 30 years. She sat me down and showed me what they were doing and it all came back to me just like riding a bicycle. However, in the two hours I was working, I think I made eight or nine bags. . . I kept thinking about how my sister Linda could have whipped out about 30 in the same amount of time. Great project though. I loved being part of it and being with Elizabeth Tilkian, Penny Leon, Alice Muntean, Sheri Polak and Diane Nelson among others.
Around the Club Photos by Neal Goldman
Arturo Velasquez is co-chair of International Service.
Elegance Hippolyte is co-chair of Youth Service.
Ron Supancic is chair of the Peace Committee.
Sandy Rosenholz is co-chair of Club Service.
Kim Wall is the club's treasurer.
Past District Governor and Past President (X 3) is co-chair of the Foundation.
President Diane Nelson (l) wishes Michelle Goldwater a happy birthday.
Past President Matt Schaaf is co-chair of Vocational Service.
Alice Muntean is co-chair of Community Service.
Paul Lawler is co-chair of Vocational Service.
Past President is co-chair of the Foundation.
Sheri Polak is chair of Family of Rotary.
Michael Turner, editor ► michael@bearsworth.com
P.O. Box 144 ► Woodland Hills, CA 91365 ► (818) 344-5776