This Friday our speaker will be Rakmi Shaiza, Executive Director and Founder of Stitching Change.
Stitching Change brings women together to work, collaboratively, market their products, and provide them with supplementary income. They also repurpose surplus and scrap fabrics into handcrafted products, keeping them out of the landfill and preventing pollution.
They believe all women should have the opportunity to express their creativity while contributing to building a better society. Their resilient, refugee women work in collaboration to establish better lives for themselves, their families and their communities.
I have had a couple of questions regarding donations in support of the wildfire destruction in California and where clubs/Rotarians might go to make a donation in support of the efforts to help folks that have been affected by these terribly dangerous wildfires.
District 5280 in Los Angeles, California, has established a Wildfire Disaster Relief Fund; if you and/or your club is interested in making a donation, you may do so at the following link:
The following information regarding the situation in California was provided by Pat Merryweather-Arges, one of our past Rotary Directors, earlier today:
We are now up to 10,000 structures destroyed in the Los Angeles area, 36,000 acres burned, 150,000 ordered to evacuate, and another 166,000 warned they may need to flee. Districts 5280 and 5300 are being heavily impacted. Both Districts are deeply engaged in organizing disaster relief efforts. Firefighters have come in from all over the US and Canada. Civil authorities are responding the best they can, but the situation at this point is out of control. And more high winds are forecast for tonight. Our Rotarians are responding to the best of their ability, but many have been personally affected.
As you know, the Los Angeles area has been devastated by large fires that are burning out of control in several areas. Many thousands of homes have been destroyed, and tens of thousands of residents have been evacuated. Our Rotary colleagues in the affected Districts - 5280 and 5300 - have activated District Disaster Relief Funds to assist the victims of the fires. District 5280 (Los Angeles) has also created a Resource Directory and online spreadsheet for In-Kind Donations.
If you and/or your club can help and would like to, please click on one of the links above for additional information and/or to make a donation.
BRING IN YOUR TOWELS! We are collecting towels in JANUARY for the Great Plains Animal Shelter where they use them for bedding, toys and to clean the animals.
Last year we collected about 165 pounds of towels and got some great PR for the Club.
Please bring your old (clean) towels to one or more of the five January meetings where they will be collected. There will be a bin on the first floor of Lakeview Village-Southridge. Please put them there and do not bring them up to our meeting room.
January is also known as Human Trafficking Awareness Month. It is a key time for us all as individuals to educate ourselves about human trafficking and crucially to learn to spot the signs of trafficking. It is also a time for us take these messages to our workplaces, our churches, our schools, our representatives and everywhere else.
At Hope for Justice, we investigate cases of human trafficking and work closely with law enforcement to rescue victims and ensure evidence is gathered against perpetrators to see them brought to justice. Our team of investigators is drawn from some of the most respected and prestigious law enforcement agencies in the country, such as the FBI and NCIS.
National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, January 2025, culminates in the annual observation of National Freedom Day on February 1, 2025.
Born and raised in Ames, Iowa - such a wholesome place to grow up! My mom still lives there and I love visiting!
What is a favorite movie you always recommend to people? Why do you love it?
I don't consider myself much of a movie watcher, but my favorite book is The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. It is a World War II historical fiction and the strength and bravery of ordinary people is a source of inspiration for me
If you were coming out onto a stage, what would your entrance theme song be?
Everything is Awesome! by Tegan and Sara (from the LEGO movie)
What is your favorite type of cuisine to cook or eat?
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