President Chris Joyce welcomed members to the meeting before leading the group in the Why We Are Rotarians statement.   Lesley Peters shared a number of witticisms from famous individuals:

Lily Tomlin: “I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.” 

 

Oscar Wilde: “I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying.” 

 

Steven Wright: “You can’t have everything.  Where would you put it?”

 

Dalai Lama: “If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.”

 

Benjamin Franklin: “I did not fail the test. I just found 100 ways to do it wrong.”

 

Ayn Rand: “The question isn’t who is going to let me. It’s who is going to stop me.”

 

 

President Chris Joyce reminded members that there will be no Tuesday morning meeting next week!  Instead, our club and the Noon Club will meet jointly on Wednesday, April 14 at 8 a.m. (Social time: 7:45 a.m. to 8 a.m.) to hear RI President Holger Knaack.    As usual, you will receive a link to the Zoom meeting from Marv.  Please pass along any questions for President Knaack to Chris Joyce.

 

Chris also noted that the next Evanston Loves Rotary film presentation will take place on Friday, April 9.  Coming to America will be shown at the usual site, the Autobarn parking lot off Howard Street.  A portion of the receipts will come back to our club for distribution by our Service Committees.  For more info, or to purchase tickets:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/evanston-loves-movie-night-featuring-coming-to-america-tickets-148854051475

 

Charlotta Koppanyi announced an upcoming free workshop sponsored by the Evanston Community Foundation.  “Yes You Can and Yes You Should: Advocacy for a Year of Change”, a Zoom workshop geared toward organizations, boards, staff and interested individuals, will take place on Thursday, April 8 from 12-1:30 p.m.  Pre-registration is required.   https://evanstonforever.org/programs/workshops-overview-2021    

 

Chair Katherine Peterson noted that the Club Service Committee will meet next Tuesday at 7:30 a.m.  (Remember, there is no regular club meeting on Tuesday!)  Please reach out if you’d like to receive the Zoom link for this Committee meeting.   Katherine also announced an informal walk on Friday at 4 p.m.   Interested walkers will leave from the parking lot across from the Engineering Building at Northwestern (Sheridan and Haven).  More details will be shared via Club Runner.  All are welcome!

 

Chair Susan Prout announced that the Community Service Committee will meet (via Zoom) next Tuesday, April 13, at 7 p.m. to discuss distribution of the Committee’s remaining budget ($8,000).  Please contact Susan if you’d like to receive the Zoom link. 

 

Linda Gerber highlighted the Good Friday efforts of Nakorn restaurant, Chef Q Ibraheem and members of our club (Ann Weatherhead, Kristin Brown, Nick Powers, Bill Glader, Evan Girard, Sue Bova and Linda) who delivered 132 meals to members of our community.  Co-owner of Nakorn, TOE partner and former Rotaractor Sam Rattanopas joined us and spoke from the heart about her family’s ongoing ties to Rotary and her desire to serve the community to honor her parents.  When, during the early months of the pandemic, Sam was able to share food with someone seeking help at a street corner, she realized that she could make a difference!  She had survived tough years when opening her restaurant but now had a staff that she could employ to prepare meals for donation to those in need -- funded by a Go Fund Me campaign. She requested ELRC help in identifying organizations that could suggest recipients (Connections, Reba Place Dev. Corp., Evanston Latinos) and distributing meals.  Thank you to Sam and all participants for their ‘service about self’!

 

Stephanie Mendoza, a candidate in today’s election for City Clerk and a leader of Evanston Latinos (EL), also joined us for the meeting.   Stephanie takes meal requests from EL members--immigrants and undocumented people from both Latin America and non-Latino countries. She organizes the delivery routes and takes on a route herself, sometimes accompanied by her three small children. Stephanie noted that many immigrants and undocumented individuals live in the shadows, with no place to turn when help is needed.  Parents are working hard to provide for their families, but the struggle is even greater if they don’t qualify for food stamps due to immigration status.  Stephanie shared that she had personally experienced food insecurity when growing up.  A warm meal can have a very positive impact at times of chaos and stress.  Stephanie was excited about the partnership between Nakorn, Rotary, and Evanston Latinos!  Thank you to Stephanie for her dedication and for making us aware and helping us play a small part in the solution.  The Evanston Latinos organization is a recent beneficiary of an ELRC Community Service grant. 

 

Linda also praised the efforts of C&W Market and Ice Cream Parlor and our own Bryant Wallace in tackling the issue of food insecurity in Evanston!   For 50 weeks, C&W Market – financially supported by the Evanston Community Foundation and now individual members of the community – has provided grocery donations every Saturday to a growing roster of families. Last week, 210 families took home fresh vegetables, meat, and staple items.  Bryant has been the real catalyst for our club’s growing involvement.  Originally asked by the Weavers to “come help move some boxes around,” Bryant has seen the effort develop into an amazing community project.   In addition to receiving groceries, these families are acknowledged.  They see that they matter! And as Bryant shared, we all can see “what community can be”!  Thanks to Bryant for his amazing record of service and his collaboration skills.  We are lucky to have you as a member!   (FYI, C&W Market looks forward to partnering with the ELRC on TOE and Clarence Weaver is in the process of applying to join our club.)   Harold Bauer spoke for many club members when he asked to be notified of upcoming volunteer needs.  Just tell us when and where!

 

 

Ann Searles boasted her “wonderful husband” John for driving 100 miles out of their way to deliver donated pill bottles for shipment to Haiti.  Thanks also to the Rotarians who have donated and keep those bottles coming!

 

Myra Janus boasted her son Nick and his wife Carly, who just welcomed Myra’s and Linc’s first granddaughter, 9 lbs, 6 oz.  Congratulations! 

 

 

 

 

Linda Gerber introduced Maricar Ramos, Executive Director of Evanston Cradle to Career with extensive experience in youth development/education, strategic planning/implementation, managing collaborative processes and advancing equity goals within organizations.  More info on Maricar’s background may be found at the following link: http://evanstonc2c.org/our-work/news/ec2c-names-new-executive-director/

 

An equity advocate for more than 20 years, Maricar acknowledged that she has a complex relationship with her Asian American identity.  Her perspective in recent years was often that of a black or brown person of color (rather than an Asian American).  While stereotypes of Asian women as meek and subservient are common (and inaccurate!), Maricar as the oldest of four daughters in a Filipino family was not raised in a feminine way.  She was wisely encouraged to “Take up as much space as anyone else!” 

 

The recent shootings in Atlanta brought up difficult feelings. While Maricar’s day-to-day life has been very different from the Asian American victims, she shares a common heritage. Over the years, Maricar has also faced inappropriate, insidious comments (When are you going back to your country?  Where are you really from?  Can you walk on my back?).  She was frequently questioned in ways a white man (or woman) wouldn’t have been and assumptions were often made based on her ethnicity.  Evanston is a progressive, liberal community – but it is not perfect.  Being a person of color (POC) in the U.S. means experiencing a culture of white supremacy… even in Evanston.  

 

Violence against Asian Americans sadly is nothing new, but many felt emboldened over the last four years to exhibit and document this behavior. Maricar cited a number of recent incidents, noting that this is not happening in isolation.   People conflate racist behavior with being a bad person.  They are not the same thing.  People do what they know, reflecting how they were raised.

What can we do as Evanstonians and Rotarians?  We can band with fellow non-Asians (and Asians!) and commit to anti-racism.  We can watch a recording or read about Thursday’s Solidarity vigil.  When witnessing racist behavior, we can practice Bystander Intervention Skills (Distract, Delegate, Direct, Document).   We can support local Asian American organizations working for racial equity. 

 

Maricar took the helm of Evanston Cradle to Career (EC2C), a collective impact organization with 45 partner organizations, during the early months of the pandemic. Evanston C2C is tackling the big issues (kindergarten readiness, the achievement gap, post-secondary career options, COVID impacts).  Equity cannot be achieved until we are able to make inroads in tackling the fundamental inequities around poverty, housing, safety, education, and systemic racism that exist in our community.  Everyone needs to have the same opportunity regardless of race, creed or color. Maricar hopes to disrupt systems (in a positive way), foster POC leadership of organizations serving black and brown communities, and facilitate and support community engagement.

 

When asked about potential volunteer opportunities, Maricar cited EC2C’s Action teams focusing on some key areas -- middle school, mental health, preparation for adult life, etc.  For more information, please contact Amarin Young, Manager of Communications (a.young@evanstonc2c.org).  Maricar also noted that Kim Holmes-Ross, Community Engagement Manager, is currently recruiting a second cohort of Black and LatinX families for a year-long program of weekly community coffees (EC2C Advocates for Action).  

 

Katherine Peterson shared her concern as the mother of an adopted child from So. Korea.  She is currently participating in Bystander Intervention Training – and will hopefully share what she has learned at a future date. 

Maricar is also experienced in Racial Healing work.  The experience of sitting in a circle with people of different backgrounds, participating and sharing, typically leads to a powerful feeling of connection.  We have more in common as humans than we have dividing us. 

 

Thank you to Maricar (a child of Rotarians!) for a thought-provoking and important presentation! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carol Bild – April 7

 

Randy Usen – April 9

 

 

Bryant Wallace – April 9, 2 years