May 22, 2020

Welcome to the Sunrise Spirit –
the Weekly Newsletter of The Rotary Club of Arcata Sunrise


We hope that you will attend one of our lively Friday meetings,
whether or not you are interested in joining Rotary.
Usually, we meet on most Fridays at 7 am in the Plaza View Room
at Arcata’s historic Jacoby Storehouse,
however, while we are under the Shelter In Place order, we are meeting online.
Please visit the RCAS Website for the meeting links.


The Calendar …

RISE: “Rotary Involvement Strengthens Everyone

Watch here for events as they return to our Calendar …


What’s Happening in France These Days?

Our Inbound Exchange Student from France, Thomas Spengler, has been back home for a couple of weeks. He said that France’s shelter in place order has relaxed a bit, so he was able to show us some photos of bicycling through the countryside.

His former host parent, Steve McHaney, said that earlier in the school year, he had received several robocalls from Arcata High School. It seems that the school was concerned that Thomas had missed a few classes (probably on Rotary business). However, Steve just received Thomas’s “Superintendent Award”, which acknowledged his hard work in achieving a GPA of over 4.0!! Congratulations, Thomas!!

Recognitions, & Announcements

President AJ recognized Taylor LeFevre for his new boat and his surfing prowess.

Karen Burgesser has been hard at work on “Rotary at a Glance” – the history of the Rotary Club of Arcata Sunrise. She has completed about 30 pages so far – one for each Club President, a section on our Exchange Students, and a recap of our Spring Fundraisers. Great job, Karen!

We offered congratulations for Rotary “Kid” Katie Breyer, who graduated from Humboldt State with a degree in Psychology! Stephanie Lane noted that there are a number of virtual graduation celebrations taking place online. AJ also celebrated Bryan Plumley’s completion of his MBA program at Southern Oregon University.

John Gullam has been working on a video presentation of our garden project at Peninsula School. AJ said that the donated tools recently arrived, and that we are hoping to have some bark donated soon.

AJ’s “Behind the Mask” segment featured Bryn Coriell, James Hitchcock & Jessica McKnight (a twofer), and Randy Mendosa.

Our next meeting is the Final Final Friday of AJ’s Rotary Year. One of the auction items will be dinner for four from Cassaro’s.

To date, RCAS has raised more than $12,000 for Food for People, and the Redwood Regional Rotary has donated $50,030!! And in other donations news, generous Sunrisers led by Bryan Plumley have donated over $5,400 to the RCAS Scholarship Fund, and the group will interview candidates during the final week of May.

Claire Ajina gave a report on Rotary Youth Exchange. She said that due to the pandemic, there will be no outbound Exchange Student from our Club or from our District during the 2020-2021 year. She told us that it was a difficult decision, but it was necessary to ensure the safety of the students and their hosts. President AJ noted that he has invited our three most recent Exchange Students to join an upcoming online meeting.

Dustin Littlefield, who will be District Governor someday, is arranging a virtual reception at this year’s 2020 Rotary Virtual Convention. Details will follow …

 

Helping Transition Age Youth in Humboldt County

We had a few Featured Speakers at our online RCAS meeting on May 22, 2020. Sonya Levy-Boyd, Cody Hoyt, and Stacy Farmer of the Humboldt County Transition Age Youth Collaboration (HCTAYC) were on hand (and online) to share information about their program an about the challenges faced by young people as they transition from the foster care system.

Sonya has been with the County for about 9 years, and she gave us a broad background of the program before asking Cody to provide more details.

Cody told us that the staff includes four clinicians, four case managers, and one intern. Cody specializes in mental health issues that some of their clientele are dealing with.

Stacy then gave us a virtual tour of the TAY Drop-In Center, which she called “the heart of TAY”. The facility includes a computer lab, a clothing closet, and a kitchen. Stacy said that during the pandemic, TAY has been offering a virtual drop-in service.

Both Stacy and Cody serve as Peer Coaches to help their clients. “It takes stubborn people to help stubborn people,” Stacy said. A major goal is to help these young people “show up for themselves in their lives,” she added.

For more about HCTAYC, including contact information, please click below to visit their website:


Don’t miss a minute!
(Click here to view the video of the full meeting.)

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