The program speaker at the May 31 meeting was Lindsey Smith, a nurse practitioner who is president of the Minnesota chapter of the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS). She spoke about her experiences volunteering with SAMS in Syria.President San Asato presented longtime Rotarian Gordy Lewis his pin for Rotarian of the Year for the 2017–2018 year. Congratulations again, Gordy!
Youth Exchange student Paco Tebar-Gomez gave his Classification Talk at the meeting.
Youth Exchange student Paco Tebar-Gomez gave his Classification Talk at the meeting.
Rotarian Dan Stolfa gave his Classification Talk at the meeting.
Two Community Service—Local Funding Committee grants were presented at the meeting. Better Futures Minnesota and Cornerstone both shared their plans for the monies received from the Edina Rotary Foundation.
Two Community Service—Local Funding Committee grants were presented at the meeting. Better Futures Minnesota and Cornerstone both shared their plans for the monies received from the Edina Rotary Foundation.
Click on the link below for more on the meeting...
The guest speaker at the May 31 meeting was Lindsey Smith, a practicing nurse practitioner and President of the Minnesota Chapter of Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS).
SAMS’s mission is to saves lives and alleviate suffering inside Syria, as well as well as natural disasters outside of the Syria.
Syria has been governed for the past 20 years by Bashar al-Assad as President and the country has been under dictator leadership for the past 60 years.
Smith has done volunteer work in Syria and observed that lcities have been destroyed to rubble and almost 500,000 Syrian men, women, and children have been murdered by the Bashar al-Assad regime. Many Syrians have fled the country and have been blocked from entering Middle Eastern or European countries.
In spite of this human tragedy, the Syrian people have positive spirits and have a strong faith in God.
One of our Rotary Youth Exchange students, Paco Tebar-Gomez, gave his Country Talk at the meeting. Paco is from Valencia, Spain. He thanked the club for the experience and Rotary families for all his adventures while in America. He appeared to have fit right in with the youth and programs at Edina High School. He stated it has been experience that he will value as he goes back home and moves forward with his life. 
Two Community Service—Local Funding Committee grants were presented at the meeting. Mike Sitek presented Better Futures Minnesota with their local grant. And Kelley Burnett introduced Cornerstone to accept their local grant, which included funds from District 5950 and area Rotary Clubs so they can purchase a new van for transporting those in need of their services.Rotarian Dan Stolfa gave his Classification Talk at the meeting and told us a bit about himself and his Rotary experience so far.
