Ring of the Bell: Kathy opened to a fairly small crowd on the last lunch meeting of the year. R.I. President is John F. Germ and his theme is “Rotary Serving  Humanity”.

 

Greeter: Norbert Walls says: “Be more concerned with character than reputation; Character is what you really are; reputation is merely what others think you are”.

 

Visiting Rotarians: Chris Gallagher. Huh? It’s about time.

 

Honored Guests: Welcome Julie Disch, former First lady of SR Rotary!

 

Patriotic Song: Hermann Welm led us in “…My Country, “Tis of Thee I Sing.”

 

The “Welcome Song”:  Kathy forced us, in spite of a few hisses and groans, to belt out our rarely missed Welcome Song (the long version) though actually I thought it was kind of fun.

 

Interact: Our Interactors gave a report of their numerous activities: The Tree Lot, Cal. High Movie night, their “hoodie” design, and promotion of the District Conference, Camp Venture and Camp Royal.

 

Senior Lunch: Much appreciation to Marie Galbo and Norbert for the very successful Senior Lunch at the San Ramon Senior Center.

 

Rotary Christmas Party: Lucky Sandhu thanked the Tuckers who hosted the party and said his daughter now wants to be a Rotarian.

 

Rotary Foundation: Guy Greco filled in for Ray Giles. Half the funds we donate yearly come back to our club, so we gain along with Rotary International.

 

Tree Lot: Special thanks to John Tatum and especially, to the ever essential Brandon.

 

Toy for Tots: Edgardo says please support the San Ramon Police Department Toys for Tots program.

 

Student of the Month: Cal. High student Taylor Martin was lauded for his work as an Integral Teaching Assistant. He helps their Special Needs teacher with any issue whether it involves a fire alarm or other matters. Taylor said he has three relatives with special needs so he appreciates the importance of the Special Needs Program at Cal. High.

 

SPEAKER: Mr. Nan Su of San Jose is a strong advocate for human rights in China.  Mr. Su first came to the U.S. in 1989 and served as a news commentator for SOH International Chinese Radio Network and, since 2003, for NTD International TV Network.  Besides his involvement in the public eye, Mr. Su holds a Masters Degree in engineering and has been a professional engineer for over 20 years.

Mr. Su’s talk, “Humanity’’s Last Stand”, exposed the on-going large scale, forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience in China. The U.S. Congress as well as the European Congress have passed resolutions expressing concern over this horrendous practice. Although China denies organ harvesting exists, studies by many experts from around the world have determined that the number of organ transplants being effectively “sold” in China, often to foreign tourists, could not possibly be explained by the minimal number of voluntary organ donations from Chinese citizens. Actually, China has no established organ donation program in spite of the fact there are over 600 organ transplant centers. Also, there are documented cases of organ transplants being promised for a specific date when it would not be possible to make such commitment unless there was a practice of essentially killing prisoners at pre-designated times. Mr. Su says it has been estimated that 90% of the organ transplants in China are the result of executions. He says entire prison wards have been emptied. Members of the Falun Gong sect, who revere traditional Chinese culture and practice various types of meditation, have been the primary victims along with prisoners and other marginalized groups.

If you want to help, start by visiting these internet sites: http://stoporganharvesting.org

 

 

Raffle: Mark Hornstra won the Greeter’s Gift, and Marv Remmich got a shot at the Progressive, but only went home with $10.00