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Rotary Club of Southwest Durham

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southwestdurhamrotary

Service above self. We're a service organization located in southwest Durham, NC. Part of Rotary District 7710.

We welcomed Clayson Good as a member of Southwest We welcomed Clayson Good as a member of Southwest Rotary, with his proud Dad, longtime Southwester Bob Good, standing by to pin on his Rotary pin.
Southwest Rotarians had a good get-together at Cuc Southwest Rotarians had a good get-together at Cucciolo Famiglia Thursday, highlighted by Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams’s refreshingly frank talk about the challenges, rewards and some tricks of the trade in leading a multi-factional city and its multi-factional City Council.
It was a good-humored and upbeat testimony on the 300,000+ people who call Durham home and the city that has individuals, families and good-paying businesses arriving one after another after another. People around the country want to move here,” said the mayor, who added that Durham is the second-highest educated city in the United States and among the five fastest-growing. He also mentioned that he still serves tables at his wife’s restaurant a couple of nights a week.
Stuart Albright, the teacher “all of us” wish we’d Stuart Albright, the teacher “all of us” wish we’d had, was our meeting speaker. Stuart teaches English and Creative Writing at Jordon High School. He most recently started the Jordan Innovation Lab where students learn to use a variety of media tools and skills, including social media, filming, directing, producing, etc. He’s been named Durham Teacher of the Year and has received the received the Milken National Educator Award, dubbed the “Oscars of Teaching” by Teacher Magazine. His enthusiasm and energy were contagious!
Geoff Durham, President/CEO, Greater Durham Chambe Geoff Durham, President/CEO, Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce, shared great things happening in Durham.
Please join us on June 4 as Goeff Durham, Presiden Please join us on June 4 as Goeff Durham, President/CEO of Durham Greater Chamber of Commerce shares what's going on today and planned for the future.
We welcome our President Elect, Stephanie Byrd. To We welcome our President Elect, Stephanie Byrd. To give you a chance to begin to know her, we asked a few questions: 

What do you enjoy most about being a member of our club? 

“The best part of our club is the people. We’ve got an awesome mix going on from fresh faces who just walked through the door to Rotary legends who practically hold the blueprints to the place. Getting to hang out, swap stories, and finding out what others enjoy about Rotary has been a privilege.”

What is one fun fact about you?

“I am a crafty person. Right now I am teaching myself how to crochet blankets, hats, and amigurumis. I love giving these out as gifts to my friends and family. I have also done cross-stitch and knitting in the past.”

How do you serve others through your personal life? 

“I am an active volunteer at my kids’ school, Murray-Masssenburg Elementary. I volunteered this past year for the Read-a-thon, where the students raised over $40,000 for their school. In addition, I volunteer for the beautify project where students pick up trash around the school. I enjoy giving back to the community and am looking forward to volunteering again this upcoming school year. “
Wonderful presentation focused on work topics such Wonderful presentation focused on work topics such as locations (remote/onsite) now and future, employee privacy/employer needs, etc. by John Stanley, Lenovo, General Counsel, North America, Executive Director, International Sales Legal.
Preparing cleaning supply kits for veterans living Preparing cleaning supply kits for veterans living at Maple Court Apartments
Tony Hopp gave us Part 2 of his fascinating travel Tony Hopp gave us Part 2 of his fascinating travelogue about his and Matt McKinney's trip to China.
Jeff Blass, our club member and District Governor Jeff Blass, our club member and District Governor 2024-2025, gave us travel envy today as he shared his and his wife, Cam’s, travels to “Down Under”.
Jeff Blass, our club member and District Governor Jeff Blass, our club member and District Governor 2024-2025, gave us travel envy today as he shared his and his wife, Cam’s, travels to “Down Under”.
Our member, Tony Hopp, gave us a wonderful travelo Our member, Tony Hopp, gave us a wonderful travelogue of his and Matt McKinney’s recent trip to China. He even wore his hand-tailored suit. :-) There was more to share than time, so we are looking forward to China Part 2 soon.
Scott Brummel, Assistant Director for Food Securit Scott Brummel, Assistant Director for Food Security and Nutrition at Duke University’s Office of Community Affairs, came to talk about Root Causes– an organization created 10 years ago by a handful of Duke medical students who realized they were learning a lot about treating diseases related to bad nutrition, such as diabetes and heart disease, but not much about preventing them.
The Rotary Club of SW Durham and the Rotary Club o The Rotary Club of SW Durham and the Rotary Club of Durham hosted the 19th annual MLK Day Regional Meal Packing Project. 835 volunteers packed 187,264 meals for distribution in Durham, Orange, Wake, and Johnston County. 

In order on the photo: Durham volunteers for the event for over 10 years. Carver Weaver, Sara Abrons, Joyce McKinney, Newman Aguiar, Jenny Levine and Leon Sporrer.
Fun time at Families Moving Forward for dinner and Fun time at Families Moving Forward for dinner and game night.
Member Steffen Bass gave us a quantum leap into qu Member Steffen Bass gave us a quantum leap into quantum computing at our lunch meeting. Wow! It's going to have an amazing impact in the future. We'd love to have you join us at our lunch meetings or variety of service projects.
Folks on hand for the Southwest Durham Rotary’s me Folks on hand for the Southwest Durham Rotary’s meeting yesterday got the lowdown on North Carolina’s present-day demographics and politics, with a little bit of history, from a fellow who knows a lot about all three. 

Former Durham City Councilman and N.C. State Senator Mike Woodard was our guest speaker, fresh from leading his Thursday-morning OLLI class on the state’s political character titled “Red, Purple, and Blue.”

“Our history is baked into our DNA,” said Mike, whose family roots in North Carolina reach back to 1693, pointing out that North Carolinians have been a rebellious lot since Royal Governor William Tryon built Tryon Palace at public expense. Among his other points of interest:
• Ours is the ninth-largest state in the Union, with 11.3 million residents – almost one million more than when the 2020 census was taken. 
• “Unaffiliated” voters outnumber both Republicans or Democrats and they are on average younger than either, represent a plurality in 25 counties, and are less likely to have lived here very long.
• The top three states North Carolina is gaining population from are Florida, South Carolina, and New York. 
• 34% of North Carolinians are over 65, and 90% are at least high-school graduates.

“We ain’t Mayberry anymore,” Mike said. But – 4.5 million North Carolinians live in the 78 predominantly rural counties – a higher proportion than any other state except Texas. “The urban-rural divide,” he said, “is a real thing.”
A Durham venture capital executive gave an uplifti A Durham venture capital executive gave an uplifting and, in a way, reassuring presentation Thursday at Southwest Durham Rotary’s meeting. Nate Byrd, introducing speaker Jackie Lipkin, described his program as “an exciting local story.”

 Jackie is a managing director at SJF Ventures, a 26-year-old Durham-headquartered investment firm that puts money into rising companies “whose positive social or environmental impacts are part of their business model,” she said. (The “SJF” originally stood for “Sustainable Jobs Fund.”)

Formed in Durham in 1999, SJF Ventures has expanded its investment horizons, added offices in New York, San Francisco, and Seattle, and grown to manage several hundred million dollars’ worth of investments in clean energy, education, sustainability and climate resilience, health and so forth, “leveraging what works,” Jackie said.

All in all, it was testimony that you can make profits by doing good, which is something awfully nice and refreshing to hear these days.
Questing for opportunities, human beings have inve Questing for opportunities, human beings have invested more than half a trillion (that’s TRILLION) dollars in the future of Artificial Intelligence. “Low-quality” companies – those having little track record, low incomes, and a whole lot of debt – are outperforming the blue chip old reliables. The stock market is “really frothy” now, our own Nate Byrd (an investment advisor by profession) told Southwest Rotary members at the club meeting yesterday in his presentation on the Market Outlook. 
 “Investors tend to get caught up in the moment,” Nate said. A lot of expectations, results TBD – much like the dot.com days of the late 1990s, when a good many high hopes never delivered.
 As for the labor market, if you’re a recent college grad or a senior who’ll be needing a job in June – you better hope your parents haven’t rented out your old room yet. “One of the worst job markets in a long while,” Nate said.
 Uncertainty rules was one of the takeaways from an engrossing and enlightening talk, much appreciated by the assembled Rotarians who can look forward to next Thursday when the scheduled topic is “Sustainable Investing.” Y’all come.
 On happier notes, dollars were donated by:
 • Joyce McKinney, because all the bins of female sanitation supplies have been finally filled at Jordan High School.
 • Dave Harlow, because the U.S. men’s hockey team beat Canada.
• John Rasmussen and Brent Blaylock, the former because N.C. State beat UNC in basketball, the latter to show he could be a good loser.
• Craige Summers, because member Sara Abrons was able to get away from her Caterpillar duties to attend a club meeting.
• Jim Wise, because, he said, he had four quarters burning a hole in his pocket.
So it was. Best wishes for everybody’s week ahead and remember: Service Above Self.
Twenty-two Southwest Durham Rotary members got an Twenty-two Southwest Durham Rotary members got an inspirational, and interesting, rundown this afternoon on a couple of clean-water projects in progress in Guatemala with the aid of Engineers Without Borders’ Research Triangle chapter and, in part, grants from our own District 7710.

Chemical Engineer Mike Tomasik, who is headed back to Guatemala this weekend, delivered the program, setting the context by pointing out that, worldwide, 748 million people are going without access to clean water and 2.5 billion without access to adequate sanitation. The regional EWB (members are actually from all over the Carolinas and Virginia, Mike said) is doing its bit by helping two remote mountain villages build solar-powered systems to pump fresh, chlorinated water uphill (90 meters in one case, 180 in the other) from natural springs to water tap stations where people live. To find out more, make a donation, or maybe volunteer yourself, take a look at https://ewb-rtp.org.

Preceding Mike –

• Foundation Chair Jim Hoke presented a Paul Harris Fellow pin and certificate to new Southwest Rotarian Gianni Lake, and two pins to Nate Byrd – one of them representing a Fellowship Nate earned as a member of a previous club.

• Club President Craige Summers announced that the club board had approved donating $9,000 to the Emily K Center, the money to be used for gap-funding grants to college-bound students.
 
With best wishes to the Engineers, and delight in the intimations here and there that spring really, truly is coming, you all have good weekends, you hear? And we’ll see you same time, same station next week.
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