April 10 – Salem Convention Center
Program: Restoring Trust in Today’s Media
In this era of “Fake News” and the continuing layoffs of editors and reporters across the country, people are more challenged than ever to find trusted sources of news. Les Zaitz, a nationally recognized journalist working in Oregon for 45 years, will address the erosion of trust in the media and how the press and citizens together can change that.
Many wonderful community service efforts fly under the radar – providing much needed support for those in need but without garnering much publicity. One such program is 1000 Soles, a joint project between the City of Salem and area high school students that provides footwear to students throughout the area. Laurie Shaw Casarez from the city, Divinity Rodriguez from North Salem High School and Andrew Nguyen from South Salem High School will explain how they are making a difference in the lives of thousands of kids, two feet at a time.
Program Chair: Bruce Anderson
Message from President Rus
Hello Salem Rotarians,
For those of you at last week’s meeting, I hope you got as much out of it as I. Usually on Wednesday’s we touch a bit on our impactful activities, but last Wednesday was rich in that heritage; ShelterBox, Rotaract, Interact, GoodWorks Small Grants, and Literacy Grants, giving blood, and lest we forget the rich Bell Ringers. As I sat there, I thought Service Above Self, wow this is really cool. Then we got a real lesson in Service Above Self from a couple of teenagers and the support of our great city.
As Laurie Shaw-Casarez, Divinity Rodriguez, and Andrew Nguyen shared the heritage and impact of 1,000 Soles, memories of past challenges and lessons of real need and opportunity flooded my mind. Most of the kids in the neighborhood of my youth had two pairs of shoes in summer [leather & canvas] and one pair in the winter. I remember wearing out the sides and soles of my Keds and the feel of slush coming up through the hole in the soles of my leather shoes. I also remember my parents wanted to stretch the budget as much as possible and when those experiences happened, by dad took me to the shoe store. I was lucky. I have a neighbor who grew up under trying circumstances in Medford. He was athletically gifted and ran high school cross country in leather street shoes [his only pair] until a coach found him a used pair of track shoes. I guess you could say he was lucky, too. My eyes were opened Wednesday to the fact that many are not so lucky and something that was in the background of my mind is very much in the forefront of theirs. As I left the meeting, I was truly inspired by not only these kids, but the entire effort by a bunch of kids in our community, clearly putting Service Above Self. It was a very special day.
See you tomorrow,
