Good afternoon. Welcome to the Bloomington Rotary Club's weekly celebration of service. I'm Steve Wicks,
and I'm honored to serve as your president this year. Please silence your electronic devices. On this
day in history, December 9th, 1854, Alfred Tennyson's poem, Charge of the Light Brigade, was published
in The Examiner. There's not to make reply. There's not to reason why.
theirs but to do and die into the valley of death, wrote the 600. And on that cheery note, Sandy Keller
will deliver today's reflection. Gee, Steve, I just don't know what to say about that introduction.
Hi, everybody. I'm Sandy Keller with My Sister's Closet. I would like to tell you about something that
happened about three weeks ago.
I was looking at my calendar and alert came up and it was a notification saying that this was one of
the dates that Charlotte and I had picked out for an intimate fundraiser using her four cases of wine
that were still in her flat. And we were going to do this after she arrived at Bell Trace with chocolate
and cheese and wine. It was going to be a wonderful evening. And of course we know what happened after that.
You know, Charlotte has known me for over 27 and a half years since I started My Sister's Closet, but
it was really over the last three years that she started to really get involved and notice what was
happening with our organization. I started meeting with her and Cheryl Munson, who were trying to tell
me that this move was happening because the convention center was going to move forward no matter what.
Very hospitably, Tracy Yovanovich hosted both Charlotte and I at her home once where she made this fabulous
bread and lunch and wrote down a list of people that I should consider contacting to be on a capital
campaign board. None of whose names I knew at all. And they insisted that I needed to move forward and
take myself out of helping clients with the programming and being so involved with running the organization
if this was going to happen.
And I walked out of there thinking that this was the most impossible job and there was no way I was
going to be able to do this because I had no experience doing it at all. We'd been running my sister's
closet as a mostly self-funded business for this entire time. And where was I going to get this money
for a capital campaign beyond what our monthly mission was all about? But Charlotte kept meeting with
me. She kept calling me up in the middle of the night saying that she had an idea.
We kept coming over to her house when we found out that we had found the building. She was so excited.
She insisted that Marcy and I put her in a car and drive her over there for a tour because she wanted
to see firsthand what was going on. And then pretty much every day after that, until she moved to Beltrace,
I was hearing from Charlotte in one way or another.
And she laid out this plan of things that she said that if I put faith in it, things would start to
happen. Grants would come in. People would show up. And they have shown up. They've shown up on teens.
They've shown up with their talent. They've shown up with their resources. And she will forever be in
my head. But I love her. But we are still going to do this event sometime. We'll put it on the calendar.
You'll all be invited.
In the meantime, we have a gala that we are planning for February 13th, which is a Friday, which is
not bad luck. But it will be all about chocolate and the Woolery Mill and dinner and dance music and
great client stories. Charlotte was big on helping us in ways that I did not know that she could. Like
when the Ukrainian refugees came in, she still had enough
Russian language that she made them come feel welcome when she stopped by to make sure she was there
for that appointment. And so many other ways she helped us out that I can't even name in this very short
three minutes.
I would just like to let you know how much I appreciate her and how we are moving forward. We have no
money still, but we are moving forward with resources to money. And our lease is ending in June, as
many of you are asking. And last week, when it was 19 degrees out, it was 47 degrees in that building,
even with the heat on. So we've got a lot of things to do. But I'm very grateful for her and all the
ways that she has done things to help these women that we serve. And I appreciate all of you.
Thank you. Thank you, Sandy. I think probably most of us in the room at one point or another experienced
moving forward with no money. Hank Walter will introduce our guests today. Good afternoon. That's a
tough act to follow. We have just one guest here on site.
Lindsay Giacomino is a guest of our AMIC. Lindsay, welcome. And do we have any guests online?
We do not. We do not. OK. Thank you, Hatt. Hank. Birthdays, we have several to celebrate.
On the 10th, club director and program committee chair, Michael Shermis. On the 11th, club executive
assistant, still working a few hours for us, Natalie Blaze. Also on the 11th, Kate Johnson. On the 12th,
club director, Jim Sims. Also on the 12th, Greer Carson. And on the 13th, Daniel Matthews. Just one
anniversary to celebrate. On the 11th, Trent Deckard, who's sitting there in the back, nine years with Rotary.
Announcements the DEI committee plans to meet after the club meeting today Meeting is open to DEI committee
members as well as club members who would like to serve on the DEI committee Patrick Smith is right
there. So he'll kind of group people together near the end of the meeting We're also planning to maintain
the zoom link so Leslie as our zoom host today if you could
Kind of make sure that those on Zoom who want to stick around for the DEI meeting, they can do so. They'll
just have to stay on the same Zoom call. Bloomington Rotary Foundation committee is also meeting at 1 p.m.
here after today's meeting. Remember the 23rd and 30th of December, no club meetings. So unusual that
we miss time, but this is typically when we'll miss two weeks.
The union, I think, is closed for some of that time, so no Rotary Club meetings on Tuesday the 23rd
and Tuesday the 30th. Wonder Lab, on Saturday, December 13th, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday, December 14th,
from 1.30 to 5 p.m., Wonder Lab invites you to celebrate the chilly magic of the season with a weekend
full of winter-themed science fun for the whole family.
Come ready to investigate all things snowy and cold. The IU Rotorack Club has scheduled a fundraiser
for this Thursday, December 11th, 4 to 8 PM at the Chipotle at 420 East Kirkwood. 25% of the sales proceeds
during that time will be given to the IU Rotorack Club. So if you're not going to the holiday party
and you don't have dinner plans on Thursday,
think about ordering from the Kirkwood Chipotle between four and eight, and you'll help the IU Rotorack
Club. I believe we had eight club members who rang bells this past Saturday at Kroger East and Kroger
South, and we have all our spots covered for December 13th, so thank you very much. Last announcement,
Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours and Holiday Party is on the 18th, Thursday,
at the German American Bank, the South Branch on South Walnut. As members of the chambers, a member
of our organization, we're a member of the chamber. So Rotary Club members are invited to that free
of charge. Now I think we're ready for the mystery rotarian. Okay, for those who don't remember the
rules, I'll put up several clues from the mystery rotarian.
If you know the answer, put up your hand. Don't shout it out. Those of you online, if you know, put
up your hand electronically. Here's our first clue. After earning degrees from the universities of Maryland,
Tennessee, and Louisville, this Rotarian discovered Bloomington by accident after getting lost following
a visit to Brown County State Park.
Okay, we have quite a few who know it so far. All right. Once again, don't shout it out. Second clue.
Before joining the Bloomington Rotary Club, this individual was a member of a Rotary Club in Laguna
Niguel, California. As a BRC member, this Rotarian has become a Paul Harris plus one fellow, a generous
donor in general,
and an active supporter, particularly of the club's international projects and local refugee efforts.
So put up your hand if you know. Those who put it up the first time, you can put it up again. OK, about
the same number. OK, third and final clue. This Rotarian has served as the president of the local society
of the Friends of Music and the Monroe County Medical Society.
Before retiring to North Carolina and subsequently Chicago, this club member established and ran Volunteers
in Medicine here in Bloomington. Okay, lots of people. And our Mr. Rotarian this week, Dr. Raj Dhali.
And Raj, I'm sure you're online. I don't know what you can see, but there are lots of people clapping for you.
And I think Trent and Sally were the first two that I noticed, but there are several over here as well.
Did you guys have it right? Okay, excellent. A little bit more about Raj. He is one of our regular Zoom
meeting attendees. He's also served as a member of the IU Foundation International Committee, a cardiac
rehab volunteer, and a boys club soccer coach. At one point, his volunteer efforts were recognized by
then Governor Daniels.
Originally from Iraq, Raj ultimately became an orthopedic surgeon. Volunteers in medicine is now part
of Health Net, which continues to do great work in Indianapolis and Bloomington. And Health Net is an
organizational member of this club. Raj enjoys skiing, loves to travel, stays fit through walking and
regular gym use. And Raj is passionate about opera, music, and theater. So good job, Raj.
Leslie, did anyone have it right online other than Raj? Yes, Martha and I had our hands up. If there
were others, I'm sorry if I missed you. Okay, good job for you and Martha. Okay, we will move on to
Rotary International. Here are seven areas of focus. Remember, December is Disease Prevention and Treatment Month.
And our Happy Dollars proceeds in November and December will be given to the Rotary Foundation. That's
Rotary International. So things like eradicating polio. And now we have a video to play.
Behind every Rotary Project is someone who believes in a better world. That someone is you. Thanks to
your generosity, communities around the globe are growing stronger every day. This year alone, your
support helped fund 1,424 global grants and 468 district grants, fuelling projects that create lasting change.
In Papua New Guinea, a midwife buddy program is creating local leaders and fostering safer birthing
practices in even the most remote villages. In Uganda, four schools now have a rainwater harvesting
system, delivering clean water and improving both health and education. In Serbia, a program using robots
is teaching students the IT skills needed to be future innovators. And around the world,
Your contributions are helping to deliver life-saving polio vaccines, bringing us closer to a polio-free
future. Together, we are preventing disease, expanding access to education, growing economies, and protecting
mothers and children. This vital work is only possible because of you. With your help, the Rotary Foundation
raised more than $569 million this year. Every gift,
Large or small helps create meaningful lasting change. The good we do starts with you. And together
we are doing good in the world. Thank you. And once again, the Rotary Foundation pledged $50 million
a year for the next three years.
combined with the Gates Foundation, $100 million for the next three years in the efforts to eradicate
polio. We have time for happy dollars. Tracy has graciously stepped up short notice to be our camera
mic operator. So do we have everyone, anyone who is happy today? We better.
I'm happy for the Quariaman Men's Choir. Saturday night we had very few people, or because of the football
game, but on Sunday we had a rousing crowd, and also on Saturday I saw Mohammedi family, refugee family
that we helped, and they are doing so well thanks to our help. Thank you, happy dollars. Who, okay. Welcome.
We have Leslie online with her hand up. Oh, sorry. Hi, I have Happy Dollars. I just got word that my
dad made it through surgery. He had aneurysm in his aorta. So very, very happy that just got word of
that. So I'll be donating Happy Dollars. I'm giving Happy Dollars because I was happy with that video.
And it reminded me of our students that
applied for scholarships for Rotary this past time. I think seven out of the 11 were doing robotics,
which was a new area for me and new learning. And it's exciting to know that we're doing that at an
international level as well. So I'm giving you $50 to support the foundation and all the good work they're
doing. Fortunately, I wear flats.
I'm happy that my friend Lindsay was able to join us today. I'm happy because I'm just really thrilled
with how our football team did. It was just fantastic. It's like a dream come true. And on top of that,
I'm going to be visiting my grandkids out in San Francisco over Christmas.
Do we have any more online while I'm looking internally? We do. We have Raj. Go ahead, Raj. We can hear
you, though. We can hear you. You're good? Yeah, we can hear you. OK. I'm delighted and happy about
our football success this year.
I lived in Indiana 43 years. I never saw a season as wonderful as this year, particularly the last game.
As well, there are two things I thank Steve about honoring me being the unidentified Rotarian. But the
most important thing to let everybody know, despite me out of Bloomington,
My route and my connection to Bloomington is strong as ever. Bloomington News is my news and I appreciate
being part of the Rotary to keep these news coming. For that I'll give $50 for the dollar. That's awesome. Sandy?
I have happy dollars, because on the way over here, I received a text from someone I hadn't heard from
since I was 18 years old. I'm 66 years old, who is making a sizable gift to our campaign. And I didn't
even know him very well in high school. I hate to say, but it was just a wonderful, wonderful thing to hear.
That's awesome. And I have won. I will give $20 two things. One, we went to the game, and I am so proud
of our fans and team and how classy they acted and act in winning, especially in looking at the opposition,
I'll just say. And then secondly, I just want to make sure everyone's aware this is not so happy. In
the Mohammadi family, Jawed was actually picked up by ICE. And I think we all know
that he has the legitimate credentials. He is going through the process, which is required, et cetera.
And he was picked up and taken to Indianapolis. And that's all we know at this point. But just keep
him in your prayers, because that's really hard. So I hate to end on that note. Is there anyone else
with happy? OK, thank you for saving me. Katie.
I'm just happy to be here today at the Rotary meeting with my fellow Rotarians. Thank you all. That
last one there, Katie, the last time I saw her was early in the semester. And she was telling me she
was on her way to Bangladesh. And then after a month, and after two months, and after three months,
I began to get a little bit concerned. So I'm glad that she's back with us today.
Jim Griffith will introduce our speaker for today. Good afternoon. Our speaker today is Jeff Immel,
Service to Armed Forces and International Services Director for the American Red Cross in Indiana. Jeff
leads a portfolio that touches military families, veterans, and international communities across the
state. His work ranges from emergency communications for deployed service members to building innovative
of outreach programs in neighborhoods, YMCAs, community centers, nursing homes, and National
Guard installations. Jeff is known across the Red Cross for creating bold new models that bring the
mission closer to the people it serves. He leads the National Training Hub for SA, excuse me, Service
to Armed Forces deployment teams in Indiana at Camp Atterbury. He's the architect behind several field-tested
community mobilization pilots
And these prototypes are now drawing interest from regions across the country. Jeff served eight years
in the United States Marine Corps, is an electrical engineer, and founded and ran a drone manufacturing
company that supported federal government customers. Jeff is a lifelong Hoosier, an amateur radio operator,
a published author, and a student of leadership. He believes in small acts that create big impact. He
believes in wow moments.
and he believes that communities become stronger when people step forward for one another. So please
join me in welcoming today's speaker, my colleague and friend, Jeff Immel. Well, thank you so much,
Jim. I've got to say, I've been to several rotary clubs over the last several years. You by far are
the most technologically advanced
Rotary Club on the planet. I mean, the roving camera, that is way cool. I was briefed today as if I
was a professional speaker. I mean, when I walked in, I mean, I was greeted and immediately I was briefed
on lapel mic and clicker and everything else. So I hope that when I push this button that
My presentation is going to. Oh, here it comes. It's coming up. Wonderful. I want to share some things
with you. Some secrets behind the American Red Cross. And I would imagine whenever you think of the
American Red Cross, you probably immediately think of what? Yeah, we collect blood.
We teach CPR. We ask you for money during disasters. We respond to home fires. Well, I'm about to tell
you something about the American Red Cross that no one knows about, but that we're very active in worldwide.
And I think what we're going to find in this presentation is that the Rotary and the Red Cross have
a great deal in common.
This is Shaman. And Shaman has lived in a Rwandan refugee camp for all her life. She's still there.
And 25 years ago, Shaman, living in this refugee camp with her two-year-old daughter,
And Shaman had a pretty good idea that life was not going to change for her anytime soon and maybe never.
And consequently, life for her two-year-old daughter was probably going to replicate her life. Shaman
made an excruciating decision
There was an opportunity for her to put her daughter up for adoption. And her daughter would be adopted
by a family in the United States. It completely destroyed her. It was excruciating. But Shaman decided
that the best thing for her daughter was adoption.
by someone in the United States. For over 22 years, Shaman thought about her daughter every single day.
And every single day she thought would have, could have, should have. Every single day she wondered
if the decision that she made was the right decision.
She wondered where her daughter was, what kind of family she was with, where did she live in the United
States? And really, truly, was the decision that Shaman made the right decision? Well, Shaman was impacted
by a program that is run by the International Societies of the American Red Cross.
And it's called Restoring Family Links. And Restoring Family Links is a program that can be used by
families and family members who have been separated because of war, because of armed conflict, because
of political conflict. And these family members can reach out to the Society of the Red Cross in their country.
and they can file a case. They can actually open a case, provide information about the family member
that they are looking for. They might even have a picture. Shaman did. Shaman had a picture
of her two-year-old daughter. She can provide information of what she knew, and Shaman knew very little
other than her
her daughter went to the United States and was adopted somewhere in the United States. Shaman didn't
learn about this program until one day, 22 years after she put her daughter up for adoption, she was
talking to a volunteer of the Rwandan Red Cross. And Shaman shared her story.
about she put her daughter up for adoption. She wonders where she is. She wonders if she made the right
decision. And it just so happened that this volunteer knew about the program, Restoring Family Links,
shared this with Shaman. And so the volunteer helped her fill out all the paperwork. The volunteer collected
the picture that she had.
And that paperwork entered into the database of the International Red Cross. Now, the way this works
is that we have volunteer caseworkers. Volunteer, we call Restoring Family Links, RFL. That's the acronym.
We love acronyms in the Red Cross. So it's an RFL caseworker, a volunteer caseworker.
And we have six of those here in Indiana alone. And that caseworker gets to play a very important role.
Now, I don't know if any of you are old enough to remember. I am. On Saturday nights, I think it was
on CBS, there was this show called Columbo. Columbo.
Now, I love Columbo because it was always interesting how he was able to solve every single one of his
cases in less than an hour with commercials by simply asking questions. And that's how we train our
RFL caseworkers. Be curious. Ask questions.
and they begin to collect the leads and they begin to run down the leads and they ask more questions.
And when the family member is located, we've got a couple of options. One is that we can have the family
member who is located, if they want to be found, they can write a letter to the family member that was
looking for them. We send that through the Red Cross network.
The other way is that we simply pick up the phone and they can make a telephone call if we have a phone
number or even a video call. So that's how RFL works. This really matters. And it really matters because
families deserve answers. We had an RFL case that was opened up about three years ago. It was a family member
who had immigrated here from Honduras with his family. He decided to go back to Honduras and visit the
family that was there. Little, he was calling home every day. And then one day after, after about a
week, he quit calling home and no one was answering his cell phone. And so the family opened an RFL
case that went to one of our caseworkers here.
They asked questions, they searched, they collected all the information, they reached out to
their counterpart in Honduras, the Honduran Red Cross. And that person went to work, that volunteer
caseworker went to work, and she found him in jail. Yeah. He'd been picked up for something he did not
do. And that caseworker in Honduras
found an attorney that would take that case pro bono. And in less than three days, that family member,
that brother, was out and was back in the United States. And that is the power of RFL. We have a growing
international population here in Indiana. In Greenwood, Indiana, we have the Chin community. These are
people who have immigrated here from Myanmar.
Most of them have been persecuted because of their religious beliefs. Over 41,000 are here in Indiana.
Many of them have left family members back at home. We have a Haitian Creole community. We have a Latino
community. We have Ukrainian community.
Afghan community that are all here. And here in Indiana alone, since 2023, two years, we have reunited
six families. And right now we have six cases that are open here in the state. This is where we have
a lot in common. In Rotary, you have service,
above self. We have service above self. For us, it is humanitarian action. It is serving others, as
I like to say, serving people on their absolute worst day. Both our organizations, well, we build bridges.
And you build bridges through service. And we build bridges through reconnecting families.
Here's some ways that you can help. Now, in a little bit, I'm going to share with you a QR code. You
can scan that with your phone. That's going to take you to the restoring family links page on the Red
Cross website. You can read more about restoring family links. I would encourage you to please share
it within your networks.
tell people, I learned something new about the American Red Cross. They just don't collect blood. But
they also help reconnect families. You may know of a community leader from the international community.
Introduce me to them. I would love to meet them. And I would love to tell them more about restoring
family links.
And if you're really excited about this, you can actually be trained as a Restoring Family Links presenter
and do the same thing that I'm doing right now, simply sharing the program with your community. And
you don't have to stand in front of a group of people. You can share that one-on-one with your friends,
with your families, and within your networks. It's really easy to become a presenter. The training is
less than an hour. It's all online.
And it's really a great thing to have in your toolkit. Ah, Shaman again. I didn't tell you what happened,
did I? No? Well, I'll tell you what happened. So that case, that case came to Indiana because
The family that adopted Shaman's daughter lived in Indianapolis. And so our caseworker got it and began
to work that case. It took some time. She ran down some dead-end leads and a few others. But one day
she made a telephone call who she thought might be Shaman's daughter.
And she began asking questions and come to find out the woman that she was talking to on the other end
said, yes, I know that my mother put me up for adoption. I know that my mother is from Rwanda. And so
she actually had a picture of her mother.
And so we took this picture here and compared it to the picture of her mother. And it was a match. Oh
my goodness. How exciting. So our caseworker immediately reached out through the network, got in touch
with the volunteer that was in that refugee camp. And it just comes to find out that
Everybody had Apple phones. Oh my goodness. So you know what that means, right? That means we're going
to do a video call and this refugee camp had outstanding wifi. Wow. To see that moment. Now here is
the bonus. Here's the icing on the cake.
Shaman is not only a mother, she's a grandmother. That's a two year old granddaughter. Yeah.
What a story. Wow. What a story that is. And to even be a part of that is so fulfilling.
You can be a part of it too. Here's a QR code. You can scan this. This will take you to the American
Red Cross, Restoring Family Links webpage. You can read all about Restoring Family Links. You can read
about some really, really great stories about families being reunited, families that had lost track
of each other, and now are brought together because of this.
program. I'm going to put this back up here in just a little bit when we go to Q&A. But here's my contact
information. Hey, if you know of someone who has missing family somewhere outside the United States,
reach out to me because I will be thrilled to talk with them.
I will be thrilled to guide them. I'll be thrilled to point them to the proper path. What kind of questions
do you have for me? Sir? Oh, right here. I've got it. Oh, got it. Sir, that was such an inspiring talk
and certainly resonated with me. I may have missed this,
I'd like to investigate becoming a rotary volunteer. How does one go about it? Yes. So that is really
easy. You can go on the internet to redcross.org, click on the volunteer button, and then simply fill
it out a volunteer application. It's going to ask you, what do you want to do? Push RFL. Now an even
faster way is, Hey, see me.
All right. I'm going to give you my business card. OK. And then we'll get we'll get you going.
So thank you. Thank you for that. I know I know you do a lot of work in collaboration with other organizations.
like Americare's direct relief. I mean, there's so many of you folks that do great work in disaster
relief. But of course, a large part of that was also the U.S. government and the role they played in
that. And we've had a lot of cuts to various organizations as well as programs. So I'm wondering how
you folks are managing during these very challenging times with a lot of cuts and a lot of
I would say, increased distress, increased poverty, increased hunger, increased homelessness. How are
you managing through these very challenging times? Yeah, the times are challenging. One thing is the
American Red Cross, we have no government funding. So we are only sustained through donor donations.
So that's where that comes from.
Part of that too is, so you're aware that the Red Cross teaches CPR in first aid. So that is a profit
center for the Red Cross. That money is a contributor to support Red Cross missions. Also, our blood
collection also is another way that we support our mission, but we have no government funding. Now,
one of the things that
all organizations face, all non-profit organizations, is simply donor fatigue. Because you're right,
there are so many organizations that are out there. One thing that we're blessed with is that the American Red Cross
is the second most recognized brand in the United States. Does anybody know what the first most recognized
brand is? McDonald's. Ooh, okay, so I heard McDonald's. I heard Coca-Cola. Anyone else want to try?
Ketchup. Heinz. Are you football, Heinz? It's Coca-Cola. Yeah, Coca-Cola is the number one
most recognized brand in the United States. And second to that is the American Red Cross. So we're thankful
for that. I'm also thankful that whenever there is a big disaster, you'll notice, like during NFL football
games, you'll see the crawl that goes across there, donate to the Red Cross. Do we have any questions
online? No, we do not.
All right, Sally. Just a clarification. Do you mean that you've never sought federal funding or you
currently do not have federal funding? So currently we do not use to have federal fund. I don't know.
I have no idea. I'm kind of new to the Red Cross. I sold my drone company and retired and was looking
for some structure in my life.
and wanted to help people on their worst day. And so here I am. This is a question I don't want to ask,
but I'm going to. I was a volunteer in Appalachian, Kentucky when we had a flood, and I served as a
volunteer handing out supplies and so forth. I found in that experience that there were a few people,
a very few,
who exaggerated their condition or said somebody would say, well, this guy never had the flood in his
house. How much of that happens in your emergency recovery operations? People that don't really qualify,
but they ask for help. So I'm sure that happens. I don't have I don't have any visibility into that.
to give you a firm statistic on how that happens. I'm sorry that you saw that, and I'm sorry that happens,
but I don't know the answer to your question. I'm sorry. Okay. I have one question. So, tagging onto
what Jeff said earlier, with the RFL specifically and the government changes in immigration, et cetera,
are you seeing that impact adoption or relocating each
families? So, I'll tell you what I see. So, tomorrow, I will be at an event at the Chin Community Center
in Greenwood, Indiana. And I work a lot with the Chin community. I work a lot with the Burmese community,
Latino community. What I see is a sense of fear
about reaching out to locate family members. And the reason why is because we got to collect
some information. We got to collect information on when's the last time that you had contact with him.
Do you have an address or a telephone number that used to work? And what we find is people
in the international community right now
feel some fear about sharing that information right now. So that's what I'm seeing. If I have one more
question, can you talk about countries in the world where it's especially hard to get information? So
you talked about Myanmar. Are there other examples where it just
People just disappear and you can't get information. Ukraine, we have two cases right now in Ukraine,
and these two gentlemen disappeared. We don't know where they are. So those are active cases. Iraq is
another one that we find. Afghanistan is another one. Pakistan would be,
those places that are the most difficult to attempt to locate someone. Now, you notice that all of those
have something in common. All of them have recently been in some sort of war, some sort of armed conflict,
and that's what is particularly difficult with Ukraine. So, the two people that are missing were combatants,
They went missing sometime during combat, and now we're trying to find them. Thank you. Thank you very
much, Jeff. Just the thought of reconnecting families is so heartwarming.
In honor of your talk, a donation will be made this quarter to the Lake Monroe Water Fund.
So thank you. We are a little bit ahead of schedule. And so I'm going to do something we've not done
before that I know of, at least during my short time with the club. But we're going to have five minutes
of open mic. If there is a member who wants to put up your hand, you'll actually have to come to the
front of the room. So Tracy, you're good to go. Or online.
Anyone has something short that they want to say? Hopefully it's positive, but it can be negative. So
we have happy dollars, but those are confined to happy thoughts. But anyone who'd like to just get up
and say something? OK. John and Jim are?
Good afternoon, everybody. I'm John Zote, your club treasurer. It's not about a treasurer money thing.
But I'm also on the steering committee for IU Bloomington's celebration of America's 250th birthday.
And so just wanted to part of my job is to outreach with service organizations around Bloomington. And
obviously, we're one. So I just want to let you know to kind of keep your eyes peeled for information about
what the university will be doing next year when we get into 2026. If you didn't know, IU is one of
the holders of one of three copies of the Declaration of Independence, west of the Allegheny Mountains.
It's housed at the Lilly Library. So more to come, but wanted to make that announcement. Thanks for
the open mic. I just wanted to say a couple of things. One, isn't it great to have a partnership with
the American Red Cross?
And it's so wonderful to have Jim Griffith as a member. And Jeff, that was a terrific talk. Thank you
so much. You really speak from the heart. Also, as several of you mentioned, wasn't Saturday night special?
I mean, honest to goodness, I never in my life thought I would live to see such a date. And, you know,
I'm a little sad, more than a little sad that some people who
were such big IU fans, I think of Bob Hamill and who didn't live to see it. You know, just kind of that
part of it kind of breaks my heart. I just wanted to also maybe I'm sure already know this, but next
Sunday night, 60 Minutes is doing a segment on Coach Signetti and the turnaround. And I don't know about
you, but I'm planning on turning in for that. John Wertheim.
who is a native Bloomingtonian and has worked for Sports Illustrated for years and currently works for
CBS 60 Minutes is doing that story. So seven o'clock Sunday, unless the NFL game pushes it back, the
starting time, but I know you'll want to join me in seeing that. Thank you very much. Thank you, Steve.
A couple of things I want to reply to John. So we have between Glenda Murray and Jim Cachu and now John
Zote. I feel like we're we're kind of have good connections as to the America 250th anniversary and
and hopefully we are planning next weekend next week to induct the new director of the Monroe County
History Center.
So anyway, we're kind of looking for cues as to what our role as a club will be in celebrating America's
250th anniversary. The other thing in response to Jim's comment, Bob Hamill's son was a suitemate during
one of my years at IU. And before the game, I got a text from him, and he was at the game and a picture
of what he could see down on the field. So I was really happy for him and sorry that his dad wasn't alive.
Just to tag on to what John said, for those of you who have not watched for the 250th anniversary, the
Ken Burns special, it's very good to watch. It's a reminder of what we in this country have gone through
over the years. This is not new news, what we go through now, and it should give you some inspiration
that we fight for what's right. And since this is also
close to December 7th, I would also say that one of the other things that happens every year at Christmastime
is a group called Reeds Across America. People buy wreaths online, volunteers put them out in cemeteries.
We first experienced this in Beaufort, South Carolina at the National Cemetery there where Patrick's
brother-in-law is buried and nephew.
But we do this in Monroe County in a number of cemeteries. And so if anybody is interested in helping
on Saturday, they're hoping to have 1,600 wreaths to put out in Rose Hill, just Rose Hill Cemetery.
But it's a huge cemetery.
If you have time, anytime between now and the end of the year, drive through and see the wreaths and
the red bow, and you know every one of those graves is a service member. Thank you. Thank you, Glenda.
Leslie, anyone online have anything they'd like to say? No hands came up, but I just want to say I rang
the bell for the first time at the Southside Kroger, and I had a blast.
I think I talked to everybody that walked by and just want to say thank you for everybody participating
in the bell ringing. It was quite enjoyable. Thanks for doing that, Leslie. One last thing that Steve
caught up, if you want to come up and say something, that I'd like to say is we had a presentation,
and I lose track of time, but it was a year, year and a half ago,
And it was about innovative defense readiness and about a possible really big project that the military
would do here in Bloomington. And we were hoping it would take place in June of 26. And unfortunately,
it's not going to happen. We haven't heard if it's a no or if it's a not now.
But anyway, that was kind of out there as a big question mark on our calendar. It would have been a
really great thing for this community. And unfortunately, it's not going to happen at this time. Just
want to say in remembrance of this 250th anniversary, we're pretty lucky. My mother and her three brothers
and Indiana all volunteered within two weeks of Pearl Harbor. They served honorably and had an honorable
discharge and two of the boys saw serious action in that war. One went into the hospital for 14 months
in the Battle of Okinawa. So the United States has a long history
history of serious conflict. Worse, of course, is our Civil War, where we lost more people than we lost
in all of our other wars combined. So we're lucky to be where we are today. It inspired me to join Navy.
And I just wanted to say, be happy that you're here.
Steve, we have one more online for Judy Schroeder. OK, go ahead, Judy. I just want to emphasize that
we have a meeting next week and it's going to be a really important meeting. I know that Steve was going
to tell you this, but I'm going to get a jump on him. We have a really good expert, Bob Kravchuk on
Ukraine, and he's going to give us his
on what is going on there. And it will be up to the minute. So I don't think you'll want to miss this
meeting. Just wanted you all to know that. Thank you, Judy. I also want to thank you. I was afraid there
might be a motion to impeach, but that hasn't happened. So anyway, so as Judy said, next meeting will
be here in the jointed room, December 16th.
and we'll learn up to date about the war in Ukraine. So Tyler, if you could share the graphic for the
four-way test. All right, did you have something? Yeah, one quick thing. For anyone who didn't get the
QR code from Jeff's PowerPoint, at the end of the meeting, I'm gonna put it back up on screen. Okay,
excellent. After the four-way test, right? Yes. Okay. So please stand if you're able. Of the things
we think, say or do, first, is it the truth?
Second, is it fair to all concern? Third, will it build goodwill and better friendships? Fourth, will
it be beneficial to all concern? And fifth, is it fun?