We pledge ourselves to: "Create Hope in the World". We will accomplish this by reaffirming our mission to inspire leaders with passion to serve humanity, strengthen youth for tomorrow's leadership and dedicate ourselves to enhancing lives in our world. Before we speak, act, or make decisions, let us pause and ask ourselves: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned? These are our compass and will ensure that our actions are filled with integrity and genuine care.
Inspiring leaders with passion to serve humanity; strengthening youth for tomorrow's leadership and enhancing lives in our world.
Last Time We Met 8/31/2023
Today our meeting was led by President Debbi Rydberg at Fire Station #3. We did not have a power point presentation nor the pledge printed, so we sang, but did not recite the pledge. She thanked everyone for being flexible with the pledge and quoted Julie Fish “Blessed are the flexible for they shall not get bent out of shape!”
We pledge ourselves to "Create Hope in the World". We will accomplish this by reaffirming our mission to inspire leaders with passion to serve humanity, strengthen youth for tomorrow's leadership and dedicate ourselves to enhancing lives in our world. Before we speak, act, or make decisions, let us pause and ask ourselves: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned? These are our compass and will ensure that our actions are filled with integrity and genuine care.
Attending
Leah Atkinson, Melanie Clemons, Julie Fish, Neil Gagnon, Katie Harstad, Heather Kliewer, Tove Lichty, Pete Reiner, Debbi Rydberg, Theresa Slominski, Marv Sorvala, Joe Stremcha, Nicole Wojcik, David Anderson, Bob Maxwell, John Osterman, Bruce Tyler
Guests Attending
Joe Libor, Assistant Fire Chief of Operations/Deputy Emergency Manager; Alan Sakry
Program
Our program today was introduced by Melanie Clemons. Melanie spoke of when she moved into her new home, there was smoke coming out of an outlet and she called the fire department and was so grateful for the quick response and courteous service! Joe Libor Jr has been with the fire department 10 years and his father was a fire fighter too (it was Joe’s dad who responded to Melanie’s fire as the Fire Chief.) Joe gave an overview of the fire department operations. There are only four full-time positions in the fire department and everyone else is paid on-call. There are three fire stations in Elk River and where the fire fighter lives determines which fire station they report to for fire response. Joe talked about the other work that they do for training, community risk reduction, and emergency management of large incidents such as a tornado or massive flooding. They also provide aid to Otsego, Rogers, and Big Lake Township. He then gave a tour of Fire Station #3, which opened in 2022 and was built to fill response time gaps before the 169 project would be completed. The fire station is state of the art and has many amenities that are designed around health and wellness to support the fire fighters in mind, body, and spirit. (Of special note, during the tour a squirrel was spotted on the exterior of the building practicing his fire-fighting climbing skills.)
Rotating Reports
To best utilize everyone’s time, a brief meeting was held prior to the program. Debbi thanked everyone for coming to the Chamber event last week. They served about 125 people great fajitas. She also gave a huge shout out to John Osterman and Pete Reiner for the offsite meeting setup today, and Neil Gagnon for providing the lunches.
We welcomed Leah Atkinson as a new member and she gave a little bit of information about herself. She was born and raised in Port Angelus, Washington. She is a Family Nurse Practitioner and does contracting work, mostly in Indian Health Services for the Federal Government as a civil servant, and has worked with the Navajo, and Sioux tribes. She is in Elk River now because her son is in the area.
The river clean-up was a success, about 8-10 people collected approximately 50 pounds of garbage in two hours, and then met at Bonnie’s for a social. The interesting find this year was a half bag of weed in a tree.
Julie gave details of Bonnie’s brother, Tommy, passing away and a visitation will be at Mary of the Visitation in Big Lake from 4-7pm and she will be going around 5-5:30 if anyone wants to join her.
Debbi surveyed the group for those attending the State Fair and what their favorite things were.
No Delights and Dilemmas this week.
No card draw this week.
Last Time We Met 8/17/2023
Today our meeting was led by President Debbi Rydberg.We sang and then recited the new pledge: We pledge ourselves to be Hope in the World. We will accomplish this by reaffirming our mission to
inspire leaders with passion and to serve humanity, strengthen youth for tomorrow leadership and dedicate ourselves to enhancing lives in our world. Before we speak, act, or make decisions, let us pause and ask ourselves: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be
beneficial to all concerned? These are our compass and will ensure that our actions are filled with integrity and genuine care.
Attending
Terry Bizal, Melanie Clemons, Julie Fish, Neil Gagnon, Katie Harstad, Heather Kliewer, Mark Kuyava, Tove Lichty, Pete Reiner, Debbi Rydberg, Theresa Slominski, Nicole Wojcik, Bill Yueill, David Anderson, Bob Maxwell, John Osterman, Bruce Tyler
Guests Attending
Andy Almos, ISD 728 Executive Director; Theresa’s brother and sisters Wayne, Jen, and Chrissy
Program Our program today was introduced by Terry Bizal. Andy Almos is the ISD 728 Executive Director of Business Services and has been in the position for two years. He is the “money man” for the district, wearing many hats and does a lot of the work behind the scenes. Born and raised in Hinckley, he now lives in Zimmerman with two children ages 14 and 8, and likes to hunt in his free time. He likes to hunt so much that he went on a three week South African Safari two years ago! He talked about funding and the number of kids through the doors is the biggest contributor to their funding. He talked about the construction and that it will all be done before school starts! This year they are completing the promises set forth in the 2019 referendum with the completion of the last of seven projects. The district set a standard in the referendum that every kid has the same school experience regardless of the school they are physically attending. Other responsibilities Andy oversees are custodial services, transportation services, health and safety, and information technology. This year is a record for dollar amounts invested in the schools, partially because it is tied to a 4% inflation rate.
He wanted us to understand that there were a lot of bills passed and it is record funding of $22 million, but it
is also record expenses of $13 million in new mandates. The rest of the funding will likely go to contract
negotiations. There were lots of policy changes and probably the biggest one is free school meals consisting
of a breakfast and a lunch for every child. They are always planning and predicting for the future for capacity and facilities and needed funding for the next ten years - and the district has a really good team for predicting that has been incredibly accurate in the past. He took a few questions from the group and then Debbi thanked him for the presentation.
Rotating Reports Debbi gave an update from the board meeting prior to this meeting. The budget was passed and it is the
earliest the budget has ever been approved! We need a new Service Chair, please talk to Pete Reiner for any interest.
The River Cleanup is scheduled for August 23 at 5:00pm starting at the dam and we will clean up around there. After that, those that can float will get in canoes to clean up along the river, and everyone else will go to Bailey Point to clean up there. Pete has two canoes already so please let him know if you are able to bring any additional canoes. We will have a gathering at Bonnie’s afterwards. A sign-up sheet will be passed around for those able to help. Bags and gloves will be provided.
We are going to Fire Station #3 in two weeks, August 31, for our program and Melanie has a sign-up sheet for ordering subs for lunch there.
Next week we are invited to attend the Chamber picnic at 101 Market, even if you are not a member because Rotary is a member. If you are a member already and able to RSVP on the website, please do so, and if you are not then contact Debbi directly for your RSVP.
***Reminder that we will not be meeting at Rockwoods for the next two weeks.***
Membership Update by Julie Fish is that we have two new members that were voted in at the board meeting, Ashley Schultz and Leah Atkinson. We have one official resignation from Angela Nies, with regrets.
Foundation Minute by Tove Lichty stating that on November 9 she will be having a fall foundation event. The details will be coming later, she just wanted
everyone to get it on their calendars. We will be skipping the regular meeting and just having the evening event. She then talked about the global impacts in communities around the world with foundation dollars, and gave some numbers from our district. Last year our district raised $416,000 for the Rotary Foundation and the money was used for 12 local grants, 3 global grants, scholarships, and $44,000 for Polio Plus. Those district grants are funded by what we give and what Rotarians around the world give. What our district gives to the foundation comes back to our district after it has been there for three years. Tove hopes to find a project and grant to help with next year. If you are interested in helping to plan the November foundation event, let Tove know.
Theresa was then invited up to make a presentation of a Rotary pin that Mary Eberley was supposed to receive.Mary felt she had enough pins and wanted to give it to a fellow Rotarian instead. Mary wanted it to go to Bob Maxwell for all the many hours he gives to Rotary with all the media work he does for our club. Theresa gave it to Bob and he was very thankful and moved for the recognition!
Fundraising Opportunities
Delights and Dilemmas (formerly Happy Bucks)! Terry Bizal started and was $3 delighted for Andy attending, school starting back up soon, and sports starting with first soccer game next Thursday and football on August 31. Bob Maxwell was $10 delighted for the pin received. Heather Kliewer was $1 delighted for Bob’s pin, and $1 delighted for Andy’s trip to South Africa. Nicole Wojcik was $10 delighted with her mom’s hip surgery going well but she did develop a DVP so that
was a dilemma, her stepson is back on a leave to celebrate his birthday, and her daughter is a senior this year with all those “senior things” to do and decisions to make. Melanie Clemons was $1 delighted for Katie and her Alaskan trip next week, and $1 delighted for Terry and
ISD 728 taking her kids back to school. She had a shout out to ISD 728 for the amazing teachers and staff! Mark Kuyava was $1 delighted for the rain, his family going to a Twins game, and for an upcoming visit to the
fair. Katie Harstad was $1 delighted for her trip to Alaska with her oldest daughter for her cousin’s wedding, and
$1 for buying a house this week in Elk River and closing in September on ½ acre (with a dog to come!) Guest Jen Thornwall was $20 delighted for Rotary and all the good that they do, for Terry and Andy and all they do for children’s education, and for siblings getting together.
No one won the card draw this week.
Birthdays Birthdays will be handled differently moving forward as some people don’t like to have happy birthday sung
to them. Rotary will be asking for a $10 donation and you can decide to not have it sung or how you want it
done. Terry Bizal had a birthday August 11 and had it sung the regular way. Theresa Slominski has a birthday August 18 and she had it sung like The Emperor’s New Groove.
Pearls of Wisdom
“Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable but
they’re never a weakness.” –Brene Brown
Last Time We Met 8/10/2023
Today our meeting was led by President Debbi Rydberg. We sang and then recited the new pledge incorporating the four-way test as well as our inherent mission to serve the community.
Attending
Dirk Barrett, Melanie Clemons, Julie Fish, Neil Gagnon, Katie Harstad, Heather Kliewer, Tove Lichty, Laura Mullennex, Cal Portner, Debbi Rydberg, Theresa Slominski, Joe Stremca, Bob Maxwell, John Osterman, Bruce Tyler
Program
Our program today was introduced by Dirk Barret. CAER Food Shelf has seen an incredible increase in demand for services and so he invited the charismatic Executive Director, Heather Kliewer, to speak about the organization. Heather has been the Executive director for six years now in CAER’s mission to provide support and relief of hunger. CAER was founded in 1979 and moved into their current building in 1996. They were started by local churches and now are supported by civic organizations and businesses in the community. Heather is very grateful for a strong board that is involved. The services they provide are more than just the food shelf; they also provide financial assistance, car repair, senior delivery, and youth outreach. Families can come twice a month to shop and each shopper usually leaves with 100-120 pounds of food. CAER is now recognized as a “Super shelf” which is making the healthy choice the easy choice and having those healthy options available. They have a free farmers market now that was developed out of COVID and has become very popular. Shoppers are great about sharing recipes for some of the more unique produce and CAER shares recipes as well. CAER also provides “Kids Kits” where kids can pick up a weekend package every week to take home that provides good food for the weekend including meat, produce, cereal, etc.; enough for two breakfasts and two lunches. It is available for kids K-12 and there is no appointment necessary to pick up. Sometimes this is the first introduction of a family to CAER. Another service CAER provides is school supplies and winter outerwear. They have combined that with the farmers market and will have Johnny Pops available and sometimes the County Health bus onsite. Senior meals are provided to Guardian Angels once a month. Orders are placed on Monday and are delivered later in the week with some extra “goodies”. Youth Outreach is provided to Thumbs Up, ISD 728 Health Offices, and the Elk River high school. Sometimes families don’t want to come to CAER but the youth are willing to accept the services and bring home to the families. Currently, CAER works with the county to have a food bag available to distribute to families as soon as they are approved for services since they are only open twice a month and that might be a long wait for families with immediate need. Most of the food is donated to CAER via food rescue (50%, 531,000 pounds in 2022), a partnership where businesses are moving food off their shelves but it is still good food and so it is donated rather than being thrown out. They have these partnerships with Aldi, Coborns, Target, Walmart, Cub, and Kwik Trip. Some food is purchased by CAER, and they also have a grant for milk. This allows them to offer not only non-perishable food but meats, produce, special flours, frozen items, etc. and have if feel like a real shopping experience! They have done many upgrades to make it a great experience. Volunteers for CAER help with the food shelf, farmers market, outreach, and special events. Heather showed a video of a “day in the life” of CAER volunteers on shopping day - demonstrating it takes many hands and the dedicated volunteers they are grateful to have! CAER by the numbers depicted that while the increase in visits has doubled since 2020, the food donations have been going down. She encouraged everyone to bring a food item next week! Items for families to cook at home are needed like sugar and oils, in addition to canned items. The staff and volunteers at CAER like to have fun while they work and they receive many letters from clients that tell of how welcome and “non-judged” they felt coming to CAER, allowing them to feel dignified in the process.
Rotating Reports
A service recap of the lithium ion battery collection event shared that seven volunteers donated sixteen hours and they collected three boxes of batteries. Thanks to all who helped out!
The River Cleanup is scheduled for August 23 at 5:00pm starting at the dam.
Next week’s program by Terry Bizal will be Andy Almos, ISD 728 Business Director.
Bruce Tyler is back! The 18 hour flight each way was challenging but he had a great time with tons of family while in Taiwan. He said they have a train there that travels 200 mph and you don’t even feel like you are moving. He brought in some old Taste glasses that he would like to have members purchase for $1 and the proceeds go to Rotary.
***Due to a lack of program, there will be no meeting August 24. Rotarians are encouraged to attend the August 24 Chamber Membership Appreciation Picnic at 101 Market, 8980 Quantrelle Ave NE, Otsego, MN 55330. RSVP by August 21 via the Chamber’s website.***
There is a board meeting next week, August 17, 11:00am at Rockwoods.
Fundraising Opportunities
Tove won the card draw this week for $3 and donated it back to the club.
Delights and Dilemmas (formerly Happy Bucks)!
Julie Fish was $5 happy to be the winner of the most fish caught for the 5th year in her girl family fishing trip. She caught 39 sunnies in an hour!
Bob Maxwell was $1 happy for fishing on Eagle Lake.
Tove Lichty was $2 happy for a camping trip with her nieces ages 3, 4, 5, and 6, and going back to IA for a family reunion.
John Osterman gave a $10 fine for missing his volunteer time at the battery recycle event last Saturday. Then Bob Maxwell gave a $10 fine for also missing his volunteer time at the battery recycle event.
Cal Portner was $7 happy for golfing recently, going to a Twins game with his parents, Saturday having kids over, attending a wedding in North Carolina next week, and a 40th class reunion in New Ulm.
Theresa Slominski was $1 happy for her sibling get-together next week.
Debbi Rydberg was $1 happy for a gathering with family and the stories shared.
Announcements
August 31 we will be meeting at Fire Station 3 for our meeting. The address is 9921 191st Ave NW and is by the Twin Lakes School. Subs and beverages will be available for $15. A sign up sheet will be distributed next week.
Laura Mullenex paid money not to have the birthday song sung to her!
Pearls of Wisdom
“Mental health is everything – prioritize it. Make the time like your life depends on it, because it does.” – Mel Robbins
_______________________________________
Last Time We Met - August 3. 2023
Today our meeting was led by President Debbi Rydberg. We recited the new pledge incorporating the four-way test as well as our inherent mission to serve the community.
Attending
Dirk Barrett, Melanie Clemons, Julie Fish, Neil Gagnon, Molly Hanson, Katie Harstad, Heather Kliewer, Bonnie Koste, Mark Kuyava, Tove Lichty, Pete Reiner, Debbi Rydberg, Theresa Slominski, Marvin Sorvala, Joe Stremca, Dave Anderson, Stewart Wilson
Guests
Alan Sakry, former member; Leah Atkinson, prospective member; Molly’s niece Bree; and Mike Spellman, Assistant District Governor
Program
Our program today was Mike Spellman presenting his power point presentation on Making Peace Visible. He wanted to present to our group and have us critique it for him as he prepares to present to other clubs. The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) is an international think tank out of Syndey Australia and they embarked on the study of peace with such questions as “How can anybody know about peace? Does it exist? How can it be quantified?” Most people define peace as negative peace, the absence of bullets and war. Positive peace is the intentional creation and maintenance of conditions that result in peace. This begs the question, what are the conditions and how do we get them? Science tells us that if we can’t measure it, we can’t understand it, and so first we need to know what it is made of. They arrived at eight “Pillars of Peace”, each with three “indicators” that can be used to measure if the pillar exists. The eight pillars are all interconnected as a system of interdependent subsystems. One of the eight pillars is a Well-Functioning Government, and the three indicators for measuring it are transparency, effective public services, and rule of law. Rotary International has partnered with IEP and has a Rotary Positive Peace Academy available to educate on this information. And it’s a lot of information: 8 pillars x 3 indicators = 24 variables x 163 countries = 3,900 data points to be researched! Where does the research come from? There are 24,700 data sets from such organizations as United Nations, World Bank, World Health Organization, as well as government statistics, non-profit studies, and original IEP research. They produced a report with a Global Peace Index assigned and presented a snapshot color-coded map of all 163 countries. The United States is listed as marginally peaceful. The 163 countries are ranked each year from 1-163, best to worst, and the US has declined in its ranking in each of the last ten years. Other outputs from the research is an Ecological Threat Registry (identifying one billion people in threat of being displaced), Global Terrorism Index, and Covid-19 Pandemic research. Rotary’s impact can be seen in aligning the Seven Areas of Focus with the Eight Pillars of Peace. Our projects can relieve pressures to make better neighbors of people and promote peace. Any Rotary project should be considered in context of the project area’s pillars of peace system (domestic and international). All projects can be designed to impact some or all of the pillars and make peace more possible. In our clubs, our service projects, our social activities, district and global grants, we are challenged to “Make Peace Visible”……wherever you are!
To enroll in the Rotary Positive Peace Academy, go to www.positivepeace.academy . It takes a couple of hours to complete.
Rotating Reports
Debbi asked board member, Molly Hanson, Youth Services, to report on her goals for the year to the group. Molly’s goal is to bring back the Student of the Month program.
A Service Opportunity Moment was presented by Pete Reiner with the River Cleanup planned for August 23 at 5pm. Meet at the dam on Main Street, bring kayaks and canoes as they can be used to help with the cleanup, and there will be a social gathering after. Gloves and trash bags are provided. Pete shared that Tom McNair started the cleanup project many years ago and it was tied to conservation projects. Pete has been doing it for about 12-13 years and every year the river seems cleaner and cleaner. He estimates that there has been a ton of trash that has been removed over the years since Rotary started doing it. There have been some interesting things found over the years! Bonnie Koste offered to host the social afterwards again – thank you Bonnie!
The battery collection event is Saturday, August 5, from 10am to 2pm.
Next week CAER will be presenting the program.
Fundraising Opportunities
The raffle for the Rotary socks was drawn and Melanie won!
Delights and Dilemmas (formerly Happy Bucks)!
Tove Lichty shared that she visited with Mary Eberley and told her that she would be stating her happy buck was that she was able to visit with her, and Mary told her it needed to be $10!
Molly Hanson was $5 delighted that she was back after travelling, and she has accepted a new position as YMCA North VP for New Business Development! She starts after Labor Day and will be based out of her home.
Heather Kliewer was $2 delighted Dirk was here this week, she had a successful golf tournament and raised $39k for CAER, her son was home for a quick visit, and her son was excited for our battery collection event!
Bonnie Koste was $20 delighted that she was here and her super busy time is over! She was out of the country three times, had a retirement party, a graduation party, and was recognized in Kauai, Hawaii for 25 years with American Family!
Julie Fish was delighted that Heather helped her with some membership items and she was thankful!
Mike Spellman was delighted that he had a good presentation!
Marv Sorvala was delighted for having attended the St Paul Rotary Cruise!
Melanie Clemons won the card draw this week on the second draw!
Birthdays
There were no birthdays present to be celebrated today.
Pearls of Wisdom
“Mental Health is not a destination, but a process. It’s about how you drive and not where you are going.” – Noam Shpancer, Phd
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Today our meeting was led by President Debbi Rydberg at Fire Station #3. We did not have a power point presentation nor the pledge printed, so we sang, but did not recite the pledge. She thanked everyone for being flexible with the pledge and quoted Julie Fish “Blessed are the flexible for they shall not get bent out of shape!”
Our program today was introduced by Terry Bizal. Andy Almos is the ISD 728 Executive Director of Business Services and has been in the position for two years. He is the “money man” for the district, wearing many hats and does a lot of the work behind the scenes. Born and raised in Hinckley, he now lives in Zimmerman with two children ages 14 and 8, and likes to hunt in his free time. He likes to hunt so much that he went on a three week South African Safari two years ago! He talked about funding and the number of kids through the doors is the biggest contributor to their funding. He talked about the construction and that it will all be done before school starts! This year they are completing the promises set forth in the 2019 referendum with the completion of the last of seven projects. The district set a standard in the referendum that every kid has the same school experience regardless of the school they are physically attending. Other responsibilities Andy oversees are custodial services, transportation services, health and safety, and information technology. This year is a record for dollar amounts invested in the schools, partially because it is tied to a 4% inflation rate.
presentation of a Rotary pin that Mary Eberley was supposed to receive. Mary felt she had enough pins and wanted to give it to a fellow Rotarian instead. Mary wanted it to go to Bob Maxwell for all the many hours 
he gives to Rotary with all the media work he does for our club.
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founded in 1979 and moved into their current building in 1996. They were started by local churches and now are supported by civic organizations and businesses in the community. Heather is very grateful for a strong board that is involved. The services they provide are more than just the food shelf; they also provide financial assistance, car repair, senior delivery, and youth outreach. Families can come twice a month to shop and each shopper usually leaves with 100-120 pounds of food. CAER is now recognized as a “Super shelf” which is making the healthy choice the easy choice and having those healthy options available. They have a free farmers market now that was developed out of COVID and has become very popular. Shoppers are great about sharing recipes for some of the more unique produce and CAER shares recipes as well. CAER also provides “Kids Kits” where kids can pick up a weekend package every week to take home that provides good food for the weekend including meat, produce, cereal, etc.; enough for two breakfasts and two lunches. It is available for kids K-12 and there is no appointment necessary to pick up. Sometimes this is the first introduction of a family to CAER. Another service CAER provides is school supplies and winter outerwear. They have combined that with the farmers market and will have Johnny Pops available and sometimes the County Health bus onsite. Senior meals are provided to Guardian Angels once a month. Orders are placed on Monday and are delivered later in the week with some extra “goodies”. Youth Outreach is provided to Thumbs Up, ISD 728 Health Offices, and the Elk River high school. Sometimes families don’t want to come to CAER but the youth are willing to accept the services and bring home to the families. Currently, CAER works with the county to have a food bag available to distribute to families as soon as they are approved for services since they are only open twice a month and that might be a long wait for families with immediate need. Most of the food is donated to CAER via food rescue (50%, 531,000 pounds in 2022), a partnership where businesses are moving food off their shelves but it is still good food and so it is donated rather than being thrown out. They have these partnerships with Aldi, Coborns, Target, Walmart, Cub, and Kwik Trip. Some food is purchased by CAER, and they also have a grant for milk. This allows them to offer not only non-perishable food but meats, produce, special flours, frozen items, etc. and have if feel like a real shopping experience! They have done many upgrades to make it a great experience. Volunteers for CAER help with the food shelf, farmers market, outreach, and special events. Heather showed a video of a “day in the life” of CAER volunteers on shopping day - demonstrating it takes many hands and the dedicated volunteers they are grateful to have! CAER by the numbers depicted that while the increase in visits has doubled since 2020, the food donations have been going down. She encouraged everyone to bring a food item next week! Items for families to cook at home are needed like sugar and oils, in addition to canned items. The staff and volunteers at CAER like to have fun while they work and they receive many letters from clients that tell of how welcome and “non-judged” they felt coming to CAER, allowing them to feel dignified in the process.
Our program today was Mike Spellman presenting his power point presentation on Making Peace Visible. He wanted to present to our group and have us critique it for him as he prepares to present to other clubs. The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) is an international think tank out of Syndey Australia and they embarked on the study of peace with such questions as “How can anybody know about peace? Does it exist? How can it be quantified?” Most people define peace as negative peace, the absence of bullets and war. Positive peace is the intentional creation and maintenance of conditions that result in peace. This begs the question, what are the conditions and how do we get them? Science tells us that if we can’t measure it, we can’t understand it, and so first we need to know what it is made of. They arrived at eight “Pillars of Peace”, each with three “indicators” that can be used to measure if the pillar exists. The eight pillars are all interconnected as a system of interdependent subsystems. One of the eight pillars is a Well-Functioning Government, and the three indicators for measuring it are transparency, effective public services, and rule of law. Rotary International has partnered with IEP and has a Rotary Positive Peace Academy available to educate on this information. And it’s a lot of information: 8 pillars x 3 indicators = 24 variables x 163 countries = 3,900 data points to be researched! Where does the research come from? There are 24,700 data sets from such organizations as United Nations, World Bank, World Health Organization, as well as government statistics, non-profit studies, and original IEP research. They produced a report with a Global Peace Index assigned and presented a snapshot color-coded map of all 163 countries. The United States is listed as marginally peaceful. The 163 countries are ranked each year from 1-163, best to worst, and the US has declined in its ranking in each of the last ten years. Other outputs from the research is an Ecological Threat Registry (identifying one billion people in threat of being displaced), Global Terrorism Index, and Covid-19 Pandemic research. Rotary’s impact can be seen in aligning the Seven Areas of Focus with the Eight Pillars of Peace. Our projects can relieve pressures to make better neighbors of people and promote peace. Any Rotary project should be considered in context of the project area’s pillars of peace system (domestic and international). All projects can be designed to impact some or all of the pillars and make peace more possible. In our clubs, our service projects, our social activities, district and global grants, we are challenged to “Make Peace Visible”……wherever you are!
