“Reinforce the concept of SERVICE: Breathe IN Suffering; Breathe OUT Compassion”
Although Howard Cohen has been a Rotarian since 2001 when he first joined the Renton Rotary Club, it was not his first connection with a service club. In high school in upstate New York, Howard joined the Leo Club, the Lions’ Club version of Rotary’s Interact Club. After college, he joined a local Lions Club, as there was not a Rotary Club in the area. Years later, he found Rotary.
Howard continues his 44 year history in hotel management. He earned his undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo and his MBA from the University of Washington. When Howard changed jobs to move to downtown Seattle, he joined the Queen Anne Rotary Club and became the President shortly after that. Howard then found his eventual home in the Emerald City Rotary Club, where he became President of that club.
Meeting notes by Jeff Danforth:
Announcements:
- Walker Lafleur provided an update on Haiti and the current aid being provided to the country two weeks after the earthquake.
- Mike Madden provided an update on Hamid Stanikzai and getting his family out of Afghanistan. He was notified he will get a interview scheduled for his asylum within 30 days by the US government. His application has been expedited with his family still be in the country.
Our speaker was District 5030 governor Howard Cohen. Mr. Cohen started with discussing the Rotary International conference in Houston, TX (June 4-8, 2022). He then went into discussing the upcoming District 5030 conference in Coeur d’Alene, ID (October 1-3, 2021). The conference will focus on the acronym PCWEEED.
P: Peace and Conflict Prevention/Resolution
C : Child and Maternal Health
W: Water and Sanitation
E: Education and Literacy
E: Economic and Community Development
E: Environmental Sustainability
D: Disease Prevention and Treatment
He went on to discuss the Rotary theme 2021-2022. Main topics included:
- Ignite your Passion with Action.
- Which Area(s) of Focus captures YOUR heart?
- Each One – Keep One
- Membership Retention: Each Rotarian introduce one person to Rotary.
- Grow New Clubs
- Traditional; Cause-based; E-Clubs; Corporate
- Break Down the Silos of Clubs and Service Organizations.
- Learn what other clubs are doing and combine to grow impact. Grow awareness of service organization’s impact in the community.