2020-2021 President Mike Boland rang the bell at 12:03 and the second meeting of October started for the San Diego Kiwanis Club.  Mike welcomed everyone, and member Steve Morris, who recently joined the San Diego Food System Alliance as the Director of Development led the pledge of allegiance.  The invocation was written by Club Member and UPLIFT Board Member Monica Ball who joined the meeting later and was read aloud by President Boland.

Dear God,

Today we thank you for bringing us together in Kiwanis as an earthly force for good. We pray for those whose health is compromised by the coronavirus or other health issues and those who have lost loved ones for any reason recently. We pray for our excellent health care workers, first responders, and other public servants who have bravely put themselves in harm’s way to protect us. We pray for those who are suffering from the economic impact of the virus, and for American ingenuity to rise and build back better. We pray to right racial equity wrongs of the past, unlock true opportunity for all and help everyone remember they possess a value & purpose, peace & freedom and joy & strength the world didn’t give them & the world can’t take away. All that comes from you God! We pray You help us love like You love, that means even people that don’t vote like we do.

Amen!

After an upbeat version of “Anchors Away” member Karina Sousa reminded everyone about ZOOM etiquette and then it was time to chat with attendees. Getting some “Interclub” vibes going it was great to see Melanie and Jim Nickel from the Ocean Beach Club and hear about their experience so far in 2020. The Nickels started OB’s popular Kite Festival which is traditionally held in the Spring and was eventually cancelled this year due to COVID-19.  The OB Club is only a few years away from their centennial anniversary and we are looking forward to hearing more about it in the future.  It was also nice to meet several of Club Vice President Susan Day’s colleagues from the Burn Institute including Leilani Stone, Loretta Turner and Tesa Haviland.

Ms. Sousa reminded everyone that Club Members are “encouraged” to make a donation to the Club each year on their birthdays and offered up the October birthday list for a second time!

• Gordon Boerner
• Susan Day
• John Rush
• Dick Shaw
• Jay Jeffcoat
• Paul Riggs
• Monica Ball
• Gary Knight

President Boland had to start the fines portion of the day be giving himself one for the wrong baseball attire as well as having a barking dog in the background. Who doesn’t these days? But the Club accepted his money and was glad to have it! Glen Honig had to leave early so he accepted a fine and others chimed in with theirs as well.

When it came to Happy Dollars Immediate Past President Judy Leitner put money in the pot for her niece’s recent engagement and Joe Sigurdson put $20 happy dollars in for the work Boys To Men is still doing during COVID-19. He shared photos of volunteers putting up yurts on the agency campground with money provided by the San Diego Kiwanis Club Foundation. He was excited to share their efforts and promised to report back on their progress.

  

Members were encouraged to fill out the membership survey which has been emailed to everyone. We would really like everyone to participate in the quick questionnaire which helps the Board shape the meetings and activities that the Club takes on.  Karina Sousa shared that in the future there will be prizes for the most meetings attended as well as special socials and other Club volunteer and service opportunities.

At 12:45 President Boland welcomed Eli Strait, RN, BSN, CCRN who is the Burn Program Manager for the UCSD Burn Center.  The first thing Eli shared with the group was exactly what NOT to put on a burn. And some of the home remedies we heard from our families are not as helpful as we thought. In fact, most home remedies will do more harm than good.

Eli shared information about the work done at the Burn Center because unfortunately, burn injuries continue to be one of the leading causes of unintentional death and injury in the US. And more tragically children and disabled individuals are especially vulnerable to burn injuries. It was tough to hear that over 70% of scalding burns in children are preventable. 

We appreciate Eli joining us and educating the Club on a little discussed topic and thank member Susan Day at the San Diego Burn Institute for setting up the meeting.

After some quick housekeeping items and reminders for upcoming meetings the Mr. Boland rang the bell at 1:29 pm and the meeting adjourned.

Watch the full video of the meeting below!