In the beginning...
On a lovely warm fall day in Ojai, President Cheree called Rotarians together for fellowship and service. President Cheree thanked all those who helped make the meeting a success.
There was a special birthday gift and celebration for Ginger, without whom our meetings would be grim indeed.
President Cheree welcomed visitors: Carmel Maguire, Pradeep Kapedia, Linda Rovai and Liz Goldfarb.
Announcements
Matt gave a final pitch for the upcoming Taste of Ojai celebration. Don Reed gave a preliminary estimate of revenues/expenses for the celebration, and expressed some cautious confidence that this year’s celebration would generate a contribution of up to $35k to the scholarship fund of RCOEF.
Bob Davis shared the good news from the World Health Organization that wild type 3 Polio has been permanently eradicated. Despite this encouraging news, Bob emphasized that there are several more years of effort needed to eradicate the remaining strains. We all appreciate Bob’s 33 years of effort in supporting the Polio program.
Fining/Confessions by David Scarlett
Confessions:
Jack Jacobs shared that he’d suffered a heart attack and had a stent implanted. Jack looked hearty, vigorous and irreverent as ever, so the stent must be working.
Janet Campbell celebrated her birthday at Shaver lake.
Kay and Marty need someplace to park 6 relatives over the Christmas holidays.
Wayne Bocalli’s wife, poor woman, has suffered him for 51 years.
Mike Malone’s wife has suffered him for 34 years.
Rocky has been a Rotarian for 29 years.
David picked Halloween as his theme for fining, and asked a series of increasingly obscure questions about Harry Houdini, turnips, pumpkins, owls, and strange middle ages habits. Since his questions were so arcane, David scored a lot of loot for the club.
Well done David!
Program: Pradeep Kapedia and the Kapedia Educational Foundation
PK gave a powerful, personal account of how education was his path to a fulfilling life, and how his experiences convinced him that education was what he wanted to devote his life to, and that led him to found the Kapedia Education Foundation (KEF).
Over the years, the KEF has assisted over 350 students acquire a college level education. KEF students have achieved a 88% graduation rate. Beyond these impressive statistics, Pradeep told several moving stories of young women and men whose lives have been totally transformed by college.
The most depressing statistic was that there are 78 applicants who do qualify for KEF support, but the funding is not available. Don Reed asked PK how much it would cost to send these 78 people to college; PK’s answer was that the annual cost to send a student to college was in the range of $500-800, so that the total cost to send the 78 for one year of college was in the range of $37k to $45k. PK observed that the annual cost of one year for one student at an Ivy League school was over $60k. A sobering comparison.
PK is off on a several month pilgrimage through Asia and Africa, where he will interview students.
Come back soon PK!
