Downtown Rotary

Members of the Jefferson City Rotary Club were briefed on human trafficking and Missouri's aggressive efforts to fight it by Deputy Attorney General (and Club member) Joe Dandurand at the Club's meeting January 30. Missouri has been recognized by Shared Hope International as one of the nation's leaders in combating human trafficking.

Joe told members that due to its central location, Missouri is a key battleground in the fight against forced labor and the sex trade, the two major aspects of human trafficking. "Awareness is essential to action on human exploitation and trafficking," he said.

Drawing from personal experience as a judge, Joe described front-line efforts to combat human trafficking through prosecution of criminals such as John Robinson, who lured young women with promises of employment and then enslaved and murdered them. Working cases such as that, he said, "makes a searing impression in your heart and mind that lasts for the rest of your life."

He urged members to be aware of human trafficking, the subject of a recent article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and closed with quotations from the well-known "Paradox of our Time" essay.

The Rotary Club of Jefferson City continues its award-winning ways. Immediate past district governor Ray Plue presented the Club's immediate past president Mary Russell with awards honoring the Club as a Star Club for contributing $100 or more per capita to the Rotary Foundation, and to Mary with a Change Award for her efforts to improve the Club.

Congrats all around!

Phil Freeman, co-chair of the Transform Jefferson City campaign, addressed highlights of the program, along with some common misconceptions, in remarks to the Jefferson City Rotary Club January 30. A half-cent sales tax to fund improvements suggested by Transform Jefferson City is on the ballot for the Feb. 7 election.

Major projects to be funded by the tax, which expires after 10 years, include improvements to the Missouri State Penitentiary, a conference center and adaptive re-use of the current St. Mary's Health Center complex. Phil reminded Rotarians that planned expenditures do not include development of Adrian's Island and that spending of money generated by the tax will be overseen by a board to be appointed according to state guidelines.

Remember to vote Feb. 7.

Please join us on January 30, 2012 for our weekly meeting.  In addition to hearing from our Helias and JC Students of the Month, Diane Twehous, with our Community Service Committee will bring us up to date on our Club's latest local project called Shining Star.  Our own Joe Dandurand is our guest speaker and will tell us about Human Trafficking in the United States and Missouri.

At our February 6, 2012 meeting, we will hear from David Wilson about the True False Film Festival.

Mark your calendars.

Yours In Service,
Arv

Gary Link, special assistant to the director of athletics at the University of Missouri, shared Mizzou sports highlights and thoughts on the Tigers' impending move to the Southeastern Conference with members of the Jefferson City Rotary Club January 23. Among the highlights:

• Women's basketball: Although winless in the Big 12 thus far this season, the team is improving, and so is attendance. "Missouri people want to see effort," Gary said. "The team is competitive, and you have to be able to compete in order to be able to win." The Tigers are at home this Saturday.
  
• Softball: Look for another stellar year behind the pitching of Chelsea Thomas, who was a finalist for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year last year as a sophomore. The Tigers are the pre-season No. 1 pick in the Big 12 Conference and have emerged as one of the nation's top softball programs.
• Men's basketball (for which Gary serves as a broadcast analyst): "Coach Haith is doing a terrific job," Gary said. "He wasn't the most popular hire, but the basketball people we talked to described him as a good coach and a good man. He has seven guys really playing together and having a lot of fun."

Nine pallets of eagerly awaited donated goods from Rotary District 6080 have arrived in Panama for distribution.  Three hundred “well-baby kits”, with items such as baby shampoo, blankets, soap, lotion, books, diaper rash ointment and Vaseline were packed in reusable duffel bags at the Rotary District Conference in October 2011 and shipped with the assistance of the Missouri National Guard and US Navy to Rotarians in Panama for distribution to new mothers in need. 

Vincente Pascual, member of the Panama Rotary Club, sent word to District 6080 that the items had arrived in late December, “I’m happy to inform you we received from our friends, the US Navy and US Embassy in Panama, the nine pallets of donations”.  In addition to the well-baby kits Rotarians donated thirty-five PET hand cars, a type of wheelchair, to aide Panamanians who have lost use of their legs.

Pascual continued, “We will visit public hospitals and their maternity wards to provide the well-baby kits to those in need.  We are also looking for recipients for the PET hand cars and have already identified a few for this life-changing vehicle.”

. . . or you can be, says Jill Lucht of the University of Missouri, who discussed the benefits of eating food raised close to home with the Jefferson City Rotary Club January 9. She provided samples of Missouri northern pecans and Goatsbeard Farm cheeses that showed just how tasty food raised in Missouri can be.

Local food sources range, Jill said, from farmers markets, to community supported agriculture, to direct sales by farmers, to growing your own vegetables in a back-yard garden. The benefits of locally produced food include freshness (and fresh always tastes better) and support for local producers and the jobs they create in the local economy (a study showed that more consumption of locally produced food could create up to 5,600 jobs in one of our neighboring states).

Beginning with restaurateur Alice Waters in the 1970s, she said, people began discovering those benefits and seeking out local farmers. In Missouri, for example, the number of farmers markets has almost tripled from 53 in 1997 to 140 in 2009. In addition to the local Cole County and Lincoln University farmers markets, locally produced food is also available through markets such as D&D Market, JC Health Foods and Hy-Vee. Web sites that can direct you to locally produced food include pick a pepper and Local Harvest.

To see Jill's presentation slides, click here.

John Kolb, left in photo, became the newest member of the Jefferson City Rotary Club when he was inducted during the Club's January 9 meeting. Shown with John is his sponsor, Nick Monaco. John is president of Jefferson City Oil Company Inc., Conoco's oldest continuing distributor in the United States. Jefferson City Oil also offered the first 85 percent ethanol fuel in the area and is the area's first biodiesel distributor. Welcome John!

The Jefferson City Rotary Club is honoring Ginny Trauth (left) of Helias Catholic High School and Sadie Theroff of Jefferson City High School as the Club's Students of the Month for January 2012. Both are involved in sports (notably, at this time of year, basketball) as well as having been recognized for academic achievements. Congratulations to both!