New Shoreview City Council member John Doan introduced himself at today's meeting. John is filling the seat vacated upon the death of Terry Quigley earlier this year. Coincidentally, John also is Vice President of Operations and Equity at Trellis, where we are now holding in-person meetings. John is a Shoreview resident and has served on the City's Planning Council for a number of years.
Our own Dave Newman provided today's program. Dave has been a member of Rotary for over 40 years, having served with several other clubs before joining ours a few years ago. Dave chaired the "Fast For Hope" (FFH) program for many years and this was the focus of his presentation. FFH is unique to District 5960. It does not receive Foundation money and is funded entirely by individual and club contributions. Efforts are focused in Nicaragua, which has been mired in systemic poverty for many years. FFH has a unique approach. It is not project-based. Instead it focuses on "social innovation", which is akin to the old saying about giving a man a fishing rod instead of a fish. It was inspired by, amongst other things, a book by Jeffrey Sachs called "The End of Poverty" as well as a book by Bob Lupton called "Toxic Charity". In addition to the ongoing work of FFH related to systemic issues in the country, Dave also covered a large water project that is underway to El Corozo. This project is sponsored by the Stillwater Sunrise Club and has received both a global grant from RI as well as a district grant and involves drilling a well in the town of El Corozo.