NEWS TODAY

WESTWOOD VILLAGE ROTARY CLUB

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President Benjamin continuing to heal once again took to the podium to preside over the in-person/ZOOM meeting at Hillel. He began by indicating the 2023/2024 Rotary theme this year is the “Magic of Rotary”. He then asked PP Tom Barron to recite the 4-Way Test giving examples using each point. PP Tom did an excellent job. Next up Janet Schwartz was thanked for greeting everyone and taking attendance while PP Chris Gaynor was thanked for leading the pledge.  PP Nancy McCready shared the Thought of the Day showing Rotary’s Positive Impact on the Community (for which she is the chairperson this year) providing quotes on community service from famous Rotarians including Winston Churchill, Thomas Edison, Oval Wright, John F. Kennedy and, Franklin Roosevelt. PP Ed Gauld led the singing of “America the Beautiful” and then, “Happy Birthday” to President Benjamin who turned 82 years young today.

President Benjamin then shared some pictures from WVRC’s day of service with Surfrider Foundation at Santa Monica Beach cleaning it up this past Saturday, September 14^th.  The WVRC is partnering with the LA Chapter of Surfrider Foundation this Rotary year to partner in beach clean-ups once a month. It is a beautiful way to provide service while enjoying LA’s beaches.

Today’s speaker, Dr. Neeraj Sood (another neighbor of President Benjamin’s) was then introduced by President Ben.

Dr. Neeraj Sood, director, COVID Initiative, USC Schaeffer Center and Professor, USC Price School of Public Policy. His speech topic was Finding Solutions to the COVID Pandemic Through Evidence-Based Research.

The WHO estimated the mortality rate from COVID was 3.4%. He found the total infections were 40 times larger than diagnosed cases and the infection fatality rate was between 0.2% and 0.3% in the Los Angeles area. Across the world, similar studies showed the median infection fatality rate is 0.27%.

His group was the first to evaluate rapid antigen tests in children and developed guidelines for schools. His reporting showed the vaccines did reduce the mortality rates for the countries where the vaccines were available first. His group analyzed the effects of vaccines on COVID-19-related anxiety and depression. COVID deaths were much higher for older adults compared to young children.

Long COVID needs further research

The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 exactly.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Next in person meeting is Sept 26th at Hillel featuring a craft talk by Nanci Cohen, a special success story shared by PP Tom Barron along with the Super Bowl Team drawing ($5.00 per pick) with PP Diane Good Hosting. Will be a fun meeting because everyone knows when the President is away, the Rotarians can play!!



• October 2-6th the first Humanitarian trip this year to Maui. As you can imagine, space is limited so sign up now if you are interested in participating.

• October 19th, 2024 will be the Walk to End Polio at Verdugo Park in Glendale, CA followed by a BBQ. District 5280 will be collecting shoes at this event to benefit Soles4souls. $40.0 of the $50.00 ticket price will be donated to Polio Plus. Look for further information in the upcoming Windmills.

• If you do not have your Foundation Celebration tickets, go online now to the district website and purchase them. They will go fast as this event will be at So-Fi Stadium on November 2nd, 2024, from 12pm - 4pm, a wonderful venue for an event.

FUTURE MEETINGS

• October 2nd, 2024 at Westwood Transitional Village, PP Tom Barron will host while PPx2 Steve Day and PP Ron Lyster will entertain on their favorite topics!? Sounds mysterious and a lot of fun!!

• October 9th, 2024 at Westwood Transitional Village, Professor Joan Waugh of UCLA History Department. Her topic will be on "Women & Urban Reform in the Gilded Age."

WVRC 2024/2025 Leadership Team