https://vimeo.com/106814996

At the Monday, Sept. 15, meeting of the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville, Jayne S. Kulp, Director of Cardiology Services at Gwinnett Medical Center, brought the group up-to-date on the full service cardiac unit at the Center.  After defining what constitutes a heart attack, she described the various services, from non-invasive testing to the surgical  and rehab stages.  GMC has proven better than average with a “door to balloon” time of only 45 minutes.  She described some of the interventional procedures, described the four cardiac catherization labs, and passed around samples of stents and pacemakers.  She discussed not only the “plumbing” aspects of treatment but also the electrophysiology treatments.  GMC offers cardiac surgery for those needing surgery and also rehabilitation services for post-treatment.

Featured speaker at the Sept. 8th meeting of the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville was Darrel Hulsey of the UGA Small Business Development Center, the SBDC. Available through the University of Georgia, this group provides aid to small businesses to develop a profitable expansion into global markets. The SBDC provides in depth one-on-one business consulting and international business training programs. After a brief history of the program, he focused on three major areas in which the consultants could help business owners develop expertise: market intelligence, sales and marketing, and global payment and logistics. He described the positive impact of the SBDC which has helped with the start of 1,427 new businesses with over 9,000 jobs and $299 million in raised capital. He shared statistics about Georgia’s export businesses, pointing out that Canada, China, and Mexico are the top importers of Georgia goods and that agriculture, particularly chickens and peanuts, and aeronautic supplies account for a large proportion of the $3.7 billion in Georgia exports.

On August 25 the District Governor for Rotary District 6910, Bill Strickland, spoke to the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville at the noon meeting.  In explaining what Rotary means to him, his summary characterization was “fun!”  He then discussed various elements of Rotary that were important to him. First was the Foundation and all the good that it does locally and in the world.  He characterized it as “our charity,” which incidentally returns benefits in the form of district grants. He cited specifically projects delivering medical equipment, providing water resources, aiding the Alliance for Smiles, and helping in the eradication of polio. He recommended the experience of attending an international meeting of Rotary, next year in Brazil.  He is proud of Rotary’s interaction with young people through Interact, Rotaract, RYLA, the Youth Exchange, and GRSP.  He challenged members to introduce two new members to Rotary this year.  After encouraging members to attend the Leadership Institute in January in Athens and the District Conference at Hilton Head in April, he closed with the poem “To Be a Rotarian.”

Annie Valenty is the Community Outreach Liaison for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (“Children’s”).  She spoke to the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville on August 18 about the history and mission of Children’s in our community.  Made up of three major pediatric hospitals (Scottish Rite, Egleston, and Hughes Spalding), Children’s is among the largest providers of pediatric clinical care in the country.  Marcus Autism Center is also part of the group.  It impacts the community with its 8,900 employees but most of all with the care it makes available to young patients.  The Gwinnett facility is on Satellite Blvd.  Not only do they provide surgical, sports medicine, and general medical care for children, but they have actively been involved in getting anti-concussion legislation passed in Georgia.  They support public schools with their Strong 4 Life Program.  As a non-profit organization, they solicit donations and volunteers.

At the August 11 meeting of the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville the speaker for the day was North Johnson, the General Manager of the Gwinnett Braves.  He first characterized the club as a AAA affiliate of the Atlanta Braves with players usually in the range of ages 24-30 with three or so years of experience.  AAA is the last stop before the majors, and the main purpose of the Gwinnett club is to prepare players to move up to the major league team.  Because good players are constantly being called up for needed positions, he characterized the team as always being in flux.  He stressed that fans should always pay attention to the individual players because they constantly move on to become major players.  He offered Kris Medlen, Julio Tehran, Freddie Freeman, Jason Heywood, and Mike Minor as examples.  He praised current Manager Brian Snitken, who brings major league experience to the team. He had a chart which characterized the fan base by age, gender, education, and race and showed a slide listing the Field Events in this last season.

Rodney Lee Camren, Founder and President of NewLawrenceville spoke to the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville on August 4.  He wanted to tell members what NewLawrenceville is and what they have accomplished in promoting the community.  From 30-50 people meet monthly at varied locations to network and make plans for community events.  Meetings are open to all.  The group is probably best known for the Spring Green Festival, the Trolley Tours, and the Par for the Cause golf tournament, but the group provides help for small businesses with a helpful website, a Summer Guest Speakers series, information on using social media, marketing and branding aid, a business coaching circle, and their Quarterly Business After Hours with other community groups.   They have made over $20,000 in contributions to Lawrenceville charities.

The Rotary Club of Lawrenceville recently donated $18,000 to MedShare, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving healthcare in developing countries.  MedShare collects surplus medical supplies in barrels placed in hospitals around the country and then sends these supplies to hospitals and clinics around the world.  

This donation is designated for use by a hospital for burned children in Paraguay.  After Rotarian Davis Stevenson visited this hospital, he appealed to his Club members to help solve the medical crisis there, and this donation is the culmination of his efforts.

Art Kleve, President of the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville, presented the check to Lane Conville-Canney , who accepted it on behalf of MedShare.  

U.S. health regulations require that many un-used items be trashed by hospitals.  MedShare collects useable supplies such as sutures, IV tubing, and syringes and gets them to needy nations.  One distribution center is here in the Atlanta area.  When items are collected, they are then sorted and prepared for shipment in 40-foot containers to 95 countries.  Sometimes used but good equipment is also sent to hospitals, along with the necessary technological assistance to make it work.

PICTURE CAPTIONS

Lane Conville-Canney (center) accepts a check for $18,000 on behalf of MedShare, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving healthcare in developing countries.  Presenting the check are Art Kleve, President of the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville (left), and Col. Davis Stevenson (right), the Club member who spearheaded the money-raising effort to aid a burn hospital for children in Paraguay.

Raye Varney, the Executive Director for ArtWorks Gwinnett, spoke to the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville on July 21. The mission of her group is to “enhance cultural and economic capital and enrich the County’s residents and the business community.” She described the work of the group in all sixteen cities in Gwinnett County and mentioned such art outlets as the Aurora Theatre, the Hudgens Center, the Gwinnett Ballet Theatre, The Gwinnett Symphony, the New London Theatre, and Tannery Row artists’ studios. They sponsor annual awards programs like ArtsWorks Annual Award Program and the Student Art Awards for all levels in 28 public schools.   The group collaborates with Gwinnett Habitat for Humanity in sponsoring the Doors to Home and Hope project where 150 artists paint doors that are sold to the public. Funds support both groups. Future plans include offering creative activities for businesses to use in staff development and morale building. She referred the group to the website for more information: http://artworksgwinnett.org.

At the end of the meeting, President Art Kleve asked Col. Davis Stevenson (Ret.)  and MedShare representative Lane Conville-Canney to come up, and he presented a check for $18,000 to MedShare to finance a 40’ ocean container with medical supplies to a burn hospital in Paraquay.