Lindsay Damron: Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
Lindsay Damron, the current Child Life Coordinator for the Child Life Department at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, described her job and her department in a talk to the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville on November 2. The Child Life Department serves large pediatric hospitals who pay for their services that focus on the welfare of children patients. They serve all units of the hospital that serve children. According to her, their goal is “to reduce the impact of stressful or traumatic life events and situations which affect developmental health and well-being of infants, children, youth and families.” They emphasize the value of play and work to normalize the hospital environment as much as possible. Support is provided for the child and his/her parents and siblings by the forty-two Child Life Specialists, four Music Therapists, and two Artists in Residence.
Rob Woodall: Report from our U.S. Representative
Speaking to the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville and their guests at Monday’s meeting was Congressman Rob Woodall. Woodall serves the 7th district of Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives where he is on the House Committee on Rules, the House Budget Committee, and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. He focused on the bipartisan work taking place in the House which the media does not cover. He showed a slide demonstrating the bipartisan work done for dismantling Obamacare and pointed out bipartisan bills in the past. He commented on the Reconciliation Bill and the Transportation Bill, which the House passed and moved along this week. He maintained that a lot of good does not make it into the newspaper and praised his colleagues, Republican and Democrat, as many good people. He fielded questions about the upcoming presidential election and about the Speaker of the House selection process. He praised Boehner and McCarthy for getting out of the way when the focus shifted to them rather than issues. He emphasized attitude by saying, “If you think it is broken, it is broken. You have to believe you can make a difference.”
Randy Redner: “Community Foundation of Northeast Georgia”
On October 19 The Executive Director of the Community Foundation of Northeast Georgia, Randy Redner, spoke to the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville. He described the function of the Foundation as “connecting people who care with causes that matter.” Over the past 30 years the Foundation has given over $55 million in grants and funds to non-profit organizations in northeast Georgia. He discussed the donor side of the process and then the non-profit side, with the goal being to match people and funds with the needs in the community. They help with funding, staffing and volunteers, education, and marketing. He promoted the use of Charitable Giving Accounts for individuals to enhance their charitable giving.
Randy Redner: Community Foundation for Northeast Georgia
Danny Porter: “A Report from the District Attorney’s Office”
Speaking at the October 12 meeting of the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville was Danny Porter, District Attorney for Gwinnett County. Reflecting on cases he has handled over the years, he asserted that he had learned that he can’t say “I’ve seen it all.” There are surprises all the time. The most fascinating parts of his job currently are dealing with social media and utilizing the capabilities of Smart phones. He said it’s amazing what some criminals decide is appropriate for a Facebook or Instagram picture. With search warrants and court orders, his office can get lots of information starting with a site on social media. 70% of cases involve cell phones, social networks, or computers. He raised questions about our reasonable expectations of privacy, recounting an example of his wife searching out the location of a thief by starting with his Instagram pictures and working through geo-tag, and Zillow to locate an address. During the question period at the end of this talk, he voiced concerns about technological vulnerabilities and about sophisticated techniques used to push along drug money via games.
Juan José Londoño: “GRSP Experiences”
Juan José Londoño, the GRSP student attending Georgia Gwinnett College this year, reported on his experiences to date. The Rotary Club of Lawrenceville is one of his sponsors. J. J., as he is known, is from Medellin, Colombia, and is a biomechanical major at Eafit University where he lacks one semester and an internship to finish his degree. He told us about his country–its various geological areas, its “no season” climate, and its access to both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Medellin, his home city, is located in Antioquia department (i.e., state) and has a population of about 3 million people. He described it as a multi-cultural city which is the second largest in Colombia. Located in a valley, it is known as the the City of Eternal Spring. He then talked about his family, girlfriend, and dog. His father, mother, and brother are all engineers or studying to be an engineer. He has been enjoying the week-end activities provided by his host family and GRSP.
Vocational Tour: Creative Enterprises, Inc.
On September 28 members of the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville participated in a vocational tour of Creative Enterprises, Inc. at 701 Hi Hope Lane. This was a follow-up program to the talk given at our January meeting where we learned about Creative Enterprises. Leigh McIntosh reminded the group of Creative Enterprise’s mission: “to assist adults with disabilities and others with barriers to employment in maximizing their potential. They offer a variety of programs and services to help these individuals obtain an optimal level of social, vocational, and economic independence.” Leigh introduced Karl Heinlan and members of the CE Board that were present. Then the group toured the Thrift Shop, the workshop, and the greenhouse.
Lisa Fogarty: “The Federal Reserve–Your Central Bank”
Lisa Fogarty, assistant vice president in the public affairs department of the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank, spoke to the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville on Monday, September 21, about the function of the Federal Reserve System. After giving a history of the Reserve, dating back to the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, she focused on the functions of the organization: to prevent disruptions by working to stabilize the economy, to manage inflation, and to intervene in time of financial crisis. She described the organizational structure with its twelve districts, each with a Board; the Board of Governors; and the Federal Open Market Committee. She outlined three functions: (1) supervision of banks via examiners, (2) payment services such as providing oversight of banks, serving as fiscal agent for the U.S. Treasury, holding cash deposits, finding counterfeited bills, and taking bills out of circulation, and (3) determining monetary policy. Stressing the independence of the Fed from political interests, she discussed the process by which the Fed itself is audited.
Principal Lisa Johnson: “Our Road to Success”
Lisa Johnson, Principal of Lawrenceville Elementary School, spoke to the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville on September 14 about the successes and challenges at her school. She thanked the group for their help in maintaining the courtyard at the school and in reading to students. Population at LES remains constant near 700, but each week finds ten leaving and ten coming in, a fact which presents challenges to her teachers. She described the population of the student body (51% African American, 2% Asian, 10% White, 35% multi-racial) and some of the special programs (30% are English learners and 95% are on free/reduced meals). Most of her talk focused on the community support that helps the school so much: along with Rotary other individuals and groups which help are Mayor Johnson, Kohl’s Cares, a Level Creek student project with books, Read Across America Day, the Fall Festival, Kids Hope USA Mentor Program, Bags of Hope Food Pantry, and an Eagle Scout project. She emphasized the need for family involvement and listed several events designed to encourage that involvement: a Candlelight Luncheon, the Kindergarten Harvest, Intern Night, Literacy Night, STEM Night, and Parent Training Classes. Organizations in the school encourage leadership development, including the 5th Grade Beta Club, Our Girls Are Pearls Club, and Young Knights. She praises her teachers for “beating the odds” when students score much higher than expected on test scores. She credits the “Positive Behavior Interventions and Support” program for a dramatic decrease in discipline problems.