What percentage of the state’s residents go hungry for a significant number of days in each year? What percentage of schoolchildren don’t get adequate nutrition before coming to school? What is the long-lasting effect of chronic malnutrition on kids learning ability? David answers these questions and more, and talks about the growth of the Rotary First Harvest program—moving fresh produce and unprocessed grains and beans to food banks. Bring your questions for David, Executive Director of Rotary First Harvest.

Betsy McFeely is Public Relations Director for Goodwill Industries operations in the Seattle area. Goodwill operates several large retail stores in Southeast Seattle, and has one of the largest training operations in the area. Goodwill’s programs take immigrants and other people whose skills need a boost, and give them help in making a turnaround—through a good job. Bring your questions about local employment.

Rainier Valley Rotary club takes this meeting to plan our December-February community service, social, and fundraising activities. We welcome your ideas!

Ted VanDyk is a Seattle-area journalist who worked in the White House under the Johnson Administration. He writes for the Wall Street Journal, and has published a memoir “Heroes, Hacks, and Fools.” Ted is a keen observer of the local political scene: Light Rail, South Lake Union Trolley, Mercer Corridor—how money has been appropriated, moved around, and when budgets exceeded projections, where new money gets found.

A Book Could Save A Life
This is a literacy-boosting program. Our goal is to raise funds to purchase 1000 books to distribute to elementary school kids in Rainier Valley. The reason we are doing this is we know that there are lots of kids who go home to an apartment or house that has no books in it at all.

Max Vekich has worked as a longshoremen, and as a shippments tracking clerk before throwing his hat in the ring for Port Commissioner in 2009. Our interest this morning is not to ask "Gee, isn't the port pretty?" or "Wow, aren't those cranes BIG?" but to consider whether the port is an effective organization, and whether taxpayers should really be paying so much to subsidize its operations when other ports run at a profit.

So much info! So little time! How to figure out what to do, who to trust? Dr. Philip Hansten has spent over 20 years at the University of Washington reseaarching the crucial field of drug interactions, and now has written the book "Premature Faculation." The book is not about mistakes in medical science. The implications: How do we take dangerous shortcuts with our investment decisions? Business decisions? Health decisions? Choice of Political Leaders?

Continuing our series of practical "Tool Kit" programs, Marcus Macklin will focus on SmartPhone tools and applications that help you be more effective in your everyday worklife:
- calendar reminders not just for meetings but to-do and task lists
- increasing the volume of your quality phone contacts
- using wifi connection and Skype to make free calls
- Sending a picture (worth 1000 words!) to explain an idea
- Personal goal-setting and motivation
- Answers to YOUR questions!

We will be using this page to display participating merchents in our book drive. Check here to make sure we are not duplicating our efforts.

Paul's previous career in police work gave him numerous insights into the factors that throw kids off the path to success. What are the tiny influences, day-after-day, that cause so many to leave school, get involved in wrong-behavior, get incarcerated? Where do the hopes and dreams go when they go "OUT"?

Rainier Valley Rotary Club meets at Kallaloo - 3820 South Ferdinand Street, in Columbia City.