MINUTES: July 21, 2015

Past President Wes Brooks sat in for Sean Priebe who is on vacation and presided over the meeting. Thanks to Gene Owens who gave the invocation and to Allen Anderson who led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

Thanks to Mary Cromartie and Bill McLeod for serving as our greeters today.

 

Jaclyn Adams thanked those who participated in today’s meeting and welcomed our guests. William Evans is a guest of Lamar Evans and Ashish Yprety is a guest of Scott Hummel.

 

This week’s mystery Rotarian is an avid snowboarder and has climbed as high as 14,200 feet. He was almost mauled on a climb by a mountain goat. He is Aaron Ladner.

 

Wes reminded members of District 6840 one-half day workshop that will be held on Saturday August 29 at PRCC. All officers and board members are encouraged to attend this workshop which will focus on the Foundation and grants. Any member is welcomed to attend. You can register on the District’s website which you can reach by visiting our website at www.rotaryofhattiesburg.com.

 

Bill McLeod reminded members of the Zone Institute Seminar which will be held in New Orleans on Friday, July 31. More information can be obtained from the website.

 

Brett Phillips then introduced today’s guest speaker, John McFarland. John is the Executive Director of the 280-county Southeast Mississippi Chapter of the American Red Cross.

 

While on a trip back in 1857 Mr. Henry Dunant came upon a just concluded battle. There were 40,000 dead or dying soldiers and civilians and no one to assist. Mr. Dunant spent the next four years recruiting volunteers and raising money to get the dead buried and the injured taken care of. He later wrote a book entitled “A Memory of Solferino” to document his visit. He was convinced of the need to have an international organization that could provide aid to non-combatants. He held a meeting in 1863 in which representatives from 37 countries attended. Out of that meeting came the Geneva Conventions.

 

Also coming out of that 1863 meeting was the establishment of the first International Society of the Red Cross. It is a neutral organization that provides the aid Mr. Dunant sought. In 1900 Henry Dunant was named as the first Nobel Peace Prize recipient. Unfortunately by that time he was broke, sick and dying. He donated the $20,000 prize to the Red Cross.

 

Nurse Clara Benton is given credit for getting the American Red Cross established. In 1900 the U.S. Congress ratified the Geneva Conventions and issued a federal order creating the American Red Cross to be the nation’s official disaster relief agency. That original charger was revised in 1905 and the ARC was charged with being the official disaster relief agency to respond to both natural and man-made disasters. Although federally mandated the ARC must remain neutral and therefore receives no government money.

 

The Red Cross has seven guiding principles. They are; Humanity, Impartiality, Neutrality, Independence, Voluntary Service, Unity and Universality.

 

The five missions of the Red Cross are as follows:

During the last 11 months the Southeast Mississippi Chapter of the American Red Cross has logged 22,182 volunteer hours from 1,141 certified volunteers. They have responded to a total of 613 incidents.

 

To learn more about the American Red Cross or to download forms and guides to help your family in an emergency, visit their website at ww.redcross.org. You can also download free apps to your smart phone that could possibly save your life or someone you know in the event of an emergency.