President Kim called the Seattle #4 Rotary Club to order at 12:30 p.m. on September 11, 2019. The Renaissance Courtyard Ball Room in downtown Seattle hosted the meeting. President Kim immediately acknowledged that this Rotary Club meeting was taking place on the 18th Anniversary of 9/11. 

 

Arnie Ness and Freeman Fong led Rotarians in the singing of America.

 

The Inspiration for the Day was led by David Brenner.  David said it is still hard to believe the horror of 9/11. He cited the quick and tragic demise of the twin towers along with the tremendous loss of life that still haunts us. Dave then asked Rotarians to contrast that shock with an incredibly honorable feat that started around that same time. Since 2001, Presbyterian Minister Ron Rice, a Rotarian guest from Seattle, has led an effort to provide functional wheelchairs to victims of polio in Nigeria.  Over 19,000 wheelchairs have been built and distributed since the beginning of the program. Nigeria just celebrated three years of being polio free but there are still thousands of Nigerians that were afflicted with polio prior to the immunization efforts. A short video, showing people with polio, literally crawling to their donated wheelchair was shown. Minister Rice said that the effort relies totally on donations. If you would like to find out more about Minister Rice’s wheelchair program, visit WheelchairsforNigeria.org.