Our Disaster Relief Committee, headed by Elizabeth Monley, is working to address local hardship issues exacerbated by the shelter-in-place order. Many families are dependent on school lunches, and food banks are struggling with the reduction in volunteer services. Our Club Board of Directors met via Zoom and they all committed to making a tax-deductible donation to the Disaster Relief Committee, which will find the best way to use the funds in our community. We have already raised over $4000.
Please consider joining them.
President Karyn Sinunu-Towery
Today’s Rotary broadcast from the Rose Garden included Paul and Jean Harris, who are sheltering in place with Karyn and Jim. Karyn introduced our own Larry Stone to discuss the impact that COVID 19 has had on the economy and real estate markets in Silicon Valley.
Speaker Larry Stone
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Larry described the Coronavirus’s impact on local economy and real estate markets as a “crash landing” into a recession rather than the soft landing he predicted for this year. As a global magnet, Silicon Valley is particularly volatile, with extreme highs and lows. Larry’s biggest concern is that the economic impact will be felt long after the health crisis has been resolved. He is expecting the ramifications to be much larger than the Great Recession, and believe that the only rational approach is to resolve the health care crisis first, and then the economic resolution will follow. He also suggested that it will take more time to recover from this than most of us can imagine.
Our economy is driven by consumer spending. The longer the slow down of economic growth, the longer the bounce back to normalcy will take. The three sectors hit first and hardest are travel, hospitality, and leisure sectors. As an example, 80% of hotel rooms are currently empty. and restaurants are suffering to stay afloat without any customers. Furthermore, there will be a sharp decline in consumer spending due to widespread job loss.
From a real estate perspective, the MLS has recently suspended all open houses and home tours. Nobody will ever purchase a home that they cannot inspect. Major real estate projects will be delayed or cancelled, and the uncertainty about our current situation will lead to a wait and see mentality that will negatively impact economic recovery and growth.
Forecasters are currently predicting 7.3% state unemployment by the end of this year, and 10-12% for next year, surpassing Great Recession levels. We should all be prepared to acknowledge that the past ten years of prosperity is over, but hope that COVID-19 will be contained before it causes catastrophic economic disruption.
Larry emphasized that the only solution to this crisis, as well as the challenges moving forward is collective action, starting with addressing and finding solutions to the climate change crisis we currently face.
New Member Introduction
Our new member introduction for this week is Sharon Whaley, who is the Manager of Corporate Communications at San Jose Water. Jenny Niklaus was called on to suss out which of the six facts presented about Sharon was indeed false. Jenny was spot on with her process of elimination, and did not even need to cheat on her answers, because she is, as we all know, brilliant! Jenny guessed correctly that Sharon is not a skydiver. However, interesting to note that Sharon has four sons, three of whom are triplets. She describes her family as having “hit the jackpot” with her unexpected but incredible gift of triplets.
Please make sure you listen to Jeremy Harris’s original composition, “Six Feet Back,” which includes such classic lines as “Sequestered in the Twilight Zone” and “Hanging in the toilet paper line.” An apt, creative, and very amusing anthem for 2020.
Click here to view this week's Rotary of San Jose broadcast.
Click here to view our new member, Sharon Whaley's introduction.
Click here to listen to the composition from our very own Jeremy Harris.
Submitted by Catherine Cook, Meeting Summaries Committee.
The blood supply is very low because thousands of blood drives have been cancelled due to the closing of places of work where blood drives were scheduled.
However, blood donations are considered an essential need and a valid reason to leave your home even in this time of sheltering in place. The sites are providing for social distancing, and they are practicing COVID-19 public health protocols. If you decide to donate you must sign up online to get an appointment. To stay safe no walk-ins can be accepted.
Donate blood safely and help save lives! Go to this link and sign up. When you add your ZIP Code, you will be informed of blood drives that are close, along with dates and times of availability. This critical need will continue for several months, as the reserves are very limited.
When signing up, indicate the name of your Rotary Club in the Comments. While at the drive, take a photo, share that you are a Rotarian blood donor on social media.
Here is the link to the Red Cross website where you can sign up to donate:
Rotary District 5170 Virtual Blood Drive January - May 2020 - ARC - Sleevesup
New date: June 13, 2020
To reserve your table or ticket(s)you can click the Reserve Now! link or you can call the Rotary office, or you can sign up at an upcoming Wednesday meeting. A sell-out audience is expected, so purchase NOW.
The Rotary Gala - Razzmatazz Jazz Club
Saturday, March 28, 2020 - 5:30 pm - 11:30 pm
$200 per ticket
*Cancellation received after noon on March 23, 2020 are non-refundable. Fair Market Value $150 per ticket.
STAY TUNED FOR NEW DATE
What are you doing on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 10 this year? For the last four years,-since President Brian introduced it to us- many Rotarians have spent a few hours on that Sunday at Great America volunteering for the American Cancer Society’s Courageous Kids Day.
This program, unique to Santa Clara County, serves some 500 kids with cancer and their families by providing a “day away from cancer.” It’s an extra-special, fun-packed day for the courageous kids and their families, allowing them to forget some of that stress and have fun together; a day of enjoying amusement rides, a picnic lunch, arts & crafts, family portraits, photographs with local celebrities, and various activities. This year Courageous Kids Day will be celebrating its 31th anniversary and will hold the event in the state of the art Pavilion at Great America.
Volunteer opportunities include the following:
-Assisting professional photographers with photography check-in
-Pinning corsages (for mothers and grandmothers) as they enter the Picnic Grove
-Helping with arts and crafts, especially need face painters
-Assisting with the Home Depot craft project
-Greeting and registering families at the front of the park, handing out registration packets, and providing day of event information
- Public Relations help to tell the story of this program in its 31st year!!
Volunteer hours are from 10AM-3:30PM for all areas, except Registration which is from 9AM-1:15PM.
A video made by our own Sean O’Kane. And once again this year the theme is Super Heroes, so come out and be a Rotary Super Hero for volunteering. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pp5M-Sjw5IU. Funds raised for Courageous Kids support the day as well as research for pediatric cancer.
Sign up today! All names have to be registered to come through the special entrance at Great America. Call Gay Crawford at 408-691-1222 or Joan Nelson Schuller at the American Cancer Society for more information or to sign up: Email: joan.nelsonschuller@cancer.org Community Development Manager 408-504-2501.
Sharon Whaley is the Corporate Communications Manager for San Jose Water. In this role, she is responsible for the company’s communications within the organization as well as with its customers. Social media, collateral materials, website content, and community outreach are the main functions of her job. If there’s a community event, you’ll see Sharon there representing San Jose Water!
Sharon is no stranger to San Jose Water. She is considered an oldie and a newbie all rolled into one. Working for San Jose Water before leaving to raise her family, she was fortunate enough to rejoin the company in 2016. Prior to her current role, Sharon was the Water Resources Specialist focusing on Recycled Water, Advanced Metering Infrastructure (smart meters), and Water Conservation.
In her spare time, Sharon enjoys travelling. From road trips in the U.S. to adventures in England, Spain, France, Switzerland, Italy, and Germany, she’s stayed in many different types of accommodations: hotels, apartments, hostels. Her most favorite accommodation was staying in the clock tower at London’s St. Pancras Station. Her most recent trip to Japan was sandwiched between two typhoons yet was her favorite trip yet!
As a local, Sharon spent most of her childhood in Cupertino. She has an B.S. in Business Administration from San Jose State University and an M.B.A. from Santa Clara University. On her first night of the M.B.A. program, Sharon met her husband Max and they have been together more than 30 years.
Always a planner, Sharon and her husband did not intend to have children. A life of travel and busy careers were on tap. Life has a funny way of changing things. After the birth of her first son Conner, a huge bundle of joy arrived when she gave birth to triplet boys Spencer, Brett, and Austin. Now grown, Sharon and Max enjoy spending time with their kids and enjoying this new stage in their lives.
