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Escondido Sunrise Rotary; Meeting to Serve our Community in Person and via Zoom; and “Judy Fitzgerald Reporting on Human Trafficking From the Summit Meeting” October 13th, 2022
As we all try to conduct our professional pursuits in new ways, it’s appropriate to remind ourselves of who we are as a Serving Organization… Our accomplishments, our fellowship and the reminder of our many successes is valuable as we seek new opportunities to serve…
We met again in person at the Chamber of Commerce… Great to enjoy the fellowship again and see all your smiling faces…
As a Club, Gerry Fay lead us as we honored our nation with a salute to our Flag and, an invocation was offered by George Beitner ….
Guests and Visitors:
Don Romo, a potential member, invited by Judy Fitzgerald
Now, some Sunrise Rotary member milestones…
Birthdays:
Sadly no birthdays this week
Anniversaries:
John & Marie Schwab celebrating an anniversary this month
Tony & Connie Criss celebrating 23 years on October 23rd
Congratulations!!!
Rotary Anniversaries:
No Rotarian anniversaries this week
Rotarians Having Fun and Serving…
All kinds of fun and service and fun…
Pictures are worth a thousand words…
It was crazy time at the San Diego stadium watching the Padres clinch a spot in the playoffs. Rich, Mike, Brad, Mark plus many more were on hand to celebrate the huge win!! Rich brought back Padre memorabilia for Tina.
Camp Lead weekend with 8th graders was in full swing with Kendra, Liz and Tony, it looks like Tony was the “coolest guy” there learning the handshake!!
Kirk & Kim Henson enjoyed time with their granddaughter Ava in Branson Missouri and of course there were gifts
Geoge Beitner attended a wedding in Connecticut and celebrated his granddaughter’s 10th birthday and he brought back some yummy syrup for our awesome president.
Gerry & LeAnn Fey went to Hawaii to celebrate their wedding anniversary and brought back some “coconuts” for Tina to save for a special occasion.
High 5 and Announcements - There is so much to celebrate, look forward to, and be grateful for!
Rich Aeling reminded everyone about the Bunco and Game Night at the Aelings on Friday night the 21st.
The bike build for Christmas is on 12/10 at Aelott A/C, a donation of $110 for each bike is appreciated. Bikes will be delivered to Camp Pendelton, if you can help with this delivery please let Rich know
John Schwab has 50” flat screen t.v. to donate (it’s in good condition)
Rotarian of the quarter:
This is for July/August/September and the winner is Richard Agnew, he is always available and does anything that is asked of him. Thank you Richard for your loyalty and dedication to ESR, we are very grateful for you!!
Program:
Rotary International held a Human Trafficking Summit in San Diego on October 8, 2022. Judy
attended the Summit with Tony Criss to learn more about the seriousness of this crime and the commitment Rotary International is making to eradicate this crime. Information was gathered on law enforcement task forces already in place that respond to rescuing victims, and information on the many organizations that respond to restoring and rehabilitating rescued victims. Judy asked the Sunrise Rotary Club that after
hearing her findings and information on what gaps need to be filled, to consider some of her
recommendations as well as contribute ideas on what we as a club can implement in response to the call for action.
Human Trafficking is defined as the unlawful act of transporting or coercing people in order to
benefit from their work service, typically in the form of forced labor or sexual exploitation. Victimization is defined as the involuntary personal exposure to criminal acts that can be economic, physical psychological and/or emotional. Victimization involves the use of force, fraud or coercion to obtain some
type of labor or commercial sex act. To put it simply, Human Trafficking is the exploitation of another for profit, and coercion is usually the most difficult to prove as victims feel they were in control of their situation and do not understand the manipulation they were under.
The statistics Judy shared with the club were that 80% of those trafficked in our country are U.S. citizens hiding in plain sight. They include the high school cheerleader and valedictorian from affluent homes, the housewife that appears to be living the “all American dream”, and the most vulnerable children who are left unsupervised for extended periods of time or are with a predator caregiver. In 67% of the cases the victim identified their perpetrator as a family member. In other cases 1 out of 5 those identified as victims were living with the perpetrator (i.e. father, sibling, uncle, and other close family members).
Judy gave several examples from what she witnessed firsthand over 20 years ago as a law enforcement officer. Apparently, there is still nothing new under the sun. What she found most alarming was the increase in victimization during the Covid-19 lockdown and adjustments. The increased levels of stress on parents and caregivers made children 17 years of age
and younger specifically vulnerable to sexual and/or physical abuse by their caregiver or parent. The increased access to children the perpetrator had during that time also resulted in the increase of abuse and/or exploitation. For many, the term Stay at Home didn’t translate to Safe at Home.
Judy shared her observation from the many stories shared at the Summit from victims who had been rescued from Human Trafficking, primarily as underage children. An underlying theme was that those not involved in after school programs/activities were at higher risk of being targeted and groomed by predators. Their family’s lower socioeconomic background, as well as not having responsible after school
supervision, were also great contributors. In addition, all made similar statements of how things may have turned out differently for them if they’d been taught how to recognize grooming and victimization. They felt that if given those preventative tools and who to seek for help would have made the difference.
Judy believes the continued support of local organizations providing post-victimization services is of high importance. Judy greatly believes that we can also make an impact by being a driving force in focusing on preventative measures. We can be a part of protecting our youth from potential victimization by tackling this problem on a more local level.
Judy recommended that our first step should be educating the educators on how to identify a
victim, spot a predator, and report a concern, as well as training them on how to educate and empower students. The strong relationships we as Rotarians have with local school administrators should be our first step; to get a buy-in from the school district that would allow the needed awareness training and education
in their schools. Her opinion was that just as supporting organizations providing post victimization services are important, so is preventing future potential victims by providing the means and ability to keep the most vulnerable off the streets and engaged in productive and life enriching programs. She expressed that our responsibility for our community should be a priority.
For the second step, she recommended we partner with our local after school programs to close any gaps preventing students from participating. Judy reached out to the local organizations that serve our youth in after school programs. She found that although the local Boys & Girl’s Club and YMCA offer a variety of after school programs, their ability to serve those that are seeking access to the programs are
limited. The Boys & Girl’s club currently has the ability to cover the costs for youth to participate in sponsored programs, however, the club lacks funds to appropriately cover transportation costs to the center from 3 Elementary and Jr. High Schools. They are also currently unable to cover the costs of maintaining the busses and affording an additional driver to provide transportation to the center. In partnership with the city of Escondido’s Community Services Programs, the YMCA also offers after school programs at
several, but not all, elementary and Jr. High Schools. Although they lead very successful programs, they still can not serve all students that would like to be enrolled in the program. There are currently approximately 50 to 80 students on a waiting list hoping to be admitted and served at their schools on-site after school programs. The challenges the YMCA program faces are the limited space and staff needed at
the on-site locations.
Judy reached out to Assistant EUSD Superintendent Martin Casas and discussed some potential solutions. Martin stated that he would reach out to the SD County Administration Offices and ask that they earmark some available grants they currently have available for the purposes of combating Human
Trafficking. The city of Escondido’s Community Services Director, Danielle Lopez is also interested in partnering with the Escondido Rotary Club to find a solution to the current needs in the YMCA program and finding a solution. In addition to the grants and other funding that may be available to get the
manpower and resources needed to serve more students, Rotary International could potentially also provide funding through community service grants.
Judy ended with an invitation for the Sunrise Rotary Club members to consider supporting her
recommendation as well as contribute possible solutions to combat this quickly growing crime. She has also reached out to the other local Rotary Clubs and asked they provide a representative to form a committee. Combining our efforts and sharing the burden will result in a better long-term outcome.
Mark Your Calendar:
Upcoming Programs:
Mike Dunlap was the first winner and he chose the $20 lunch and George Beitner pulled the 9 of diamonds, the pot is up to $590!!!!
Next Week’s Meeting:
Closing: President Tina Pope will be showing highlights of the Grape Day 5k at the October 27th meeting.
Please expect to stay until 8:45am as there are many exciting highlights to cover. Well done teams!
Will be in person and online at the Chamber of Commerce at 7:30 AM on October 27th…
Thanks for Attending Today’s Meeting….
Support for our Escondido Community …
Our great community and the success of its businesses is all of our responsibilities… Support the businesses that are doing all they can to survive during this challenging time… Take out some chow… Be ready to support them when the economy begins working again…
The ‘Giving Arch’ on Grand Avenue and Centre City Parkway reminds us that Escondido is a caring, giving community…
To all; be safe and be well…. God Bless those men and women that carry the load at our medical facilities, and God Bless our first responders… May our governmental leaders be wise, thoughtful and smart as this pandemic is overtaken by our hard work and collective support…
Online Meetings:
Technical Support for Online Meetings:
Our meetings will begin as a hybrid setting with in-person and on-line opportunities…The meetings will be technically managed by Past President Richard Agnew… Thanks for that Richard… And, Richard is prepared to support all of our attempts at joining the on-line meetings… Look for his email with details and links to log on to the upcoming Zoom meetings…
Watch for emails defining the next meeting. The system works fine, dependent upon your technical support available through your PC or laptop…
SEE YOU SOON…… In Person or ONLINE… Next meeting; October 27th, 7:30 AM at the Chamber of Commerce…
Check President Tina’s email for the reminder…
