Escondido Sunrise Rotary; Meeting to Serve our Community in Person and via Zoom; and “Dr. Kevin Bunker”
May 25th, 2023
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, we honored our nation with a salute to our Flag led and an invocation was offered…
Guests and Visitors:
Guest Speaker Dr. Kevin Bunker
Chandler (A friend of Doug Schultz)
Now, some Sunrise Rotary member milestones…
Birthdays:
No Birthday’s this week
Anniversaries:
Jim and Carol Ponder celebrating 42 years of marriage and Jack and Connie Anderson celebrating 55 years of marriage
Congratulations and here’s to many more happy years!!
Rotary Anniversaries:
Past President Rich Aeling celebrating 14 years with our club and we are grateful for you Rich
Sunrise Rotarians Serving, and Announcements:
Mark your Calendars…
Note some service opportunities coming up…
Father’s Day is coming up so send Kendra Koed some pictures to share for the Father’s Day slideshow
Rotarians Having Fun and Serving…
All kinds of fun and service and fun…
Pictures are worth a thousand words…
Rich Aeling shared a picture of the dedication of the Escondido Arch that had been postponed for 4 years due to Covid.
Past President Barry shared vacation pictures of his vacation in the South of France. They watched a phenomenal Viking show and had dinner at the Eifel Tower Restaurant.
Brian Murphy shared photos of his granddaughter’s high school graduation. His granddaughter graduated with honors and had also completed 2 years of college credits.
Mike Muehl shared photos of his catch from a fishing trip in Mexico where he caught a Cabrilla (Leopard Grouper)
A few Rotarians having fun planning President Tina's amazing demotion....
Hi-Fives & Announcements…
Past President Rich Aeling is expecting another grandchild. He has 3 granddaughters and is hoping for a boy and current President Tina Pope is also expecting a grandchild – a boy. It must be something in the water and maybe future ESR presidents….
Grape Day Update:
Richard announced that the team captains and team names have been completed. The new platform is Race Roster. Watch for an email that has been emailed to gain access to the page. The
goal is to raise $150k.
Program:
Barry introduced guest speaker Dr. Kevin Bunker, a research scientist with a PHD from UCSD.
He described Kevin as a humble and genuinely kind person who founded a pharmaceutical company to find cures for a variety of diseases around the world.
Kevin gave a brief background of his childhood where he realizes now, looking back, that he had an entrepreneurial spirit. His father was a lumberjack in Arizona where the family lived on the sawmill
property. His grandfather on his mother’s side was a chemist and professor at ASU.
When Kevin was 11 years old, his father offered him and his siblings an opportunity to manage a soda-pop vending machine. He was the one that took the challenge that taught him discipline and responsibility. During one of his grandfather’s visits, he was struggling with his 6th grade chemistry homework. At the prompting of his father, Kevin asked his grandfather for help. His grandfather
simplified the complicated concepts of science and chemistry in a manner that Kevin understood. That was the day he became passionate about science and determined to be a scientist when he grew up.
After graduating from high school, Kevin attended ASU and lived with his grandfather who had recently retired from teaching. Kevin would go on to get an Organic Chemistry degree and undergraduate
degree. He moved to San Diego in 1997 and received his PHD from UCSD. He moved on to work in the Organic Metals industry and eventually gained employment at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals in La Jolla. His responsibilities included synthesizing drugs for cancer, diabetes, ophthalmology, and anti-virus medications.
He was employed for 4 years at Pfizer when he saw a trend of layoffs that were rotating on an international level, and several labs being closed. After witnessing another major layoff in 2011, he felt unsettled and was concerned about the security of his job. He thought about his family and was uncertain if he would be able to provide for them.
This is when he was given a God vision that unfolded before him like a movie reel. He described reading the Chemical Engineering News Magazine and was looking at the cover page that showed a picture of a compound structure. As he was studying the compound structure, a detailed and intricate structure took form and fell into place – almost like a step-by-step instruction video. The structure was superior to anything on the market at that time. He knew that he could improve the compound structure. He chose to take a step of faith and moved towards creating a chemical motif as a building block towards this invention: to create something more useful. He approached his superiors who denied him the support to create this drug. What they did allow him to do was publish an article on his idea. He decided not to deny the vision he was given and stepped in the direction of creating a new pharmaceutical. He left his job, with the support of his wife, and the family lived off of his 401k while he
worked away in his garage to focus on the invention and sought out investors. After months of not receiving investor support, he questioned if he’d made the right decision – especially since he knew nothing about starting a business. It was around this time that he heard a church sermon on pushing through and figuring it out. The sermon motivated him to get refocused. It was also around this time that he met a patent attorney, also from his church, facilitated the legal process of getting the patent and also became an investor.
He subsequently formed a team and became more focused on making antibiotics better and building from there. In the interim, he was still struggling financially and was being turned down from jobs over and over again. He felt he was at the end of his rope. He realized he couldn’t feed his family and he was losing hope. His wife and family encouraged him to keep going.
In July of 2013 he met two major investors who wanted 51% of the company stock and brought in five million dollars in investment funds. At that time, he was the only employee. Shortly after he met another investor from Venture Capital who invested 20 million dollars that allowed the company to grow and employ 60 scientists. The company continued to grow. The company is now valued at one billion dollars and has 200 scientists working for him. He credits the growth to the innovative and unique talents
of the scientists who he has given the freedom to make creative decisions. Kevin stated he intentionally hired people that are smarter than him. They are currently waiting for FDA approval of the product and expect the scientific discoveries will help people with diseases that other medicines have not helped.
Kevin gives God all the glory for the success of the company. He was obedient in stepping out in faith, pushed through the trials of financial hardships, and is now experiencing the fruits of his labor.
Here are various picture slides from Dr. Bunker's presentation:
May/June Speakers
Next Week’s Meeting:
Will be in person and online at the Chamber of Commerce at 7:30 AM on June 1st
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; June 1st, 7:30 AM at the Chamber of Commerce…
Check President Tina’s email for the reminder…
