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BSR's own "Temptations" along with many others made for a fun and lively (if somewhat different) August 21st meeting. Thank you to everyone that participated and attended.
A New Rotary Year Starts!
New BSR President Keith Munford kicked off the new Rotary year, at the July 10th meeting, by placing emphasis on how the club can serve others, the new RI theme "Light Up Rotary" and the club's leadership and work groups.
Congratulations Jim Davis!
JIM DAVIS, right, shares a laugh with Bradley Sunrise Rotary Club President Andy Anderson, after Anderson presented him with the honor of being the club’s Rotarian of the Year. Banner photo, CHRISTY ARMSTRONG
Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Gary Wade gave and entertaining and informative presentation during Bradley Sunrise Rotary's July 17th meeting.
Rotarians get update on
Honduras project
By Christy Armstrong, Cleveland Daily Banner
April 17, 2014 - People in Honduras have continued to receive help from the Cleveland residents as part of an ongoing partnership to provide clean water that involves members of the Bradley Sunrise Rotary Club.
Dr. Bill Johnson and Dr. Sally Poston, both members of the local club, shared the project’s progress during Thursday’s wekly meeting.
Five local Rotarians, three being from the Bradley Sunrise club, recently embarked on a trip with a group of others to see how their clean water mission in Honduras had been going.
In the early part of 2013, the club partnered with Broad Street United Methodist Church and a Nashville-based organization called The Living Water Project to provide clean water to people in El Negrito, Honduras.
It is a project that remains important today because of what not having clean water means for a person’s health, the Rotarians explained.
“Five thousand people under the age of five die every day from water-related diseases,” Poston said.
Citing a magazine article about how some economists had evaluated the cost effectiveness of different humanitarian efforts, she said providing clean water could have the biggest positive impact on a community for a nominal price.
The local Rotary club has partially funded a water filtration system in El Negrito that uses a sand filter to get rid of impurities.
Water can be taken to one central location to be filtered. The system is overseen by a water committee that makes decisions about how everything is done. Half of the filtered water can be sold to help offset the cost of maintaining the system, but half must be given away for free.
Johnson said people being able to get clean water has helped with efforts to improve people’s overall health.
While on the trip, the Rotarians also worked with volunteers doing medical and dental missions work. While there were more than 100 patients in need of dental care, one of the biggest problems that people had was with parasites.
Some people had developed worms and would arrive at the doctor with bags of their own excrement to show doctors what problems they were having.
Johnson said many of the patients had problems after drinking unclean water and living in unsanitary conditions.
He said one challenge has been educating people about the need to get clean water. People had gotten used to drinking dirty water.
The Rotarians said the organizations working to help that Honduran community had also begun working to make sure that children have all the resources — like uniforms — they need to go to school through a child sponsorship program.
Once children are in school, more efforts are being made to teach children about the importance of seeking out clean water even if it is not immediately available to them.
“The government of Honduras does not provide free water, but it does provide free schools,” Poston said.
The water filtration system, which costs about $250 a month to maintain, has been a location for people to buy water or receive it for free if they meet certain criteria. It has also provided free filtered water to places like the school and a nearby nutrition center for malnourished children.
All the efforts combined have given some hope to the people in Honduras, and some of the children are beginning to see the importance of helping those around them.
Johnson said he met a girl who said she wanted to grow up to be a minister or a social service worker so she could help people in her community.
“It changes the world one person at a time,” he said.
Club President Andy Anderson stressed to the club members in attendance that being able to help projects like this one is why the club tries to raise money through its annual fundraising gala.
The next gala is scheduled for June 14 and will feature guest speaker Steve Spurrier, the head coach of the University of South Carolina’s football team.
During the meeting, the Bradley Sunrise Rotarians also showed their support for the Run Now Relay.
Twenty-six runners had been on a journey from Cleveland to Boston to show support for victims of last year’s Boston Marathon bombing, and members of both Cleveland-based Rotary clubs were among them.
Club members filmed a video to share their well-wishes, and the club decided to make a donation to the runners’ cause.
Ron Sellers, a founding member of the Bradley Sunrise club, also honored a non-member for her work with him at a local State Farm insurance office.
He had been named a Paul Harris Fellow for donating money to the club’s efforts, and he chose to make Reba Garrison an honorary fellow instead of keeping the title to himself.
Read more: Cleveland Daily Banner - Rotarians get update on Honduras project
Our May 15th special guest was Tracie Shellhouse, CEO and Executive Director of the New Hope Pregnancy Care Center. Ms. Shellhouse talked about the purpose and programs of the center, and the plans to make the New Hope a medical center in the next three years. This would result in New Hope providing free ultrasounds to clients who could not have afforded them otherwise. Click here for video.
Sally Poston: Serving the world’s community near and far
By KAYLA DARNLEY Banner Intern
April 20, 2014 - Becoming a veterinarian, running a thriving business and finding time to volunteer for charitable organizations may sound overwhelming to most people, but not to Sally Poston.
The Oak Ridge native moved to Cleveland in 1995 to become the proud owner of an animal clinic and much more. Poston has made her mark as the sole owner of the Animal Medical Center, a doctor of veterinary medicine and a charitable resident of Bradley County.
She studied premed at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, went into veterinary school and then she went on to the Army for five years. Her pre-med background was what sparked an interest in medical care for animals. She has now been in practice since 1995 and purchased her own practice in 2001.
“I realized I wanted to own my own business after the Army. I enjoy medicine and decided this would be a better avenue to own my own practice and do medicine,” Poston said.
Beyond her work at AMC, Poston, 51, is involved with many charitable projects through the Rotary Club of Cleveland as the secretary and through Broad Street United Methodist Church.
“This is the second year I have gone on a mission trip to Honduras. We are seeing improvement. This past trip we tried to see how we could further help. We trained the community on why it is important that they need clean water. The next time I may be able to use my medical and vet skills,” Poston said.
While in Honduras, Poston worked on the water system. They installed better water systems so that the people of the community could have clean water and ultimately better health. They also trained one Honduran man to maintain the system so that their progress in health can be seen over time.
The water runs through the infrastructure, goes through a series of filters and is stored in 5-gallon jugs that are sold for 50 cents at most for when the people need it. At the top of the building are two 300-gallon water containers as well as a sand filter and an ozonator, which filters out viruses into very small particles.
“This system has a really high chance of working. The Hondurans are committed to wanting clean water, learning the system and maintaining it,” Poston said.
While Poston works with the water system, this trip produces many projects that help the Honduran community. They work with Habitat for Humanity to build and maintain housing, sponsor around 30 children and provide a means for clean water. Maintenance is done on the local school and medical clinics are available to improve the health of Hondurans.
“I am a changed person,” Poston said. “This is a great way to help people. They already believe (in God) so what we are really doing is showing them that there really are people out there who care and want to help. We are showing God’s love in a real, visible way.”
The Rotary Club of Cleveland celebrated 90 years of service to the Cleveland community and to Rotary International projects on March 20. As a member, Poston has helped with many projects in Cleveland as well as internationally.
The Rotary Club of Cleveland began working alongside Habitat for Humanity and has branched out to helping the Salvation Army, as well as working with Angel Flight under Robert Anderson, who flies needy people to places for specialized medical care.
Poston said, “I love seeing it all come together and connect. We are pairing with people no matter the religious background and creating sustainability for others.”
Read more: Cleveland Daily Banner - Sally Poston Serving the world s community near and far
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