Last Thursday (July 5) my to-do list loomed over me like a dark cloud as I approached the Rotary weekly lunch meeting.

I felt completely pressed for time and knew I’d need to dash out of the meeting right at 1 p.m. Our speaker for the day was a young man named Corey Johnson from Imagine Scholar ( http://www.imaginescholar.org), and I felt terrible telling him I would likely walk out before he finished his presentation. Imagine my surprise when I could not tear myself away to that daunting to-do list, but instead stayed around to find out more about the organization he founded.

We learned that Imagine Scholar provides unique, personalized education to promising youth in South Africa’s disadvantaged Nkomazi region. We also heard stories of hope about their intensive four year mentorship program and the impact it has had on the lives of the youth they serve. Many of us were excited to find out how we can help support this important work.

One compelling benefit of belonging to Rotary is the high caliber speakers presenting at our weekly Thursday lunch meeting. They range from award winning authors to non-profit leaders to government officials to business leaders. To give you an idea of tomorrow, July 19th we’ll host Bill Finkbeiner – Candidate for Lt. Governor. Then on July 26th we’ll have Sarah Johnson sharing about The Genesis Project. Think sex-trafficking only occurs in other countries? You’ll be shocked to find out that Seattle is ranked in the top 3 cities where this crime abounds. Sarah will help us understand how this Seattle based non-profit is addressing the growing issue of Domestic Minor Sex-Trafficking (DMST) in the South King County area and effectively helping its victims.

We’d love to have you join us at an upcoming meeting. Feel free to email me at athenadean@gmail.com or  call at 425.241.0265 for more information.

Athena Dean,

Public Relations Chair,

Enumclaw Rotary