Photo screen shot taken by photographer and Rotarian, Rev. Fred Cartier. Attendees by row from top left to bottom right are: Jennifer Van Voorhis, Rev. Fred Cartier, Hon. Jonah Triebwasser, Susan Ezrati, Tim Lynch, P.E. Dennis (our new representative from TrustCo Bank), Linda Greenblatt, Dave Wright, our guest speaker, Scott Oatkin with the Borgen Project, Rev. Michael Shafer, Carl Dowden, Chris Chale, Esq., Susan Simon, Rebecca Kent and Rob Latimer
Jonah introduced Scott Oatkin of the Borgen project, and Scott related that he has known about Rotary since his Interact experience in Rhinebeck as a high school student. That club sent the Interact club on a mission to Nicaragua that captured his imagination and set the direction for his life. He told us that the Borgen Project, recently featured on Radio Rotary, is focused on global poverty. It was started by Cliff Borgen in 2003. It now has 3000 members, each reaches out to alleviate poverty in the world. Scott told us that there are 730 million people in extreme poverty and over 800 million additional people experiencing food insecurity. The project uses community education to find ways to alleviate these tragedies. He urged us to go to the website: www. BorgenProject to learn about what they are doing. Jen thanked Scott for his work and told him about the efforts that are being undertaken in Red Hook to feed 200 families weekly.