Events

The Veterans Committee of the Rotary Club of Houston invites you to participate in the “Veterans Day Celebration: Honoring All Who Served Our Country” at the Cloudbreak “Veterans” Community on Thursday, November 9, 2023 at 11:00 a.m.  Our Rotary Club will provide food, beverages, games, and fellowship to our veterans who currently reside at Cloudbreak located at 4500 Travis Street, Houston, Texas 77002.  Come out and celebrate the military service that these men and women provided to our great country.   Space is limited—so please register on-line.

The Cloudbreak Community is one of several active developments that provides supportive housing for homeless and at-risk veterans in nine cities across five states.  Owned and operated by Cantwell-Anderson, Inc, the Cloudbreak Community in Houston—originally a Days Inn Hotel—has housed nearly 3,000 veterans in transitional and long-term housing since 2003.  The mission at Cloudbreak is to assist “each veteran to overcome life’s obstacles and attain his or her potential through mutuality, dignity and respect for all.” 

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this fantastic event, please contact Orlando O’Neill at (832) 603-0446. 

Tuesday Night is Trivia Night at Kenneally's Irish Pub!

Trivia officially kicks off at 8:00 pm but come early for fellowship and fun.  Kenneally's offers great food, great drinks and a great time!

FOUR ROTARIANS SHARING THEIR LIFE JOURNEYS AND STORIES
INGA HEBDON, HUSSAIN ALI, KERRY BENOIT, SKEETER BRAUN
 

For our November 16^th program, the Rotary Club of Houston presents. a new concept for your enjoyment. Following our successful program featuring The Three Amigos of Law, (ECKELS, FOSTER, OLSEN) discussing the Law and their Lives, a sequel returns to Tony’s, featuring Four Rotarians. Presenters include former resident of U.K. and Canada INGA HEBDON; former Pakistan resident HUSSAIN ALI; former Canada resident KERRY BENOIT; plain-old-American-resident SKEETER BRAUN. The importance of other people in our lives has become more apparent since the COVID Epidemic. We have all seen the benefit of meaningful connections during hard times. We can improve our overall happiness by having better connections, including our Rotarians. It is time to get to know more about our outstanding fellow Rotarians.

To quote from one of our Rotarian presenters: "EVERY CONVERSATION IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN"  Please attend and continue the process of learning about the many wonderful, successful Rotarians who make up the best club in Rotary-The Rotary Club of Houston.

Joe Colangelo
Program Committee
713-412-1875

Come join the Rotary Club of Houston's Satelite Club of Innovation for an evening of virtual conservation work to make a positive impact on the future for wildlife across the globe, all you need is a smartphone! Free snacks & beverage provided.

Rotary is partnering with ZSL's Instant Wild to support the mobilization of people power to scale up important animal monitoring work, which helps scientists protect wildlife and secure a richer biodiversity for all! This is a casual volunteering event, which is also conducive to socializing with like-minded peers while serving a good cause.

What You Will Be Doing

Motion-triggered cameras provide you with live images and videos from stunning locations worldwide. Examine the images closely, identify the various species of animals, and count their numbers. Your task is to tag the animals and species in the videos or pictures, selecting from the provided list of species in the study area. Your efforts in identifying the animals in each image contribute to wildlife conservation. 

Where

4201 Main Street, 2nd Floor, Ion Common Desk, the Newbury Room

Thursday, November 16th, 5:30pm-7pm

Bring With You

A Smartphone, please download the Instant Wild Volunteering App from the App Store prior to your arrival.

More about ZSL Instant Wild

Instant Wild is a Zoological Society of London (ZSL) Initiative. Founded in 1826, ZSL is a global conservation charity with a mission to conserve the planet's wildlife and their habitats. With two Zoos, a renowned Institute of Zoology and over 50 conservation projects worldwide, ZSL uses ground-breaking science to fuel life-changing conservation.

Learn more at - https://instantwild.zsl.org/about and https://www.zsl.org

Getting to the Venue

Once you have parked, enter the main lobby at the Ion and check-in at the front counter. Ask about the Rotary event, and have your ID handy. The front counter personnel will direct you towards an elevator. Take it to the second floor (the Common Desk) and look for a Rotary sign. If you have any challenges, please reach out to 206-619-0450.

The Veterans Committee of the Rotary Club of Houston invites you to participate in the “Thanksgiving Day Celebration: Honoring Our Veterans” at the Cloudbreak Veterans Community on Thursday, November 23, 2023, at 11:30 a.m.  Our Rotary Club, with the valued assistance of PDG Bob Gebhard and “Operation Turkey Houston,” will provide and serve a delicious Thanksgiving meal to our veterans who currently reside at Cloudbreak located at 4500 Travis Street, Houston, Texas 77002.  Come out and share the blessings of Thanksgiving with the men and women who served our great country.   Because this is a service project and not a luncheon, you will have plenty of time to celebrate the holiday with your family.  Space is limited—so please register on-line.

The Cloudbreak Community is one of several active developments that provides supportive housing for homeless and at-risk veterans in nine cities across five states.  Owned and operated by Cantwell-Anderson, Inc, the Cloudbreak Community in Houston—originally a Days Inn Hotel—has housed nearly 3,000 veterans in transitional and long-term housing since 2003.  The mission at Cloudbreak is to assist “each veteran to overcome life’s obstacles and attain his or her potential through mutuality, dignity and respect for all.” 

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this fantastic event, please contact Orlando O’Neill at (832) 603-0446. 

Richard R. Olsen

Attorney at Law

"Houston's Strengths and Challenges"

Ruth N. López Turley is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University, which brings together data, research, engagement, and action to improve lives. In 2011, she founded the Houston Education Research Consortium (HERC), a research-practice partnership between Rice University and eleven Houston area school districts, representing over 700,000 students. A program of the Kinder Institute, HERC works to improve educational equity by connecting research to policy and practice, working directly with district leaders. She directed HERC from 2011 to 2022, during which she raised over $30M so that school districts would not have to pay for research. She also founded the National Network of Education Research-Practice Partnerships, which connects and supports over 60 partnerships between research institutions and education agencies throughout the country. In 2022, President Biden appointed her to the National Board for Education Sciences, which advises and approves priorities for the research arm of the US Department of Education. She is a graduate of Stanford and Harvard and is originally from Laredo, Texas.

Come join the Rotary Club of Innovation for a Friday afternoon of wrapping gifts for the students of Blackshear Elementary, at the Ion! This event is in partnership with the Ion, and Operation Love.

Gifts and wrapping paper will be provided, but more gifts are welcome! If you are interested in donating please bring any of the following items for ELEMENTARY SCHOOL KIDS, lightly used or new:

-toys: balls, legos, dolls, fun stuff!

-clothing: shoes, winter coats, socks and undergarments (only new)

-bigger items: laptops and electronics, bikes

The ‘Operation Love’ project grew out of a love for the children and families of Third Ward. It is a project of the Tre Missional community in partnership with community businesses and other ministries in the greater Houston area. Blackshear Elementary School has been in the heart of Third Ward for more than 100 years. In 2017, there were approximately 537 students attending the school. Approximately, 94 percent are economically disadvantage with 63.7% consider at risk of dropping out of school. This school is located in a predominately African American community. Through generous donations from the community, Operation Love has been able to provide toys and books to every child; new and gently used clothing and coats to families; a hot meal of hamburgers and hot dogs, snacks and desserts; prizes and entertainment with the message of LOVE.

SAVE THE DATE FOR THE RECEPTION AND GALA

The Rotary Club of Innovation is a proud Community Partner of the first ever annual Jingle Mingle - a Houston Tech eXtravaganza, a celebration of the Houston startup ecosystem and the people who make it happen.

The party is going down Tuesday, December 5th, 2023 on the Skylawn/OutPost of POST with amazing views of the Downtown skyline and complimentary access to the (ticketed) Winter Wonderlawn with over 100,000 lights.

Register at with the promo code below: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jingle-mingle-a-houston-tech-extravaganza-tickets-757263995997

PROMO CODE: rocket100

Come decked out in holiday style (whatever that means to you!) and celebrate with your friends in the Houston startup community.

Tickets include entry to the party, access to the Winter Wonderlawn, 2 drinks (a cash bar will also be available), and more.

What's happening:

5-7 PM

• Check in and get your wristband when you arrive to get access to the Winter Wonderlawn
• Grab a drink from the bars
• Take a selfie at the selfie stations
• Learn about what's coming up in 2024 from the Community!
• More activities to come!

BEAR ... BE A Resource for CPS Kids

The BEAR will provide lunch for participants.

Rotarians will separate gifts by age to create gift bags according to CPS children's wish list.

BEARing Gifts provides holiday gifts to children involved with Child Protective Services who otherwise would have no holiday cheer at all. Over 14,000 children were served with our help last year!

Let's do it again this year! Bring your donation of new, unopened toys to the Warehouse on Thursday December 7^th 2023.

*Located at the end of the Brookwood Business Park next to Oaks Dads’ Club (baseball fields). Click here for directions!

Come out for fun and fellowship with your fellow Rotarians!

Please join members and friends of the Rotary Club of Houston as we participate in our annual “Holiday Wreaths for Veterans” service project on Saturday, December 16, 2023.  For the third year now, The Rotary Club of Houston has partnered with “Wreaths Across America-Houston” to place holiday wreaths on the headstones of our fallen veterans at Houston National Cemetery.  

Bring your family and friends to this memorable holiday event. 

See the information below from the www.waahouston.com website:

Important Information –

Parking

• The best place to park is at Greenspoint Mall and take the free shuttle to the National Cemetery.
• The parking on the Cemetery grounds will usually fill by 9:00 a.m. so Greenspoint Mall is your best option.
• Parking on Veterans Memorial Road is not recommended due to the volume of traffic.

Timing

• 7:30 a.m. –  Free Shuttle Service Starts
• 8:00 a.m. –  Motorcycle Escort and Trucks Arrive
• 11:00 a.m. –Ceremony Starts
• 11:45 a.m. –Wreath Laying Starts  (no wreaths will be laid until the Ceremony is over)
• 2:30 p.m. –  Free Shuttle Service Stops

Ambassador (ret’d) Michael Pelletier was appointed as the founding Executive Director of the Aspire Initiative Endowed Institute for Global Engagement at the University of Houston on August 1, 2021.

Previously, he served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Madagascar and the Union of the Comoros from January 2019 through June 2021. Ambassador Pelletier retired as a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of MinisterCounselor, having served as an American diplomat from 1987- 2021. Ambassador Pelletier oversaw professional tradecraft, orientation, and area studies training as Dean of the School of Professional and Area Studies at the Foreign Service Institute, United States Department of State. He also served at eight U.S. Missions overseas and in senior leadership positions at the U.S. Department of State, including as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. embassy in New Delhi, India, and Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of African Affairs.

Ambassador Pelletier earned a B.S.F.S. from Georgetown University, a Certificat d’Etudes Politiques from Institut d’Etudes Politiques, Paris, France, and a M.I.A. from Columbia University. He received thirteen senior State Department awards, including a Presidential Meritorious Service Award and the Linguist of the Year. Amb. Pelletier is fluent in English, French, and Arabic.

Ambassador Pelletier is on the Board of Amideast, a leading American nonprofit organization engaged in international education, training, and development activities in the Middle East and North Africa. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Academy of Diplomacy, the Texas Advisory Committee of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, and the Public Diplomacy Council of America. He was named an honorary member of Phi Beta Delta, the honor society for international scholars.