Meetings: Wednesday Noon
President: Frank Zajac
Program Chair: March: Daphne Wells.
Sensory Access Foundation Helps Kiwanis
Wednesday, March 10, 2004, Diana Drews taught the Kiwanis club how modern technology is allowing the blind to compete fair and square with the sighted in the open job market.
Her foundation reports a return on investment of over 150 percent, based on the idea that a dollar earned in a year by one of SAF’s clients is ‘return’ on investment of a dollar in SAF’s programs. She noted that this does not account for savings such as from social security disability payouts and the like.
We learned that common ailments to sight, such as macular degeneration, can often be overcome using technologies that magnify or transfer images into other sensations (such as touch).
Several Kiwanians were interested in SAF’s services for themselves or their friends. We certainly joke with Vern about his limited vision, since we know he deserves the razzing regardless of his eyesight. But we also hope he and those like him might benefit from what SAF has to offer.
Kiwanis plugs into Network for Battered Women
Today, Nancy Fomenko will speak to the Kiwanis club on matters related to battered women. A number of Kiwanians are bringing in basic household supplies that refuges of spousal abuse may need after a hasty and permanent exit from their home.
Crab feed stuffs Kiwanians
Hugo Gisske and several of our club community attended a crab feed in Redwood City at the American Legion Hall there.
Hugo remarked on how the Mountain View Kiwanis Club is a "10" We suggested he run for Governer, but his wife put the nix on it then and there.
I pried a war story out of Sandy Gun. His remarks reminded Marshall Absalom of how a huge supply of army surplus equipment in the Aleutian Islands was dumped into the sea after world war two.
The club made my wife, Tracy, feel welcome. She told the group a little about her work at Palo Alto Research Center.
Special thanks to Dan Hoppe and Ralph Cowden for making it easy, ticketwise, for Tracy and me to come.
March programs:
March 17 - Nadine Levin, MV Asst. City Manager, with a Moffett Field update
March 24 - Gloria Ortega, Catholic Charities, on the Mountain View housing project and other news
March 31 – Chuck Osborn, president of the Rotary club, with Monique Kane.
April Programs:
Get this to me! Or is it me?
Editorial: Return on Investment
If the SAF gets a return on investment of 150 percent, one wonders why we don’t place the entire Kiwanis Foundation assets into that service.
I see three reasons why not: Scale, issues of comparison, and intangibles from our involvement.
First, while a $10,000 investment into a cause may actually reap an effective value to the community of, say, $15,000 --- each extra $10,000 may not provide such powerful leverage.
Second, while SAF clearly is a good cause, it is hard to compare what they call ROI with the ROI we might garner from other causes, such as buying school uniforms for needy kids.
Finally, I am convinced that a major portion of our value is not our money, but the involvement we each have in the community. Our ability to have a new impact every year lends fuel to our fire.
---CLK