The wisdom of a wise old youngster

Welcome to the Global Kalinga e-Rotary Club for the week of Sunday, May 2 through Saturday May 9. We are an Internet based Rotary Club based in Quezon City, Philippines with core groups of members in Southern California and elsewhere. We serve our local and nearby communities as well as projects in the Philippines,

Inspiration

"Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work [and a club work]." ~ Vince Lombardi,

Program

Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome ("Progeria", or "HGPS") is a rare, fatal genetic condition characterized by an appearance of accelerated aging in children. Its name is derived from the Greek and means "prematurely old." While there are different forms of Progeria*, the classic type is Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome, which was named after the doctors who first described it in England; in 1886 by Dr. Jonathan Hutchinson and in 1897 by Dr. Hastings Gilford.

Our program for this week is about Sam Berns who was diagnosed with progeria, a disease which ages a child very rapidly. The disease is extremely rare with only 1 child in 8 million being afflicted with this disease. As a toddler, doctors told Sam's family he might not live past 13. On Jan 10th 2014, Sam passed away due to complications of the disorder. He was 17. Sam gave this talk at the TEDx conference, about three months before he passed away.

The following video is remarks by Sam's father at a Commencement Eve Dinner. Though only 17, he had many dreams and aspirations.

To learn more about Progeria, you may go to the Progeria Research Foundation Youtube

and their website Progeria Research Foundation

Club Business

We have a pending motion to replace the ECO-Waste project scheduled for June 27 with a restaurant patronage event. Please review the discussion on our GKeRC-Members Facebook group and vote.

President Elect Celly Adamo has made arrangements to hold our Installation and Fundraising Dinner at Malarkey's Grill & One Hell of an Irish Bar!, 168 N. Marina Drive, Long Beach, CA 90803 on July 11 from 6 to 10 pm. Tickets are available for $45.00. Details will be forthcoming. An online order form and RSVP will be available soon