Rotary International asks us to Serve to Change Lives through its Focus Areas
This month Rotary International asks us to Serve to Change Lives by promoting peace in our community. Explore the possibilities with us at our meeting Wednesday at noon at Wick Park or virtually via Zoom.
RCY Members will welcome Steven McGarrity, executive director of Community Legal Aid Services in northeast Ohio, with locations in Youngstown, Warren, Akron and Canton.
McGarrity joined Legal Aid as an attorney in 1997, focusing his practice on family law and consumer debt. He has held various management positions, including as Associate Director, overseeing client services, outreach, and technology
McGarrity currently serves on the advisory committee of OhioLegalHelp.org, an online legal resource tool for Ohioans. He also serves on the Boards of the Ohio Access to Justice Foundation, the Ohio Poverty Law Center, and Akron Summit Community Action.
McGarrity graduated from California State University, Northridge, with a degree in political science. He earned his law degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law. In 2015, he was named a Where Health Meets Justice fellow through the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership.
Speaker Mike McNair, publisher and editor of The Buckeye Review newspaper, relates the racial reckoning that followed the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis with something written by the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. while he was imprisoned in a Birmingham, AL jail: Negative peace is the absence of tension, and positive peace is the presence of justice.
The Buckeye Review has reported on news in Youngstown and Warren, with emphasis on the African-American community, since 1937. McNair was introduced by RCY member Dionne Dowdy, whose organization United Returning Citizens also operates out of the Oak Hill Collaborative on Oak Hill Avenue.
Rotarians may know McNair from when he was Communications Supervisor for Youngstown City Schools, or as founder of the mentoring program 100 Black Men. He also is an ordained minister, Ohio licensed clinical social worker, and co-owner with his wife, Dr. Linda McNair, of a private clinic counseling service.
McNair citied “Race Talk and the Conspiracy of Silence,” a book by Derald Wing Sue, about why people avoid discussing racial issues. Whether they act out of fear of being impolite, or because the narrative contradicts their own understanding of history and culture, “not talking about race makes it worse,” McNair said. “Ignoring it is like ignoring pain in your chest, or a lump in your breast, or a leak in the basement. … The silence of not talking about race doesn’t help society.”
He also cited another portion of Dr. King’s Birmingham letter, in response to a white man’s advice that he should be more patient in his quest for equal rights: “We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.”
During February, The Buckeye Review is hosting discussions on the social, physical, mental health, spiritual and political implications of racism. Conversation will be inspired by the book “The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America.” McNair stressed the importance of learning about racial history, which “may be painful but moves us forward,” he said.
Furthermore, he offered this question as the basis of conversations on race: “How do we love one another even in the midst of pain?”
RCY Observes Black History Month Through Little Free Libraries
Our club is observing Black History Month this February by stocking many of the Little Free Libraries located in the city of Youngstown with books that reflect greater reading diversity.
With the assistance of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, RCY purchased a supply of new books for the Little Free Libraries. Some gently used books were also donated by the PLYMC, and other books were donated by the community at large. Several club members volunteered to stock the libraries with the books.
“PLYMC was thrilled to partner with Youngstown Rotary for the Black History Month Little Free Library project” said Aimee Fifarek, Library executive director. “Library staff selected a collection of books that recognize, celebrate, and honor the history and important contributions of African Americans as well as appeal to all ages, reading levels, and interests. We hope that these materials will provide people with inspiration and spark conversations across Youngstown and beyond.”
The locations that were stocked are:
Downtown: Wean Park and 20 Federal Place
North Side: Wick Park, Jewish Community Center, two private residences, and on Cordova Avenue across from Harding Elementary School
West Side: Calvin Center on Mahoning Avenue and Rocky Ridge Neighbors garden, 100 block of South Hazelwood Avenue
East Side: YMHA Rockford Village Give the Children a Chance Pavilion
on South Truesdale Avenue
Sourh Side: Oak Hill Collaborative South Side Academy Boys & Girls Club of Youngstown
RCY has been mounting wooden boxes that are Little Free Libraries on posts and filling them with books since 2014. Notes project chair Elayne Bozick, “RCY took on the project with the goal of creating neighborhood gathering places in order to foster relationships and support literacy.”
On behalf of Rotary International Foundation Club Chair Becky Davis, attached you will find a nomination form for 2022 Paul Harris Fellows to be awarded at our 107th Anniversary Dinner in March. In keeping with tradition (per-pandemic), the club will award a Paul Harris Fellow to an existing club member, and one community member. Please use the attached form to nominate a club member, community member, or both.
Thanks,
Becky Davis & the Rotary International Foundation Committee
Rotary Magazine Februrary
Each week we Youngstown Rotarians learn more about each other and celebrate our interaction with the community and our efforts to Improve the lives of those who work and dwell in Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley. Rotary this month focuses on our work as Rotarians to build peace in the world. Rotary’s Centers for Peace exist in seven countries: Thailand, England, Australis, Sweden, Japan, Uganda, and in Durham, North Carolina, at UNC. Particularly inspiring and amazing is the story of Phenom and the Emcee School, supported since 2019 by a Rotary peace grant to the Chicago Southeast Club and Trans Amadi, Nigeria Club. I was so impressed by the work being done that I went online to read more about Phenom. You can also learn about ecological threats to peace. We are reminded that inclusion means reaching out to those with some form of disability to engage them in the work of Rotary..
Operation Pollination
“Every day is wetlands day in Ohio, thanks to Governor DeWine’s H2Ohio initiative,” ODNR Director Mary Mertz said. “Our wetlands not only provide a science-based solution to the water quality issues facing our state, they are also wonderful places to paddle, watch wildlife, or explore and enjoy nature. We have made great progress with these projects, and we have big plans for the months and years ahead.”
Wetlands, also known as “nature’s kidneys” because of their ability to filter impurities and nutrients from the water, are considered an effective and cost-efficient ways to significantly improve water quality. Why wetlands? Find out by watching this video.
How Wetlands Work
Wetlands slow the flow of water over land and trap pollutants. They process excess nutrients and stop them from flowing into nearby rivers and streams.
The plants and soil in wetlands trap and hold excess nutrients, like phosphorus, before they can flow into waterways and fuel harmful algal blooms.
An acre of wetland can store 1–1.5 million gallons of water.
Protecting Wildlife
Wetlands are considered the world’s most biologically diverse ecosystems.
90 species of threatened or endangered species in Ohio live in or depend on wetlands. This includes plants and animals.
Animals that thrive in wetlands include birds, fish, snakes, and frogs.
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