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Rob hosted today's all-Zoom meeting, welcoming 11 other members. Our guest speaker, Forest Resener, was unable to attend, but he sent a video about Stove Team International, which Rob and Bob H. shared with us. The RAFFLE TICKETS are ready for pick up- 25 per bundle (unless you'd like to start with more, in which case, you should let Jen know). Please contact Jen or Rob a.s.a.p. in order to obtain yours. The Raffle Drawing will take place on August 3rd. Nancy will be sending out in the near future the bills for the payment of fines/Happy dollars accrued during the April meetings. If you still owe from previous months, kindly settle your accounts soon. Rebecca announced that the Port Jefferson Community Garden (located on previously vacant parkland located at the intersection of Beach St. and Sheldrake Ave.) has already broken ground. If you are interested in planting in one of the raised beds (cost:$40), please sign up for the lottery on the Port Jeff Village website (Beach St. Community Garden), where you can find the appropriate form. Submissions are due by June 4th. Rob announced that our club will be taking a table at the July 24th Hope Children's Fund's "Passion for Education 2021 Gala" to be held at The Inn & Spa at East Wind in Wading River. Our club will pay for 1/2 the cost of attendance or $100 per member or guest. Rob & Melanie and Sal & Rebecca have already asked to be seated at the table. Next week's meeting will be an OPEN CUPBOARD COLLECTION DAY! Congrats are due to: Dennis, on his successful eye surgery; Jen's Daphne & Will for their commendable performance in national BMX competitions in Georgia (?); Cindy, on the acceptance of her son to Fordham's graduate school of education program; Colton Dooley on being confirmed in his church; and Michael & Stephanie's baby, Harvey, who has managed to sleep through the night several times recently. YAY! Through the magic of a video link sent by our speaker, mastered by Rob & Bob, and shared with us, we learned about Stove Team International (headquartered in Eugene, Oregon). This non-profit was founded by Nancy Hughes, who was widowed when she and her husband were about to retire. Wondering what she could do to keep busy and help others, Ms. Hughes joined a local Rotary Club and subsequently went on a medical mission trip to Guatemala. There, she worked in kitchens and discovered that the indigenous people she was working with were among the 4 billion in the world who cook on open fires. She was horrified by the health issues resulting from such a common activity. The smoke produced in local kitchens (the equivalent of 400 cigarettes per day), were affecting the mothers and their babies -under age 5, especially, causing needless early deaths due to respiratory ills, burns, and seriously damaged eyesight. She learned that smoke inhalation from open, indoor wood fires kills more people than AIDS and malaria combined, not to mention that in order for this type of cooking to go on, the worlds forests were being stripped of their trees at a tremendous rate- affecting global warming. The local mothers also suffered from severe pains due to the fact that they had to carry the heavy bundles of wood on their heads and backs daily to their homes in order to cook meals for their families. When she returned home, Ms. Hughes described what she saw and gathered some knowledgeable people together to help create inexpensive stoves to replace open fire cooking in parts of the world needing them. Thus, Stove Team International was born. The stoves they designed and tested reduce black smoke and indoor air pollution. They burn fuel more efficiently, using much less wood. In Latin America, they can be built locally, using local resources. Many other volunteer trips to Guatemala and neighboring countries helped perfect the product. Stove Team Int'l. now facilitates the placement of low-smoke, efficient, and safe cookstoves in homes in collaboration with local communities in Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Mexico- and soon other 3rd world countries, as well- in order to support families, and, at the same time, protect the environment. There are currently 2 types of stoves. The Justa (cost:$100) is built in place inside a home and comes with a chimney. The Ecocina stove ($50) is a portable stove. They are built from all local materials such as concrete, pumice, and brick and are designed to be handmade by the local people. Local stove teams build and maintain each stove with the family directly involved in the building. To date, more than 78,000 stoves have enriched the lives of more than 1/2 million people and prevented nearly 1 million tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. And the families with the stoves report at least 25% savings for the entire monthly expense of their wood purchase. A partner factory in Nicaragua is thriving. El Salvador has a partner factory, as well. Larger stoves are being built for use by schools and the like. The Stove Team Int'l. is looking to eradicate open fire cooking throughout the world and ending a major contributor to climate change and deforestation. Thousands of lives (and trees) will be saved due to their efforts. For more information, go to StoveTeam.org and look for the newsletter to follow their progress. |
