The end of the Rotary International year is in June, and that means it is time for a new President. On July 8th, the Rotary Club of Fremont bid farewell to its President through COVID-19, Kurt Kapusuzoglu.
Kapusuzoglu, co-owner of Pacific Spray Systems, served as President through one of the most challenging and ever-changing years in the history of the Fremont Rotary, also know as the ‘Fun Club’. Begun in the year 2000, the Fremont Rotary was one of the first evening clubs, meeting at Hale’s Ales Brewery for dinner, drinks and discussions of philanthropic efforts by the Club in our community. At his farewell, Fremont Rotary members gave Kapusuzoglu a plaque thanking him for his service and keeping the Club ‘ZOOMing’ along.
For the last year, Fremont Rotary met on-line, staying in touch and coordinating service projects, many of them led by the Club President.
For this new year, Fremont Rotary welcomed their new President Vukasin Nickolic. While they haven’t returned to meeting at Hale’s Ales, quite yet, during the hand-off, held outside of a member’s private home, Fremont Rotary heard from a speaker introduced by Nickolic.
Floribert Mubalama, of the Congolese Integration Network, is organizing the ‘Heart for Congo’ conference. Originally from Congo, Mubalama has worked for years helping refugees from his ravaged country to assimilate and succeed in the U.S. He told the Fremont Rotary about programs helping with language skills, as well as keeping students in school and out off the criminal justice pipeline. Now Mubalama is working with others from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to address 25 years of conflict and genocide in their homeland.
One of the most mineral-rich countries in the world, Congo lacks the stability, safety and protections that we in the U.S. and those in Europe take for granted. As a result, people are fleeing Congo to face the problems of immigration and assimilation elsewhere. Mubalama wants to help bring international attention to the terrible tragedies of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Heart for Congo conference is intended to bring representatives from the country together with peacekeepers and philathropists who want to help resolve the problems. Find out more on the Congolese Integration Network Facebook page (click here.)
To find out more about the Rotary Club of Fremont, and its great work helping our community – and everyone who is a part of it – visit the Fremont Rotary website (click here.) Also, visit the Fremont Rotary Facebook page (click here,) to find out about their public projects and programs.