| Posted by Frank Wooldridge on Sep 21, 2022 |
The Beacon   The official weekly publication of The Rotary Club of Bakersfield BreakfastI’ll say this is an excellent time to be a Breakfast Rotarian. Any day is a great day to be a member of our club. For instance, when I arrive at our Wednesday morning meetings, I see our members’ bright shining faces glimmering in the hope of getting a conversation or two with other members. Seeing just the pride and enthusiasm of our members brings joy to my heart to know we are working towards something much bigger than ourselves. Much is to be done as we approach our magnificent fundraiser, Wine, Place, Show, and several other social and commu nity events just around the corner. I thank you every day that I am a member of this club and, more s, that you, too, are a part of something so giving as Rotary. With our spirit in Breakfast Rotary, we will never be “BUSTED,” even if our substitute Song Master Bill Black led us in a morning song so entitled. Will Duerksen and Greg Desme cleaned up the BUSTED theme by giving us America’s Pledge of Allegiance and our Invocation, respectively. No visiting guests, but Past President Denise Haynes introduced the current President of Rotaract, Sam Hammoudeh. Sam had some excellent news I’ll share with you later about a fabulous Rotaract event coming soon! Welcome, Sam! Our Program Director Pete Leveroni gave us our morning speaker, Mr. David Dowdy. David has been instrumental in founding and leading Healing Hands- Healing Hearts in 2007. If you will, what has become a local non-profit in the field of massage medicine was only a concept by David and, through a series of unchartered pathways, has become a passion for David and a hope for many Kern County Hospice patients. For this one-time engineer, David, interestingly enough, saw an advertised program regarding the therapeutic benefits of massage and mere touch for a person confined to a hospital bed. I suppose you could say the emotions of David’s heart were touched in viewing the program, which piqued his curiosity of wanting to learn more…and more…and more. The application of ma ssage and touch therapy was, at the time, foreign to many medical providers, from hospitals to in-home care. Thus, the benefits and unfamiliarity of providing such therapy were not necessarily a welcome and recognized form of treatment. Needless, David began to learn a lot about rejection and the word “NO” by medical providers. Yet, David recognized the call through his faith that he was precisely in the right place and doing what it would take to fill a much-needed void in health care. David had tried the therapy training and knew there was a place for it in Kern County’s hospice care community. And I think about it, and David’s right. Can’t you think of a time, maybe numerous times, you have been in the presence of a lonely and forgotten older adult in situations detached from family and loved ones? Even a recognized voice, or one voice that expresses genuine love, yes love, seems lost to these patients. Sadly, a typical event, but David and Healing Hands- Healing Hearts program and the fine people trained like David to administer massage and touch therapy have dialed care for these people up a notch. But where would these service providers be welcome to provide such service? |
|
Read more...
|
.png)
