Aquabox Filter Kits for Disaster Relief (Aired on March 27, 2022)
For an international program, the Radio Rotary hosts, Jonah Teibwasser and Kathy Kruger, interview Roger Cassidy and David Hood from the Wirkswirth Rotary in England along with Tim Lynch of the Red Hook (NY) Rotary concerning Aquabox, a source of water filters and other emergency supplies that was formed in 1992 by the Wirkswirth Rotary Club. Aquabox now operates as an
independent charity associated with Rotary International. The box of equipment for providing safe, clean water come in various configurations, from a one-family box of two filters and other disaster supplies to community filters than can produce 6 liters of potable water a minute. The current disaster in Ukraine has been receiving Aquabox filters delivered by the British Ukrainian Society.
Learn More:
Aquabox: https://www.aquabox.org/
Wirkswirth Rotary Club: https://www.rotary-ribi.org/clubs/homepage.php?ClubID=1334
Red Hook Rotary Club: https://www.redhookrotaryclub.org/
British Ukrainian Society: https://www.britishukrainiansociety.org/
Volunteer Flights help Patients and Families (Aired on January 16, 2022)
RadioRotary welcomes Jessica Ames, Outreach & Events Director for Angel Flights East, to the program. Angel Flights East provides free air transportation for medical needs to children, individuals, or families all over the Northeast region of the United State—fourteen states, Maine through Virginia through Ohio. Nearly all of the flights are in general-aviation aircraft with at least four seats, including some corporate jets used for longer flights when available. All of the pilots are volunteers. It was started in 1993 after the founder, who had provided free air transportation for victims of Hurricane Katrina, joined with other pilots to continue help for those needing transport from their homes to medical facilities or between hospitals. Since then, the volunteer pilots have made about 900 flights annually. This service is not the same as an air ambulance—passengers must be fit enough to enter and leave a small plane and to sit upright for the duration of the flight, which can sometimes be several hours. There are similar volunteer organizations throughout the United States.
Learn More:
Angel Flight East: https://angelflighteast.org/
Air Care Alliance Directory: https://www.aircarealliance.org/getting-assistance/directory-of-groups/
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA): https://www.aopa.org/
Clean Power for New York (Aired on November 28, 2021)
Clean-Power-Fellow Brynn Fuller-Becker visits RadioRotary from Brooklyn via Zoom to describe to work that New Yorkers for Clean Power (NYCP) is doing to make the state a leader in renewable energy. The state has a goal of transitioning away from fossil fuels, coal mainly but also natural gas, and replacing those energy sources with wind, solar, hydroelectric, and possibly nuclear power. Some more exotic power sources may also come on line, such as tidal or geothermal power. One of the necessities of this plan is to improve the grid used to distribute power around the state. In the effort to reach net-zero carbon, in addition to the power sources and a green frid, we need to use batteries better, including those in electric vehicles.
Learn more:
New Yorkers for Clean Power: https://nyforcleanpower.org/
New York State’s Energy Profile: https://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=NY
Renewable Energy: https://www.nrdc.org/stories/renewable-energy-clean-facts
Global Climate Change: https://climate.nasa.gov/news/?page=0&per_page=40&order=publish_date+desc%2C+created_at+desc&search=&category=19%2C98
Great American Smoke-Out (Aired on November 14, 2021)
Tobacco contains nicotine, a more powerful addictive substance than marijuana, opium, or cocaine. Furthermore, today’s cigarettes contain many harmful chemicals in addition to tobacco. Before 1964 there was a general understanding that cigarettes are not good for health (“coffin nails” was one nickname), and in 1964 the US surgeon general’s report made this official, although a high percentage of Americans continued to smoke. Six years after the surgeon general’s report, a community in Massachusetts proposed a day without smoking, which soon grew into the Great American Smokeout, celebrated by many giving up the cigarette habit on the third Thursday in November. Dora Celestino from the Council on Addiction Prevention and Education (CAPE) visits RadioRotary for this show outlining the dangers of cigarettes, and progress since the 1970s. CAPE is better known for its work in high schools educating students about drug and alcohol addiction, but it also helps fight nicotine addiction.
Learn more:
Great American Smokeout: https://www.cancer.org/healthy/stay-away-from-tobacco/great-american-smokeout.html
CAPE (Council on Addiction Prevention & Education of Dutchess County): https://capedc.org/
New York State Smokers’ Quitline: https://www.health.ny.gov/publications/3485.pdf