GFLSCI NEWS
Greater Fort Lauderdale Sister Cities International Monthly Newsletter
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October 2008 Edition
Don't Miss our Dinner on the River!
When : November 2nd, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Where : Nuccia McCormick Residence,
11 Harborage Isle, Fort Lauderdale, Fl, 33316
Cost : $85 for members, $95 for non-members
Greater Fort Lauderdale Sister Cities International and the Marine Industry Committee would like to invite you to celebrate an international night of food, dance and entertainment at our Dinner on the River Event, November 2nd, 2008 at 7pm at Nuccia McCormick's Residence, 11 Harborage Isle in Fort Lauderdale. This event promises to be very exciting as we are pulling together the international flavor of the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (the largest in the world) with a spectacular evening of great food, live music, open bar, and fabulous auction items. We will be welcoming very special guests including Mayors and City Officials from Costa Rica, Taiwan and Fort Lauderdale as well as our Maritime and Australian alliances. Seating for this event is limited. For more information on Dinner on the River and to RSVP by Saturday, November 1st, click here to go to our website. Admission may also be purchased at the door.
Special thanks to our Sponsors for this Event:
  
Greek Express 
Top Stories
Sister Cities Environmental Committee Takes Action to Deal with the Hurricane Devastation in Haiti
The Environmental Committee and its supporters have been very active in the month of October. Of particular concern lately has been the terrible devastation facing Haiti from three hurricane strikes in a 5-week period over the summer. In response to the cries for help, the Environmental Committee has taken first hand actions to deal with the root of the problem and not just provide short term emergency relief.
Dan Warren is the founder and leader of One Village Planet and is Co-Chair of Sister Cities Environmental Committee with Steve Holmes. One Village Planet is a global thinking, village-acting environmental, educational, and humanitarian organization. One Village Planet operates in Haiti through its� sister organization �Village Planete�. Village Planete is a nationally recognized Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) organized under the Laws of the Republic of Haiti. Village Planete locates villages in need of assistance and facilitates self help projects that result in improving their quality of life. Village Planete�s function is to plant the seed of empowerment, find information, and provide starting capital. They are a conduit of information, education and assistance and believe in the harmonious connection of all humankind, to each other and to the earth. Village Planete believes that if one person or group of people suffers then all humankind suffers.
In response to the hurricanes, Village Planete donated 100,000 trees to the people of northern Haiti. More pictures and details will follow in next month�s newsletter. These trees represent the type of solution Haiti needs for a long term solution but are only a start. The 2008 USAID Environmental Vulnerability Report for Haiti states that 23 Million trees are cut down every year. As simple as it may sound, nowhere in the reports' recommendations does it state as an objective to plant 23 million trees per year to curtail the deforestation issue. It is deforestation that is creating the susceptibility to hurricanes and Village Planete believes its goal of planting trees is a critical step.
Steve Holmes is the founder and Senior Partner of Vyridian Group and is the Sister Cities Co-Chair of the Environmental Committee. Vyridian Group is a global team of renewable energy and strategic planning consultants, contractors and technology manufacturers specializing in sustainability. Vyridian in association with Village Planete, Florida Natural Energy and Bill Loftus have developed a country wide plan which combines the resources of Village Planete and its hands on experience in Haiti, with FNE�s SAFE Technologies�. SAFE stands for Secure Alternative Fuel and Energy and these modular systems provide wastewater treatment, potable drinking water, electricity, alternative fuels, liquid fertilizer, solid waste management and soil amendments. By utilizing the Jatropha plants of Village Planete and the Kenaf plants of Bill Loftus, FNE�s SAFE Technologies provide the technology to process these crops and deliver amazing relief to the people of Haiti and the rest of the world. FNE and Vyridian Group will be in New York meeting with the United Nations in early November representing the team of providers and the solutions for Haiti. Wish our Environmental Committee luck and we will provide an update in next months newsletter.
In the picture below, Dan Warren brought some Jatropha plants to show the type of plants being grown in Haiti to the Sister Cities Board at last months meeting. Jatropha plants yield a high quantity of plant oil which can be burned directly as fuel or can be converted into biodiesel. If the oil is available, the people of Haiti can burn the oil instead of cutting trees to make charcoal. Dan used Jatropha seeds from India which were donated by Shobha Guphta to grow seedlings. Thank you Shobha!
Left to right: Dr. Lissa Pierre, Dan Warren, Shobha Guphta, Tony Marcelli
The Environmental Committee has fantastic news from Marianne Winfield who dedicates much of her time to Sister Cities and the Environmental Committee. Marianne Winfield together with Steve Holmes have formed a new environmental company called Marine and Waterways Solutions, LLC. (MWS). Marianne is the President of MWS and through her contacts and efforts MWS has obtained the exclusive worldwide rights to Solucorp Industries ltd. Molecular Bonding System (MBS) technology for all marine and waterway applications. MBS is an EPA approved technology for the treatment of hazardous heavy metal contamination at superfund sites and other industrial sites wherever heavy metal contamination exists. The MBS is extremely cost effective compared to other technologies and this exciting opportunity will benefit the environment at many of our sister cities as well as throughout the world. Congratulations to Marianne and her team!
Fort Lauderdale and Costa Rica Join Forces to Rescue the Fire, Ocean and Police Program in the Town of Quepos in Costa Rica.
Felipe Correa, Country Chair for our new Sister City Quepos in Costa Rica, Marcus Koch, Special Events Chair and Steven P. Naimoli, Treasurer and Past President planned a special reception and fundraiser on October 13th at Pier 66 in Fort Lauderdale to benefit the Fire, Ocean Rescue and Police Program in Quepos, Costa Rica.
Greater Fort Lauderdale Sister Cities International was honored to welcome at this event, The Mayor of the Town of Quepos, The Honorable Oscar Monge, The Mayor of Fort Lauderdale, The Honorable Jim Naugle, The Vice-Mayor Charlotte Rodstrom, The Quepos City Council President, Luis Carlos Chavez-Porras, Fort Lauderdale Chief of Police, Frank Adderley, several representatives of the Economic Development Office, as well as community & business leaders. With more than 150 guests who attended, The Quepos Reception and Fundraiser presented a great opportunity to learn more about the Town of Quepos in Costa Rica and to meet interesting people who are making a difference in the life of the citizens of this beautiful town.
Fort Lauderdale Mayor, Jim Naugle presented the Key to the City to Quepos Mayor
Oscar Monge and the Costa Rica Delegation.
The Town of Quepos, located on the Central Pacific coast of Costa Rica, lacks a municipally run Lifeguard Service. Their lifeguard service is self-funded through donations, and fundraisers. Presently, Quepos only has 2 lifeguards, with no formal training on a 6 day work week. The beach has no signs and no towers for the Lifeguards. Their program lacks tools such as radios, p.a. system, phones, vehicles, first aid equipment, and basic water rescue equipment. The purpose of this event was to gather much need equipment by the Lifeguard Service in Quepos.
The deplorable living conditions of the police headquarters in Quepos, Costa Rica.
Our Sister Cities' figure in Quepos, representing many important projects, is Mr. Harry Bodaan, whom has been deeply involved in consultation, education, and fund-raising.He has been working closely with the current Mayor of Quepos, The Honorable Oscar Monge, the President of the City Council, Mr. Luis Chavez, as well as business leaders in the community. We would like to thank Mr. Harry Bodaan for presenting us with all the great silent auctions items which helped us raised thousands of dollars for the cause.
Silent Auction Table with fabulous items including great vacations package to Costa Rica.
Greater Fort Lauderdale Sister Cities International would also like to thank the Costa Rica Delegation who came all the way from Costa Rica to join us at this event, Mayor Jim Naugle for his continued support, Pier 66 for the formidable venue, the Sister Cities Chairs who made this event possible, notably, Felipe Correa, Steven and Kim Naimoli and Marcus Koch, the volunteers who participated in this event, and all our loyal members who attended and made donations to save the fire, ocean rescue and police departments of the Town of Quepos. A special thanks for the generous donations of the tools and CapEtienne. We look forward to having many other great fundraisers to help our Sister Cities throughout the world.
GFLSCI Announces its New Affiliation with Kaohsiung County, Taiwan.
Greater Fort Lauderdale Sister Cities International is proud to announce its new affiliation with Kaohsiung County in Taiwan. We will celebrate the new twinning between Fort Lauderdale and Kaohsiung County at the Boat Parade Celebration, December 13th at Nuccia's McCormick Residence. For more information and to RSVP for this event, please click here to go to our website. Greater Fort Lauderdale Sister Cities International looks forward to establishing programs in International Business, Tourism, Sports, Medicine, Education, and Information Technology with this wonderful county in Taiwan. We are delighted to welcome the first Asian Sister City Affiliation with Fort Lauderdale.
Meet the Board!
Greater Fort Lauderdale Sister Cities International will feature one or two board members every month so that you can learn more about who we are and what we have in store for you.
Meltem Birkegren, Country Chair for Mugla, Turkey
Born in Turkey, Meltem Birkegren studied at the Academy of Economical & Sciences in Ankara, and majored in Foreign Trade. After graduation, she joined Ericsson's sister company in Turkey and worked as the Trade Director until May 1985 when she got married and moved to Sweden, where she continued working at Ericsson headquarters. After two years in Stockholm, she moved to Nassau, Bahamas where she stayed until August 1988 when she moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In 1989, Meltem started her own export company and has been developing this business ever since. Her company exports heavy-duty machinery parts, specifically ship engines, and equipment for the hotel industry. On her spare time, she also works as a Turkish interpreter as Meltem speaks 5 languages fluently: Turkish, English, Swedish, Danish and Italian.
In 2000, Meltem became Greater Fort Lauderdale Sister Cities International's Country Chair for the Mugla Province in Turkey. In 2002, she raised money to send 240 wheelchairs to the Mugla area, within the "Wheelchairs for Peace" program. The money was raised online with contributions from The Istanbul Rotary Club and from a Gala that hosted more than 200 people in attendance. The success of this project attracted an American writer/editor who had visited Turkey in the past. Inspired by this endeavor, this writer decided to repeat the same project for Southeastern Anatolia. Meltem developed a website once again and raised most of the funds from online donations and contributions from The Beyoglu Rotary Club in Istanbul. The 280 wheelchairs were delivered in Diyarbakir, Siverek, Sanli Urfa, Adiyaman, Mardin, Sirnak and Cizre in June 2004.
Meltem is an advocate for Turkish women's rights and education. One of the projects very dear to her heart is a scholarship program named, The GAP-CATOM Scholarship Program. When Meltem was in Sanli Urfa for the distribution of the wheelchairs, she met with Adalet Budak, the coordinator for the distribution of the wheelchairs who happens to works for GAP. Upon learning that, back in 2001, Adalet had started a scholarship program for girls in dire need of tuition funds, Meltem developed a website for Adalet to raise money for this program. In addition to all her great support and her involvement in the non-profit sector, Meltem also works as a political activist and is actively involved in all related Turkish organizations. She started an online news source named "The Turkish Digest" where news in English about Turkey is collected daily from a variety of sources. In 2001, Meltem was the recipient for "The Daughters of Ataturk Woman of Distinction Award" and also received recognition for her involvement in 2003.
Kim Naimoli, Chair for Community Partnerships
Kim was born and grew up in Bexley, Ohio. She later moved to the Finger Lakes area of upstate New York where she met her husband Steven Naimoli, Past President of GFLSCI. Ms. Naimoli served as Vice President for the Mortgage Bankers Association of Central New York as well as Vice President in charge of marketing and sales for Credit Bureau Services, Inc. until the business was sold in 1994. At that time she moved to Fort Lauderdale. Kim continued in sales for Credit Bureau Services, Inc., in Fort Lauderdale until 1996 and opened a mortgage company, Coral Mortgage, Inc., a correspondent lender. To complete a �One stop shop� effect, Community Title Associates, Inc. was born in 2001.
Ms. Naimoli has long been interested in fund raising and community projects. She is currently treasurer for The Opera Society, the fundraising arm for Florida Grand Opera. She has been active in a wide variety of civic and cultural affairs including the Mortgage Bankers Association of South Florida, Junior League of Greater Fort Lauderdale, Patrons of Exceptional Artists, Bonnet House, Seafarers House, League of Women Voters, National Week of the Ocean, Opera Society, National Save the Sea Turtle Foundation, Navy League Broward County Council and Navy League Fort Lauderdale Council and Oakland Park Main Street. Other interests of hers include piano, tennis, gardening, cooking, yachting and theatre.
Kim�s involvement with Sister Cities include building and fostering beneficial relationships with partners in our community. She often takes the initiative to come up with great fundraising projects and we are very grateful to have a resourceful and enthusiastic person such as herself on our team.
GFLSCI Country Chairs News
Fort Lauderdale - Mar del Plata, Argentina
Committee Report for August 2008
Contributed by Cris Boehler, Country Chair for Mar del Plata, Argentina
Cris Boehler, Country Chair person for Mar del Plata, Argentina will be visiting our sister city, Mar del Plata, to deliver funds raised in a special fund raiser to the Hospital de Ninos (Childrens Hospital) in Mar del Plata, Argentina. This is a hospital exclusively for children and although it is government subsidized, it lacks in supplies, equipment etc...Cris will also deliver a salutation letter from our Mayor, The Honorable Jim Naugle to the newly elected Mayor of Mar del Plata, Argentina.
GFLSCI Upcoming Events
The Maritime and Gold Coast Committees Invite you to Celebrate the International Flavor of the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show at our Dinner on the River!
When : November 2nd, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Where : Nuccia McCormick Residence,
11 Harborage Isle, Fort Lauderdale, Fl, 33316
Cost : $85 for members, $95 for non-members
Greater Fort Lauderdale Sister Cities International and the Marine Industry Committee would like to invite you to come celebrate an international night of food, dance and entertainment at our Dinner on the River Event, November 2nd, 2008 at 7pm at Nuccia McCormick's Residence, 11 Harborage Isle in Fort Lauderdale. This event promises to be very exciting as we are pulling together the international flavor of the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (the largest in the world) with a spectacular evening of great food, live music, open bar, and fabulous auction items. We will be welcoming our special Australian guests and all the other maritime alliances around the world. Seating for this event is limited. For more information on Dinner on the River and to RSVP by Saturday, November 1st, click here to go to our website. Admission may also be purchased at the entrance.
Special thanks to our Sponsors for this Event:
Greek Express
The 2008 Boat Parade Celebration to benefit the Thomas W. McCormick Scholarship Fund of Greater Fort Lauderdale Sister Cities International
When : December 13th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Where : Ms.Nuccia McCormick Residence, Fort Lauderdale
Note: Limited Seating
Please join us in admiring the world renowned Fort Lauderdale Winterfest Boat Parade in a special evening celebration to benefit the Thomas W. McCormick Scholarship Fund. This special event will take place at the residence of Nuccia McCormick, Chair Emeritus of GFLSCI, in Harborage Isle, Fort Lauderdale on December 13th starting at 5:30pm. Enjoy cocktails, dinner and dancing under the stars with a magnificent front view of this memorable show. All proceeds from this celebration will benefit honor students from Broward County in financial need to attain International Education with the Thomas W. McCormick Scholarship Fund under Greater Fort Lauderdale Sister Cities International. Seating is limited.
To RSVP for this event, please click here to go to our website.
GFLSCI Receives an Award from the Organization of Women in International Trade (OWIT)
Event: OWIT 7th Annual International BusinessWoman of the Year Awards
When : November 6th, 2008 at 12:00pm
Where : The Bankers Club of Miami, 1 Biscayne Tower, 14th Fl., Miami, FL 33131
Note: Organized by the Organization of Women in International Trade (OWIT)
Please join us as our Chairman Emeritus, Ms. Nuccia McCormick receives the Award for The International Business Woman of the Year on behalf of Greater Fort Lauderdale Sister Cities International. Other recipients include, Jo Moskowitz from Citrix Systems, Inc, loyal Sister Cities' Sponsor and Olga Ramudo from Express Travel. The Special Keynote Speaker will be Mary Grossman, Consul General of Canada. For more information and to register, click here to go to the OWIT website.
7th Annual Turkish Festival
When : November 16th, 2008 from 12:00pm-6pm
Where : Boardwalk & Beach Theater, 100 Johnson St., Hollywood Beach
Note: Organized by the Florida Turkish American Association
Cost: FREE
Meltem Birgenken, Country Chair for Turkey, invites you to join her and the Florida Turkish American Association at the 7th Annual Turkish Festival in Hollywood Beach. Come and experience Turkish delights with authentic food, music, folk and belly dances, arts & crafts and activities for the kids. For more information, call (561) 572-7788.
Fort Lauderdale International Culinary Festival
When : January 31st , 2008 from 12:00pm-6pm
Where : Stranahan Park D, SE 1 street & 1 avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Professor August Pujols, GFLSCI Country Chair for Venezuela, in collaboration with the Rotary Club International and The Fort Lauderdale Women's Club are planning a wonderful culinary event in January to celebrate food and cultures of our Sister Cities' countries from around the world. The Fort Lauderdale International Culinary Festival will host international restaurants with samplings from different countries specialties, musical entertainment along with wine and desserts tasting. Proceeds from this event will benefit charities of Greater Fort Lauderdale Sister Cities, The Rotary Club and The Women's Club. Restaurants and Sponsors interested in participating in this event, can contact Prof. August Pujols at (954) 564-8440 or send an email to arp@gate.net
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