• Ian Balcombe and Gilliam Balcombe, guests of the Shelleys, are visiting Rotarians from their London club.

• David McCann, a prospective member and Sr. Vice-President of Sunstate Bank.

• Victor Bruzos, a guest of Oliver Ruiz, who is a patent engineer employed by Malloy & Malloy, P.A.

• Danny Donne, a prospective member.

• Zach Price, incoming president of the Rotary Club of Miami-Kendall and accompanied by his father, Ira Price.

• Aldrick Dodds, a guest of Angela Deggs.

• Ian Hunter, a guest of President Norby.

• Desmond Gonzalez and his mother, also guests of Norby.

• Rich Hall, Commodore of the Miami Yacht Club.

• Angie Fernandez and Christine Zahralban, assistant Miami-Dade state attorneys.

Birthdays and Anniversaries. Having their birthdays this month are/were Norby Rudel, Clara Area, and Rosa Carroll.

Happy $$$$$$$$$$$$$ - President Norby collected today’s happy dollars which were being donated to help address necessary relief in Australia. There were so many contributors, both Rotarians and guests, who parted with their money for a better cause. They are too numerous to list.

Business Announcements

• Next week (January 16), Alberto Carvalho, Superintendent of Miami-Dade Schools will be our speaker.

• There will be no regular meeting on January 30^th.

• The FIU Pinning Event will be on January 31^st at 4:30 p.m. Please sign up to attend.

• Jan Figa received his blue Rotary Club of Miami badge. Congratulations, Jan!

• Dave Anderson installed our newest members, Bjorn Hansen and Steve Dutton, whom we welcomed enthusiastically into our club’s membership.

Speaker

Norby introduced our speaker, Katherine Fernandez Rundle, who has been serving as the State Attorney for Miami-Dade County continuously since 1993, running successfully for six successive terms. Miami-Dade County’s State Attorney’s Office is the fourth largest in the nation.

Ms. Fernandez Rundle chose to educate us about human trafficking and how the upcoming 2020 Super Bowl impacts on that issue. Florida ranks #3 in the U.S. for cases of human trafficking. In Florida, human trafficking is the worst in Miami-Dade County.

Where are these victims coming from? Victims include runaway children, usually fleeing abuse in their homes, who are scooped up within the first 48 hours of running away; and people who have aged out of foster care. The victims come from all demographics. These victims are made into slaves, some slaving in the agricultural industry and/or being forced into prostitution. Most victims are 18 to 24 years old, but 35% of the victims are under 18. 90% of victims are female.

The traffickers will do anything to prevent escape. One 14-year old female victim was found to have had a GPS implanted under her skin so that she couldn’t escape without her pimp knowing where she was.

Ms. Fernandez Rundle has been working to stop human trafficking. She assembled a team of specialists in human trafficking, including investigators. The State Attorney’s Office has been training employees in both the public and private sectors to deal with this issue more successfully.

To protect the victims and to give them the services they need, rescued human trafficking victims are now housed in a special area of the Camillus House. At Jackson Memorial Hospital, doctors at Thrive Clinic tend to the mental and physical health of the victims to help them recover.

Concluding her talk, our speaker was amazed and surprised when President Norby and Phil Seipp informed her that The Rotary Club of Miami has paid $1,000 to Rotary International to make Ms. Fernandez Rundle a Paul Harris Fellow.

4-WAY TEST