Our luncheon speaker on Friday, March 6th will be former Harris County Judge Robert Eckels. Judge Eckels will be presenting on the plans and progress of the Central Texas Railway.
Judge Eckels served as County Judge for Harris County, Texas from 1995 until 2007-a role in which he oversaw executive, legislative and judicial functions of a county that is home to nearly four million residents. He had previously been elected to the Texas Legislature while in his 20's, where he served six terms as a State Representative.
As County Judge, Eckels chaired both the Houston Galveston Area Council Transportation Planning Council and of the Harris County Toll Road Authority - a 500 lane-mile toll road system that is the only county-owned toll road system in the nation, and a pioneer in interagency partnerships and applying technology for efficient operations.
In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Eckels successfully transformed the Astrodome—in less than one day—into a combined emergency field hospital, mental health Speed Rail and Transportation Corporation, a coalition of local governments, educational institutions and the private sector working to bring high-speed rail to Texas. It is on this subject that he will be speaking today.
After leaving public office, Eckels joined the international law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski, LLP as a Partner focused on Transportation and Infrastructure, Public Finance, Homeland Security and Disaster Law, Government Relations and Public Law. Judge Eckels has operated his own independent legal practice and is today a Member of the Texas screening center, short-term shelter, and processing hub for over 27,000 desperate evacuees.
His leadership during the crisis won international acclaim, with Esquire magazine describing it as “an island of competence in the face of catastrophe, a demonstration of how government ought to work.”
In addition to serving on numerous state transportation finance and planning commissions and committees, from 2002 to 2010 Eckels was the founding chairman of the Texas High-based law firm, Gray Reed & McGraw, P.C.
A special thank you to Will Ullrich for hosting Judge Eckels visit to our club today.
- See more at: http://portal.clubrunner.ca/3941/Speakers/0d8c0eb4-0d70-4d78-a209-8ed8bdea84c9#sthash.hs0BYOVi.dpuf
I have been a member of Spring Branch Memorial Rotary club for about 8 yrs. now and I enjoy attending Rotary meetings. I am particularly attracted by the mission of Rotary-- which is SERVICE. With that in mind I am writing this short summary of my medical charity work in India and in Houston.
For last 26 years, I have been going to India (to my home city of Ahmedabad and my home state of Gujarat) every year for about 6 to 8 weeks. I do volunteer medical work-- especially, providing consultation and performing gastrointestinal endoscopy (gastroscopy and colonoscopy) These services are performed free of charge. I work for 2-3 weeks each in the cities of Ahmedabad and Bhavnagar in Gujarat, which is my father's home town. In total I examine about 200-300 patients and perform about 100-150 endoscopy procedures. Many of these patients have very limited financial resources. Because of this, there are many times I also pay for their medicines, many of which may require 4 week to 12 month cycles. I am very happy to do this and it gives me great satisfaction. I bear all the expenses myself, do not receive any government help, and rarely receive private assistance.
I practiced Gastroenterology and Internal Medicine here in Houston for 31 years -- from 1973 to 2004.
I wanted to give back to this community, so I deliberately took retirement in 2005. Since then, I have been working as a volunteer physician at several Houston area charity clinics, where I see patients completely free of charge. Again, I am very happy to do this and it gives me great satisfaction.
This is why I like SPIRIT OF ROTARY which is SERVICE.
I thank you for giving me chance to describe my activity.
Our service to the community, and the fellowship we share during this service, are the primary reasons many of us joined Rotary. By sharing our next few projects with you, it is my hope that you find your entry point into this beautiful world of service, community, and lasting friendships.
On Saturday, May 2, from 9am to 1pm, our club will partner with Texas Childrens Hospital to have car seat specialists available to inspect children's car seats to ensure the seats are the proper size for the children using them and that they are properly installed. Should a child have a car seat that is mis-sized or in disrepair, replacement car seats will be available free of charge. The location for this event is The Spring Branch Family Development Center, 8575 Pitner Road, Houston, 77080. You have an opportunity to donate money towards the new car seats or to donate time by assisting the inspectors.
On a monthly basis, our club provides a meal to the Turning Point Center. Turning Point Center provides food and shelter to the elderly homeless in Houston. Your opportunity is to donate money towards this meal, or to donate time to assist in serving this meal. Please contact Bill Haglund for more information, WMHaglund@aol.com.
To get on the club website, go to: http://portal.clubrunner.ca/3941 Click on the Member Area button, and enter your user id which consists of your first name, a period, your last name, a period and 3941. (gwen.corolla.3941)
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