International Breakfast - Nov 18thOur featured speaker was Consul General Francesco Genuardi, who has extensive diplomacy experience over 23 years across multiple positions within the Italian government and NATO.
Read the full report inside.
International Breakfast Meeting – November 18th
by Andreas Runggatscher
The November International Breakfast of the 2020-21 year of the Rotary Club of New York took place on Zoom on Nov 18, 2020. The speaker was Consul General Francesco Genuardi, who has extensive diplomacy experience over 23 years across multiple positions within the Italian government and NATO. Consul General Francesco Genuardi commented on his country’s alliance with the United States and how the country is addressing COVID-19 amid a second wave of cases across the globe.
President Gerard Schriffen started off the presentation by speaking about a prominent project that the Rotary Club of New York is working to address nearly 1 million foster children in New York. He spoke about how the Rotary Club of New York is partnering with elected officials to bring the issue of nearly 1 million foster children in the city to the forefront of public dialogue. While $3B is spent each year on addressing foster home challenges in New York, there is a gap in addressing medical conditions in an affordable way, which the Rotary Club of New York is partnering with a prominent foster home organization in Philadelphia to address.
Consul General Francesco Genuardi spoke about how Italy is trying to facilitate movement between regions in Italy amid COVID restrictions in the country. He spoke about the imminent second wave of COVID in Italy and how different regions are addressing the issue. Southern regions of Italy are being hit particularly hard during this round of COVID cases and hospitals are dealing with serious concerns.
Consul General Francesco Genuardi concluded by stressing the resiliency in the tourism industry during COVID-19 amid continued interest from other European countries. He commented on the ambassadorial asset that the Italian American community represents from elected officials to local communities. President Gerard Schriffen made closing remarks on the importance of Italy for every New Yorker and his optimism for the future of relations between the two countries.
President Gerard Schriffen started off the presentation by speaking about a prominent project that the Rotary Club of New York is working to address nearly 1 million foster children in New York. He spoke about how the Rotary Club of New York is partnering with elected officials to bring the issue of nearly 1 million foster children in the city to the forefront of public dialogue. While $3B is spent each year on addressing foster home challenges in New York, there is a gap in addressing medical conditions in an affordable way, which the Rotary Club of New York is partnering with a prominent foster home organization in Philadelphia to address.
Consul General Francesco Genuardi spoke about how Italy is trying to facilitate movement between regions in Italy amid COVID restrictions in the country. He spoke about the imminent second wave of COVID in Italy and how different regions are addressing the issue. Southern regions of Italy are being hit particularly hard during this round of COVID cases and hospitals are dealing with serious concerns.
Consul General Francesco Genuardi concluded by stressing the resiliency in the tourism industry during COVID-19 amid continued interest from other European countries. He commented on the ambassadorial asset that the Italian American community represents from elected officials to local communities. President Gerard Schriffen made closing remarks on the importance of Italy for every New Yorker and his optimism for the future of relations between the two countries.
