Club Meeting: Rotary Peacebuilder Clubs

Mike Caruso, a Past District Governor for Rotary District 5100 (Northern Oregon and Southern Washington), will be the guest presenter. Joining him will be Jake McMichael and Laura LaJoie, both members of the Rotary Club of Wilsonville. Together, they will give a presentation on Rotary Peacebuilder Clubs and what it means to be one. (Our club has started that journey.)

The Rotary Club of Wilsonville meets every Thursday at noon, living out the club’s main objectives of service and fellowship. Guests are always welcome. Meetings take place on Zoom. Contact President Joe Schwab at president@wilsonvillerotary.com, or any member of the club for details.

Mike Caruso’s bio:

Mike is currently serving as the District Rotary Peace Fellowships Sub-Committee Chair and Chair of District 5100 Peacebuilder Clubs Committee. He served as District Governor in District 5100 during the 2011-12 Rotary year and oversaw the birth of the Peacebuilder Clubs program in 2011. He joined the Newberg noon Rotary club in 2001 having his daughter Amelia as his sponsor.  He retired as senior vice-president of Caruso Produce Inc. in Jan. of 2005.

Following graduation from the University of Portland, he served in the Peace Corps for 3 years working in Tuberculosis Control, primarily with the 16  aboriginal tribes in Malaysia.  In 1974 upon completion of his Peace Corps experience he married his wife Amelia and entered the family business, Caruso Produce Inc., until his retirement.

Mike has served as director as well as treasurer for Oregon Common Cause, and  served as chairperson of the state board of directors of   Helping Hands Re-entry Outreach, arguably the state’s most effective organization involved in the transitional  housing process of preparing  those suffering from drug and alcohol related addiction back to becoming productive members of society.

Mike has also  participated in the Rotary Foundation’s Major Matching Grant process and helped organize 10 hands-on projects sponsored by the Rotary Club of Newberg in Guatemala consisting of Dental, Medical, Water, Education, Electrical, Construction and Micro-Finance groups beginning in 2004 and continuing to this day.  He has also travelled in Rotary related work to Cyprus, Israel, Palestine and Lebanon in recent years identifying Peace-related humanitarian projects. He is a recipient of The Rotary Foundation’s Citation for Meritorious Service as well as the Rotary International Service Above Self Award.

Mike and his wife Amelia have lived in Dundee for more than 46 years and have five children (three daughters and two sons) and ten grandchildren.