Events

Danny Kahalley, Director of Admissions at Saint Thomas’ Episcopal School, has

fifteen years of experience in education administration and has worked for

numerous schools and colleges in Tennessee, Alabama, and Texas at the primary,

secondary, undergraduate, and graduate level. He has his bachelor’s degree from

Rhodes College and master’s degree from the University of Alabama. His

daughters, Lydia and Islay, both attend private schools in Houston, and wife, Lisa,

is an Associate Professor of Pediatric Psychology.

Specialist Steven C. Baskis successfully completed Infantry training at Fort Benning, Georgia in 2007 and went on to deploy with the U.S. Army’s distinguished 4th Infantry Division, a unit that crossed the Normandy beaches in World War II. While serving as a Personal Security Specialist in 2008, Baskis was severely wounded by an improvised explosive device during military operations in Baghdad, Iraq. May 13th, 2008 marked the day in which Baskis lost his sight and suffered multiple shrapnel injuries to the head, neck, arms and legs which resulted in significant blood loss, hearing loss, loss of smell and nerve damage to left arm. Steve explains how this traumatic experience has forever changed his sight and vision. “I may have lost my physical ability to see, but I have a new vision, a new perspective to guide me through life and all of it’s amazing challenges.

After war and debilitating injuries, Steve has gone on to climb 2 of the 7 tallest mountains in the world which include Mount Elbrus in Europe and Kilimanjaro in Africa. A documentary titled “High Ground”, captures Steve and 11 veterans’ amazing journey to climb a 20,000 foot Himalayan peak, Lobuche, which sits in the shadow of Mount Everest. Another documentary Steve had the opportunity to be featured in is “On Me”. The film follows five completely blind veterans down a stretch of white water river rapids in Montana. Baskis has found a love for adventure and physical challenge. Actively pursuing half marathons, a half ironman, cycling nearly 800 miles from the capital of Canada to the capital of The United States, snow skiing down cold mountains in Colorado and white water kayaking 226 miles of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, are just a few of Steve’s thrilling adventures.

“I now want to give back to the people who have helped me, through my foundation called Blind Endeavors”, Steve says. The Blind Endeavors Foundation’s main purpose centers around educating, conducting research and making more people aware of what is possible, no matter the level of adversity faced.

Lisa is the Director of Development for Shriner’s Hospital for Children in Galveston and has been an advancement professional in higher education, healthcare, community service and the arts for 30 years.  She is a graduate of the State University of New York at Oswego (Ah-swee-Go) and LeMoyne College in Syracuse, NY.

Lisa enjoys a long history in Rotary - Her father Richard was a Rotarian, her family hosted numerous exchange students and she too was a Rotary exchange student to Cape Town, South Africa.  Lisa was a member of the Cortland Rotary Club, co-chaired the youth exchange committee and subsequently served as club president in 2001.  She is now a member of the Galveston Rotary Club.  She moved to Texas nearly three years ago to join her brothers who have settled in Galveston.

Lisa is here today to share the powerful story of Shriner’s Hospital for Children and their mission of “Love to the Rescue!”

JuliAnna Jelinek serves as Executive Director of The Arbor School. Previous to assuming this role, she served as The Arbor’s Chief Development Officer for two years. As Executive Director, Ms. Jelinek is responsible for overall management of The Arbor including operations, brand management, business development, and public engagement. Prior to joining The Arbor, Ms. Jelinek spent over seven years in business development and fundraising for public policy and advocacy groups in Arizona, California, and Washington D.C.