Serving Rotarians in Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo Counties August 2013 Gates Foundation Pledges an Additional $35 Million per Year over the Next 5 Years A bold new chapter in the partnership between Rotary and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation aimed at eradicating polio was announced at the Rotary International Convention in Lisbon, Portugal. The joint effort, called End Polio Now Make History Today, will support the 2013-2018 Polio Eradication and Endgame Strategic Plan. Message from the Governor The Gates Foundation will match two-to-one, up to $35 million per year, every dollar Rotary commits to reduce the funding shortfall for polio eradication through 2018, said Jeff Raikes, the Foundation s Chief Executive Officer. If fully realized, the value of this new partnership with Rotary is more than $500 million. In this way, your contributions to polio will work twice as hard. Register for the District Conference Register before October 20 th and you will be automatically entered into a drawing for a free room night at the Monterey Marriott on May 2 nd. Go to www.rotary5150.org for more information. Help Spread the Word Send news and pictures to rotary5150news@gmail.com. This information may be used on the district website, Facebook page, or newsletter. Rotary International District 5150 Rotary International President: Ron Burton District 5150 Governor: Eric Schmautz District Governor-Elect: Chris Gallagher District Governor-Nominee: Leah Reich
HANNAH JORDAN Global Grants Scholar 2013-2014 Our 2013-2014 District 5150 Global Grants Scholar is Hannah Jordan. Hannah received her undergraduate degree in International Relations from University of Virginia. She has been accepted for the Master s Degree Program at The Kent School at Brussels University in Belgium. There she will be studying International Conflict and Security and will concentrate on peace negotiations among conflicting nations. In the past, Hannah studied European politics and International Security in Copenhagen, Denmark. She was a Dept. of State intern in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and a Peace Corps volunteer to Mali. Upon graduation from Brussels, Hannah plans to work with the UN Human Rights Commission in Burkina Faso, Africa. Hannah looks forward to a long term career focusing on peace and conflict solution with either NATO, the ICC, or the United Nations. District 5150 wishes Hannah much success in her life pursuit of Rotary s goals of Peace, Goodwill, and Understanding among the people of the world. District 5150 Receives Marketing and Public Information Grant Rotary District 5150 has received a $15,000 grant from Rotary International (RI) to promote Polio Eradication awareness in Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo counties, attendees at the district training seminar on Marketing and Public Information were told on Saturday. They were the first to share in the good news. "This grant will allow us to reach many thousands of people who will want to help us finish the job of polio eradication...we're ready to get to work!", said district governor Eric Schmautz. The grant identifies three goals for the campaign: Educate and motivate people to help achieve the goal of eradicating polio; to increase donations to the Polio Plus Fund by 10% per year over three years; and to gain 100% participation from the 40 Rotary Clubs in promoting and funding polio eradication, according to Past District Governor Brian McLeran who co-chairs the Marketing and Public Information Committee for the District. In their evaluation of Saturday s session, the first of the Summer Seminars Series, attendees noted the training was very valuable and in future sessions they would like more information on Facebook, Club Runner and PR strategies. The next Public Information and Marketing session will be November 2, 2013.
Around the District A BASIC PRLS class on Saturday, July 13 th at the So. San Francisco Scavenger Company. It was the 11th Basic PRLS class in our District since PRLS was launched in 2010. We now have 250 Basic PRLS graduates. The Master PRLS series is then available for any Basic PRLS Graduate and we are pleased to announce that the Master PRLS #3 class on Aug. 17th is now SOLD OUT. The next Basic PRLS class will be Oct. 12 at the same location. For more information on PRLS, email Betsy Koefoed, PRLS Director, at ekoefoed@mac.com or go to www.rotary5150.org. District 5150 Changing Lives! The Carlmont High School Interact Club recently spent a Saturday morning cleaning up Youngblood Coleman Park in the Bayview district of San Francisco. Interact, making a difference in the community!
S.F. Rotaract Charity Poker Tournament Benefitting Slum Soccer The San Francisco Rotaract Club is putting on a Charity Poker Tournament, to be held on Sunday, August 25 th, at 2pm (check-in is at 1:30pm), at The Arc of San Francisco (1500 Howard St). 100% of the proceeds will go to Slum Soccer, a non-profit organization devoted to enabling homeless youth to reach their full life potential through the medium of soccer. Based on the simple philosophy Football for All, the goal of Slum Soccer is to reach out to the Indian homeless community using soccer as a tool for reintegration, social improvement and empowerment. Realizing that the football pitches aren t a place where they are victimized or preyed upon, participants open up and discover hope for a better future. Over the past ten years, Slum Soccer has made a positive impact on community wellness through the basis of soccer. What started as simple weekend sessions bloomed into a robust community improvement program that includes fully fledged football coaching camps, healthcare workshops as well as educational and social programs. Slum Soccer brings a positive influence to the lives of nearly 70,000 men, women and children in over 63 districts all around the country. For more information, please check out the Slum Soccer at www.slumsoccer.org and also check out a Slum Soccer video showing the overwhelmingly positive impact of the organization at http://tiny.cc/slumsoccer. To purchase tickets, please visit: http://allintoendit.eventbrite.com/ To donate online, you can also visit the following website: http://www.groundworkopportunities.org/champions/sfrotaract/. Buy-in will be $50 ($40 Early Bird!), we ll have catered food from Fuddrucker s, and there are some great prizes! 1 st Place: Week-long stay at a Bahamas resort (airfare not included) 2 nd Place: Week-long stay at a Las Vegas resort (airfare not included) 3 rd Place: 4 Oakland A s tickets Thank you Rotary for your continued support of SF Rotaract, we could not do it without you! We hope to see you there!
Susanne Karch is a great asset to the Rotary Club of Mission San Rafael, to District 5150, and to Rotary International. She joined Mission San Rafael in December 2009, and hit the ground running. She has held a number of positions in the club, and has served as Community Service Chair twice, and Fellowship Chair. Every year, she has been an active and engaged member of several committees and the club Board of Directors. Susanne is one of our most ENGAGED Rotary members, within and beyond her own club, and is usually the first to volunteer for anything she puts her hear, time, and loads of energy into Rotary and Rotary service projects. Susanne was recognized at the district conference two years ago for her outstanding work in Rotary. Susanne stems from Germany, and has lived in the Midwest, East Coast, and in marvelous Marin County for the past 24 years. She started her business, ESTATE SERVICES, in 1996, in response to the need she personally experienced while moving her ailing parents from Chicago to Marin. Her services include taking care of the logistics of the furniture and belongings when estates are being settled or elders are downsizing or moving into assisted living. She takes care of Everything from the Cat to the Car! In addition to her outstanding contributions to the Rotary Club of Mission San Rafael, Susanne promoted and ran Rotary Means Business for Marin County Rotarians for a year. In addition, Susanne was the main shepherd, for District Ambassadorial Scholar, Byungwoo Oh, taking him around to about a dozen clubs to be introduced and to speak; she has been co-sponsor of two recent Rotary Youth Exchange students, and recently quickly arranged a home for the suddenly homeless exchange student in response to an urgent request by the District. And just for fun and fellowship, Susanne also came up with the idea of a Rotary Day at a San Rafael Pacifics professional baseball league game, invited all Marin County clubs to come, and arranged the announcer mentioning Rotary and thanking Rotary for all it does. Susanne was a dynamite Community Service Chair of her club, spearheading activities such as: caroling for seniors at Senior Access and Tam House, building raised wheelchair-accessible gardens at Senior Access, installing smoke detectors for low income seniors and people with disabilities, and co-organizing a Marin Center for Independent Living Fundraiser Cruise around the Bay, and with the Novato Sunrise club, carrying out a major project building a garden at the Timothy Murphy School for troubled boys. As Club Fellowship Chair, she singlehandedly turned Mission San Rafael s already-friendly club into a really fun and connected club. She instituted Mystery Rotarian at meetings, where members guess the identity of a member based on interesting tidbits about them, and has been instrumental in promoting fellowship by recognizing members for their achievements. This past year, although she was not actually Fundraising Committee Chair, she pretty much singlehandedly organized and carried out her club s maiden year Big Bucks Raffle fundraiser that raised over $11,000 for service projects.
If you mix southern charm, a heart of gold, and amazing dedication, then you would find Rotarian Krissie Kirby. She recently became a charter member and Community Service Chair for the newly chartered Rotary Club of San Francisco Evening. Rotary is new to Krissie, but you would never know it based on her dedication and drive. Since taking on the role of the Community Service Chair, she has been instrumental in keeping the club busy in many activities and projects from filling needs at the SF Food Bank to organizing the volunteer needs for our first District Grant Project, Seed for America. And although she has only been a member of Rotary for less than a year, she has already continued her dedication efforts by attending her first Rotary International Convention and participating in her first international project in Zambia, Africa. Community service and outreach is not a new concept to Krissie, as she is currently employed at San Francisco General Hospital, and works daily on outreach and service needs. As a registered nurse in the recovery unit, she is well aware of many limitations and services that her patient s have, and she works tirelessly to accommodate their needs. She has taken that passion that she has with helping others in her vocation, to changing the world through Rotary. Recently, she was asked what she liked about Rotary, and her reply was Everything: the friendships, the service, and the fun.