Rotary Foundation Month The Rotary Foundation... Doing good in the world! November, 2009 Volume No. VI Issue No. 5 DG Kathleen Tosco Contents Title: A Message from the District Governor Message ------------- 1 Attendance 2 Philippines, GSE, DC. 3 BioSand, Speakers, November is The Rotary Foundation month. Rotarians often confuse The Rotary Foundation with the District 6360 Foundation or their own club foundations. Let me start by telling you what it is not. Club foundations exist primarily to support he charitable giving of Rotarians within their own communities. The District 6360 Foundation works the same for the whole District, especially for clubs that do not have their own foundation. The District Foundation also has restricted funds to help coordinate District-wide giving for projects like the BioSand Filters. Their grants program helps clubs supplement their project efforts. Both club and District foundations often work hand-inhand with The Rotary Foundation. The Rotary Foundation is the grand-daddy of the Rotary Foundations. It s the oldest, the biggest and has the most impact world-wide of any foundation in the Rotary World. And it has the highest rating possible from CharityNavigator.com. Which means it is administered by Rotarians who follow the Four- Way Test. The mission of The Rotary Foundation is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty. Recently, a fellow Rotarian asked me why I contribute to The Rotary Foundation instead of my club or District Foundation. I told him I support all three! I budget a certain amount per year and split it between them, plus PolioPlus and BioSand Filters. It s not a lot of money, but it s what I can afford, it s reliable from year to year. The Rotarian then asked me if I was concerned about not having local control when my money goes to the Rotary Foundation. That one was easy. After three years of investment, one half of my annual fund gift (my Every Rotarian Every Year donation), comes back to the District for us to use on projects like the District Simplified Grants, Ambassadorial Scholars, Peace Scholars, PolioPlus, and Matching Grants. These are all programs I support. The other half of my donation will go to the World Fund, and the interest will be used to support larger, Humanitarian grants like the BioSand Filter matching grant we are involved in for the Dominican Republic. It will also help support Group Study Exchange, and provide the other half of the matching grants. By becoming part of this bigger pool of money, my small donation ($100 per year, done as $25 per quarter automatic withdrawals) leverages enough support to make a much bigger impact on the world. I believe that peace is possible where people have clean water, food, shelter, education and hope for a brighter future. This is an admittedly simplistic explanation of how our donations travel through the Rotary Foundation. But you get the basic idea. As part of The Rotary Foundation, I can reach out and touch the world from my own back yard to the farthest reaches of our planet. I invite you to share the journey. Interact..4 District Foundation....5 Zone Institute.. 6 Club notes, RLI, Onions.7 Upcoming Events 8 NOMINATE A DISTRICT GOVERNOR CANDIDATE! If you are interested in being a candidate, or know of someone else who would make a good candidate, let your club know, so that they can put the nomination in the form of a club resolution. Contact the District Office for more information. 517-543-7929, district6360@cablespeed.com. Deadline for submitting a resolution is December 1 st, so act on this NOW!
Membership & Attendance for September 2009 Page2
Page3 DO YOU KNOW A FEW GOOD PEOPLE WHO WOULD LIKE A FREE TRIP TO ITALY? Four non-rotarians between 25-40 are needed for an all expense paid trip to Southern Italy in May 2010. Rotary International s Group Study Exchange program is offering this incredible opportunity to Southwest Michigan residents. Our GSE exchange for 2009-2010 will be with District 2120, Basilicata/Puglia in Italy. Our Michigan team will visit South Central and Eastern Italy for four weeks from May 10 to June 10, 2010. And GSE Alumni make great Rotarians for your club when they come home! For details, contact Bob Small, District GSE Chair, rgsmall@ntelos.net or 269-664-4694. Deadline extended to November 12, Interviews on November 21. The Port at Bari Italy on the Adriatic Coast Massive Flooding in the Philippines We have received queries about the bank details of the Philippines District Calamity Fund Account for possible cash donations. Here it is: ACCOUNT NAME: Rotary International District 3820 Calamity Fund ACCOUNT NO.: 4041-0033-54 BANK NAME: Bank of the Philippine Islands BANK BRANCH: Wilson-East Greenhills SWIFT CODE: bopiphmm ROUTING NO.: 026005966 Many thanks. Best, Chit Lijauco, District Governor Rotary International District 3820 The FUTURE of Rotary is in YOUR hands chitlij@yahoo.com Our 2007-2008 Group Study Exchange partners in the Philippines are suffering from the impact of several huge-kartrina size storms in a row. If you want to help our fellow Rotarians, send your donations using the information here. District Conference 2010, May 7-8, at the Kalamazoo Radisson Paul Harris Dinner, May 6 at the historic Park Club Join us to Celebrate our Rotary Heroes! Who are your Rotary Heroes? Registration begins January 1, 2010 at www.district6360.com
Page4 3:1 match for BioSand Filter Donations Extended Funds donated to the Rotary District 6360 BioSand Water Filter Project and remitted to the Rotary District 6360 Foundation for the project will be matched on a 3 to 1 basis up to $500K. (We are now at about $350K). As you may be aware, our Rotary District 6360 is partnering with Rotary Clubs and Districts to raise $500,000 to be part of a $2.0M grant for water filters in the Dominican Republic: USAID $1.0M, The Rotary Foundation $500,000, Rotary Clubs and Districts $500,000. Our district has previously committed $40,000 of local funds to this grant. By October 17 th, an additional $35,000 poured into the Rotary District 6360 Foundation for this project. Thank you!!! That takes our collective Rotary initiative up to approximately $335,000 of the $500,000 challenge. On October 21 st, representatives of Rotary District 6360 met in Chicago with the coordinator for this Rotary/ USAID Collaborative 3-1 matching grant to discuss the next steps for continuing the 3-1 match. She indicated that the door is still open for contributions that will qualify for the 3-1 match, up until the time that we have raised the $500,000. That will allow us to maximize the funds committed by USAID and the Rotary Foundation! Please continue to share this progress and opportunity with your clubs and friends. Thank you for all of your efforts! Charles Jespersen Questions? CZJ1270@sbcglobal.net To make contributions, make check payable to Rotary District 6360 Foundation with a notation in the memo section that it is for a BioSand Filter, get the contribution form from the www.district6360.com website under District Foundation Downloads and send to Shari LaBren,z treasurer, as directed on the form. Need a program for November for Rotary Foundation Month? Check out the Speakers Bureau (www.district6360.com ) Contact chairs such as: - Bill Dimond bill3127@aol.com - Peg Day dayp@marcomcu.org (EREY) - Bob Small rgsmall@ntelos.net (GSE) - Ed Foster ed@fosterdvm.com (Polio) > Check out our Video, CD, DVD Library we have a new one on polio eradication, The Final Inch. WORLD INTERACT WEEK NOV. 2-8 Promote Interact activities this week to make yourselves known. The community comes to know about the program through these projects, which motivates young adults join or start an Interact club, says Rajani Mukerji, RI Interact Committee vice chair.
Page5 DISTRICT 6360 FOUNDATION GOLDEN TROWEL WINNERS >Liz Allen BioSand Filter Project (St. Joseph/Benton Harbor, Lakeshore, Benton Harbor SR) >Dr. & Mrs. Artemio Burga Peru Ophthalmology Mission in Peru (Lansing/DeWitt SR) >Donald Diebler Eagle Scout Projects (Gull Lake) >Jack and Gerri Kerspilo band uniforms (Reading) >Dana Perrin Annual Pasture Golf proceeds to school and community (Climax) Rotary District 6360 Foundation 2009 Raffle Winners $1,000 Grand Prize Bob Warnke S Lansing/Holt $ 750 (2) Dick Sammis Lakeshore Kalamazoo Rotary Charities Kalamazoo by Metro Toyota $ 500 (2) Union City Rotary Club Union City Bob Small Portage $ 250 (4) Bill Lambkin Jackson Noon Kalamazoo Rotary Charities by Barbara James Kalamazoo Deborah Neumann Allegan Michael Bangham Jackson Noon $ 100 (5) Jason Eppler Ionia Fred Walters Jackson Breakfast Ron Murphy & Bernie Van Steelant Reading Jim Snow Dowagiac Bill Crown Portage
Page6 DGE Don & Ann Marie Frohm PDGs Renée Merchant & Bill Dimond DG Kathleen Tosco and Bob Small
Page 7 Club Alert Reminder: Nominations for club officers and board members should be done in November Elections should take place in December Results are due to RI and the District Office no later than DECEMBER 31, 2009! Please include name and contact information on the dacdb database. The Rotary Leadership Institute Great Lakes Division is offering Part I on November 7 in Lansing. The topics covered are Leadership Characteristics, Rotary Beyond the Club, Teambuilding, Rotary Foundation I, Membership Retention and Service Projects. For more information and to register, contact PDG Renée Merchant at 517-592-5463 or renee@4deltasystems.com I ve gotten this from several sources. Don t know if it works, but might be worth a try. Onions After reading this you will think that I have really lost it. However, this is a true story. In 1919 when the flu killed 40 million people there was this Doctor that visited the many farmers to see if he could help them combat the flu. Many of the farmers and their family had contracted it and many died. The Doctor came upon this one farmer and to his surprise, everyone was very healthy. When the Doctor asked what the farmer was doing that was different the wife replied that she had placed an unpeeled onion in a dish in the rooms of the home, (probably only two rooms back then). The doctor couldn't believe it and asked if he could have one of the onions and place it under the microscope. She gave him one and when he did this, he did find the flu virus in the onion. It obviously absorbed the bacteria, therefore, keeping the family healthy. Now, I heard this story from my hairdresser in AZ. She said that several years ago many of her employees were coming down with the flu and so were many of her customers. The next year she placed several bowls with onions around in her shop. To her surprise, none of her staff got sick. It must work. (And no, she is not in the onion business.) The moral of the story is, buy some onions and place them in bowls around your home. If you work at a desk, place one or two in your office or under your desk or even on top somewhere. Try it and see what happens. We did it last year and we never got the flu. If this helps you and your loved ones from getting sick, all the better. If you do get the flu, it just might be a mild case. Whatever, what have you to lose? Just a few bucks on some onions! CLUB SECRETARIES TAKE NOTE!!! New Member Access privileges for club executive secretaries Executive secretaries receive secretary-level access http://www.rotary.org/en/members/generalinformation/announcements/pages/091023_announce_mapexec.aspx You will need to go in to www.rotary.org under Member Access and enter them first.
Page 10 8 UPCOMING DATES... November 7, 2009 Rotary Leadership Institute, Lansing, MI January 9, 2010, Saturday Quarterly District Staff Meeting/Board Meeting, Schuler s, Marshall, MI February 5-12, 2010 BioSand Filter Trip to the Dominican Republic March 18-20, 2010 PETS, MANDATORY FOR PEs Radisson, Kalamazoo March 27, 2010, 6 th Annual Clean Water Conference, Calvin College, Grand Rapids May 7-8, 2010, Friday-Saturday District Conference, Radisson, Kalamazoo, MI; May 6 Paul Harris Dinner, Park club, Kalamazoo June 20-23, 2010 RI Convention, Montreal, Canada DEADLINE FOR ARTICLES FOR THE NEWSLETTER IS THE 25 TH OF EACH MONTH. DISTRICT OFFICE INFORMATION: LINDA FOSTER, DISTRICT ADMINISTRATOR, ROTARY DISTRICT 6360 AND EDITOR 316 BEECH STREET, CHARLOTTE, MI 48813-1006 517-543-7929; FAX: 517-543-3041; district6360@cablespeed.com Rotary District 6360 316 Beech Street Charlotte, MI 48813-1006 www.district6360.com