Rotary Foundation First Newsletter

April in the Rotary world is the first month of the final quarter of the year.  When I talk to a Rotary Club President right now, it is with a realization of how little time they have left to get their goals accomplished.  It is the same for the Foundation Committee.  The end line is in sight and we need to focus to get the goals accomplished.

 

The first goal I want to talk about is my visiting all the clubs to give my Rotary Foundation presentation.  I have some clubs left that I have not visited and will be contacting the officers to see if I can get on their schedule.  I am pleased to have visited so many of the District 5970 clubs (some twice) in my three year term and continue to be amazed by how much is being accomplished in each community.  Please don’t hide your light, share your projects locally and with the district office.  Where you can, be sure to include Rotary signage.

 

The second goal is focused on Rotary’s Polio eradication goal.  I have heard from a few Rotarians that they are frustrated by how long this campaign has taken and wish that if we can’t get it done, that we move on.  I can’t agree with this.  We are so close that I feel we need to double down and really get this done.  As you may know we are down to two countries with wild polio cases still existing, Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Obviously, they both have other concerns going on besides polio.  The good news is that the governments of both countries have programs going on (working with WHO & Rotary) to get their children citizens immunized.  There were 14 confirmed cases of wild polio in 2023.  More than anyone would like, but it is just 14.  Please help this effort.  I am asking you to consider joining the District 5970 PolioPlus Society by pledging just $10.00 a month (or a minimum of $100.00 per year).  When we started the PolioPlus Society I logged into my my.rotary.org account and set up a $10.00 per month donation from my checking account.  If you are willing to do this, please also send me your application to the District 5970 PolioPlus Society (click here).  We currently have over 100 District Rotarians who have made this commitment. 

 

This Rotary year’s District Rotary Rush wrapped up at the end of February.  Congratulations to the 50 Rotarians who took advantage of this program and have reached the next level of Paul Harris Recognition.  This program is used to boost our District’s Annual Campaign donations.  I am pleased to announce that Rotary Rush raised $21,855.00 towards this effort.  That means that our District will get back $10,381.00 of this amount in Rotary year 2027-2028 and that it will add $5,190.00 to the money we use to fund District Grants that year.  I am very pleased to announce that we have 11 new, first time Paul Harris Fellows from this program.

 

I look forward to seeing many of you at the District Conference in Bancroft Area, June 7^th and 8^th.  Click here to register and visit www.district5970.org for more information.

 

Thank you for choosing to be a Rotarian.  Please let me know if I can help you on your Rotary journey and please make your committed pledges or consider a donation.