- District Governor Lowell's Club Visit Schedule - DG Lowell will be contacting some Club Presidents to try and schedule virtual Club Visits and will try to do some visits in person. It will all depend on recommendations from Rotary International. He will be in touch!
- Every Rotarian Every Year - Get a promotional brochure here!
- Rotary District 5970 Membership Mini-Grant Challenge is underway. Read more in the September newsletter!
- Rotary Rush is on! See details below.
- Registration for NCPETS is now open! Register here.
WHAT: DISTRICT 5970 ONE ROTARY SUMMIT
“Rotary Opens Opportunities”
WHEN: January 26, 2021 (Option 1), January 30, 2021 (Option 2)
TIME: 6:30 pm (January 26) or 10:00 am (January 30)
WHERE: Virtual
WHY:
This is your time to learn, explore, and discuss how “Rotary Opens Opportunities”
You will share how opportunities are important for all of us as Rotarians and Rotaractors.
You will participate in focused discussions about Membership, Public Image, and The Rotary Foundation and how the three work together in Rotary.
See District Governor Lowell Stoolman's January Newsletter here.
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(Read more in the newsletter here.)
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Don Meyer, District 5970 Foundation Chair.png){kind=logo}
Dear Rotarians,
Welcome to 2021! The year that promises to be so much better than 2020. Our lives have been changed, in some ways permanently. Our communities look different, but our neighbors are good and kind. Our Rotary Clubs are continually adapting, which we need to do always. Yet we look forward and give thanks. The holiday season causes us to reflect on what gives meaning to our lives. Here is a quote from Howard Thurman (1900-1981), a Black theologian musing about what Christmas means. It seems so appropriate for today:
The symbol of Christmas—what is it? It is the rainbow arched over the roof of the sky when the clouds are heavy with foreboding. It is the cry of life in the newborn babe when, forced from its mother’s nest, it claims its right to live. It is the brooding of the Eternal Spirit making crooked paths straight, rough places smooth, tired hearts refreshed, dead hopes stir with newness of life. It is the promise of tomorrow at the close of every day, the movement of life in defiance of death, and the assurance that love is sturdier than hate, that right is more confident than wrong, that good is more permanent than evil.
Truly a wonderful creed to live by, this is why we are Rotarians. Service Above Self. The Four-Way Test. Helping people all over the world reach their dreams.
A sincere thank you to all who have given to the Foundation in this first half of the Rotary year. Because of you, the world lives in hope. Let’s keep it going!
Read more about Foundation activities here.
- Rotary Rush continues
- Spencer Rotary has another successful book sale
- Update from Global Scholar Rebecca Draus from Scotland
- Endowment gifts are gifts to the future
Yours in Rotary,
Don Meyer
District 5970 Foundation Chair
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nternational is launching a campaign called, “Countdown to History.” Goals were set and pledges were made, the and we can’t do it without you, as Rotarians. We are asking for Rotarians across District 5970 to give a minimum of $40 to End Polio Now. This will get our District to the goal set by Rotary International.A New Polio Banner is available for Club Events! See it here. Contact foundationchair@district5970.com to borrow it!
New Year’s Emotional Healing
Over the last year, so many people in the U.S. have dealt with strife Particularly here in Iowa, the physical and financial challenges of the pandemic and then getting hit with derecho, followed by a series of rainy days that added insult to injury.
It’s no wonder that mental health concerns are top of mind for many families. One of the best things you can do is to seek help from a therapist, many of which are set up to conduct telehealth visits by phone or a secure video platform.
Along with professional mental health support, the American Psychology Association suggests the following selfcare steps to manage daily stress and turn the corner from trauma to healing:
Manage your priorities: You can’t do everything alone. Right now, we need to have grace with ourselves and each other. If you need help, accept it. If you can give help, give it. Commit only to what you can manage without adding substantial stress to your plate.
Make time for exercise and healthy eating: These foundational pieces of good health support mental and physical health - a double whammy in one of the most stressful years in recent memory.
Stay connected: Make time to write letters, make phone calls, and video chat with friends and family. But try to limit social media and newsfeeds. Doomscrolling (consuming endless negative news and comments) can make you feel worse.
It’s also important to keep an eye out for symptoms in yourself or others that might point to depression or anxiety. Sleepy a lot or never sleeping, unexplained irritation, frustration, or tearfulness, or withdraw from once enjoyable activities might be a sign that something more serious than the “2020 blues” is afoot.
If you feel down more than up these days, seek help from a mental health professional. Your mental health is important, and there is absolutely no shame in getting the help you need.
IT’S ROTARY RUSH TIME! Are you aware that District 5970 was the recipient of over $100,000 of Rotary Foundation monies in the last 10 months? The reverse Global Grant that funded equipment for four Federally Qualified Health Centers in the district received $85,000 of Rotary Global Grant Funds and our District received two $25,000 Rotary Foundation Disaster Grants, one for response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and the other for response to the Derecho. Please remember that without money there can be no mission. Monies from The Rotary Foundation are only available to our District through your donations to The Rotary Foundation. Donors are then recognized for each $1,000 they give by being named a Paul Harris Fellow and Paul Harris Fellow plus member. We have a very generous donor who would like to help you on your Paul Harris Fellowship path. District 5970 “Rotary Rush” is on again! For the months of December 2020, January 2021 and February 2021 the District is offering a significant incentive to all Rotarians who give to the Rotary Foundation Annual Fund. A generous Rotarian Donor has offered their points as an incentive to help Rotarians easily reach their first or multiple Paul Harris Fellow level. The Donor is offering a 1 for 1 points to dollars match when a Rotarian contributes a minimum of $100 toward their first or next Paul Harris Fellow level. For example, you may have accumulated $500 in contributions to The Rotary Foundation. Then, if you add a gift of $250 in December, January or February, our Donor will match 250 points to your giving account which allows you to receive your first or multiple PHF award. The match is up to a maximum of 500 points. If you choose to participate in this challenge, you will need to fill out Form 123-EN which is available at the Foundation tab on the District’s website at www.district5970.org , or click the link below. Please email the completed form to john.wasta@gmail.com or mail the completed form, donating to the Annual Fund, to John Wasta, 221 Kent Ct. NE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52402. If you are paying by check, please make it payable to “The Rotary Foundation”, please include the check with the form. You may also make your gift to the Annual Fund online at www.rotary.org. If you do, please make a note of the amount of your gift on the form and send the form along with your Rotary Foundation receipt to John to receive your match. Please do not send credit card information via email. Wondering how close you are to your next PHF level? Just email John Wasta at john.wasta@gmail.com or Don Meyer, DRFC Chair, at foundationchair@district5970.org or call Don at 641-251-4655. This points match will only be available to donors until the points run out. What are you waiting for? Make a difference and support the mission today! |
Holger Knaack
President 2020-21
President 2020-21
January 2021
January is finally here. As we look forward to 2021, our thinking doesn’t have to stop at the end of these 365 days. Are you thinking ahead about what you will be doing in 2022, 2023, and beyond?
We cannot foresee the future, but we can steer ourselves where we want to go. I think it is important that every Rotary club hold a strategic meeting at least once a year. Past RI Director Greg Yank, who has a lot of experience working with clubs on their plans, shares his viewpoint.
A famous aphorism states, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Planning is essential to achieving success in all areas of life, including Rotary, and we’re getting better at it every year.
Strategic planning for Rotary clubs works. I have helped many clubs find that pathway by working with them to build what I call a blueprint, a multiyear plan that answers the fundamental question: “What is our vision for our club?” The best plans I have seen are those that are focused, when a club concentrates its resources on the best opportunities it has. Your Rotary club cannot be all things to its members and to the community it serves; it has limited human, financial, and time resources. A successful plan factors in assets and limitations to chart the desired pathway for your members.
Begin building a multiyear strategic plan by brainstorming with your club, asking, “What are our initiatives and priorities for the next two to three years?” Document your answers using action-oriented language that is specific, concrete, and measurable about the goals you want to achieve.
Next, narrow down your initiatives to a core set of three to five priorities. Your club will then develop specific objectives for each initiative, outlining who will be involved, key milestones of achievement, how progress will be tracked, and a timeline for completion. Keep your plan short and simple.
Then go out and do it. Review the progress you make toward accomplishing the initiatives, and revise as needed at least once a year. Rotary has a solid template to assist clubs in their planning, which you can find at my.rotary.org/en/document/strategic-planning-guide.
We want to enrich and enliven our clubs with new discussions and ideas. But how do we attract the diverse professionals, from different backgrounds, ages, and experiences, who are all driven by as strong a sense of integrity as we are?
Through strategic planning, we explore this question to define the very nature of our club and the value it offers to its members and to the community. Each club is different, and each club’s value will be unique. During the planning process, clubs may also find that some of the activities they used to do are no longer relevant or attractive.
Once your club makes a strategic plan, it’s time to take action and carry out the necessary changes. When we do that — as we engage members in vibrant and active clubs that not only have fun but also serve their communities with projects that have real and lasting impact — our clubs grow stronger. And when we discover what makes our own clubs unique and build upon those core values in all our efforts, Rotary Opens Opportunities to enrich the lives of everyone.
Jennifer E. Jones, a member of the Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland, Ontario, Canada, has been nominated to become Rotary International’s president for 2022-23, a groundbreaking selection that will make her the first woman to hold that office in the organization’s 115-year history.
Jones will officially become president-nominee on 1 October if no other candidates challenge her.
Read more here.
RI President-Elect Holger Knaack's Theme for 2020-2021 Just announced!
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