banner
 
  Rotary District 6650
      September 2017 Bulletin
 
 
Volume 1 |  Issue 3                                   October is Economic and Community Development Month
District Governor's Corner
 
Governor’s Column (September 2017)
 
The leaves are just starting to turn, and the mornings are now cool and crisp. It is hard to believe that the summer is now history and that we are now into fall.

By the time you receive this newsletter, I will have visited every club except one. It has been an absolutely exhilarating experience, although I would be lying if I did not add that it has taken a lot of energy. What I have learned is that there truly is magic in Rotary. Each club is different, with its own character and spirit, and yet each club shares that magic. It borders on unimaginable how much our clubs have done to strengthen our communities. Moreover, our clubs have reached out well beyond our communities to make the world a better place.

This year’s RI President, Ian Riseley, has asked each club to count up the number of volunteer hours and dollars raised for club projects. We have never done that before, although we know exactly how much we have spent through the Foundation. I suspect that those numbers will exceed the GDP of many small countries. This will be just one more data point that drives home the message that Rotary is an amazing resource, and we can all be proud to be a Rotarian.
 
Clubs as Partners
I do not remember where I heard this, but I certainly have come to understand its accuracy. Alone, we can only do so much, but together as Rotarians, we can work miracles. Take that statement and extend it by having clubs working together on projects and the miracles multiply. Let me give you just a few brief examples.
  1. I just attended the open house for the Military Family Center. This program is a joint project of Rotary, Pegasus Farms, and Walsh University to serve the needs of military veterans, first responders, and their families. More than a dozen clubs, mostly from the Stark county area, are meeting to see how they can continue support for this project and for others. PDG Meena Patel is helping to organize this effort.
  2. Sheryl Figliano, Boardman Rotarian and the leader of an annual program to provide hearing evaluations and treatment for needy people on the island of Dominica, is working with the Mission of Love and several Rotary clubs in the Mahoning County area to help this very poor island that was hit directly by Hurricane Maria and virtually leveled. A 40 foot shipping container with basic supplies and tarps for shelters is being put together right now.
  3. Robert Sincich, president of the Howland Rotary club, is working with his club and nearby clubs to support the USO program.
  4. Debbie Esbenshade is once again working with clubs from all over the district for Project Warm, a program that provides new winter coats to children who otherwise would not have a good winter coat to keep warm.
  5. John Street, President-elect of the Girard-Liberty club, has been a strong supporter of Rotaplast, a program that uses volunteer plastic surgeons to do facial reconstruction of children in third world countries with badly disfigured faces.
What do all these programs have in common? They all feature Rotarians who recognized a need, who volunteered to learn more about the need, and who used their contacts within Rotary to create or support wonderful programs. Rotary is probably the best bottom-up organization in the world, with ideas coming most often from individual members and the best of those ideas sold to other members and other clubs. From the smallest club projects to major worldwide projects like Polio Plus, they all started with an idea from a single person.
 
Sharing Rotary
Rotary is an amazing organization, and after visiting the clubs of our district, I am as convinced as Paul Harris was that the magic of Rotary is the clubs. Clubs bring together like-minded individuals who truly believe that they can make a difference, and as a group, we can literally achieve miracles. I want to encourage every Rotarian in the district to invite guests to your club meetings. Some guests might become members, but don’t consider it a failure if they do not. Let them meet you and see what a great group of people you are. At the very least, they are likely to be more willing to support your projects after meeting you, and many will find the dynamics of your club irresistible and will ask about membership.

Upcoming Events

District Rotarians have indicated they would like to be aware of Rotary activities throughout the District in order to be supportive.  This is your chance to let everyone know about your upcoming events/projects.  Please submit your information to Lauri at info@cantonrotary.org or 330-452-2882.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This calendar is there for you.  It is easy to add your event.
 
If you have administrative access to your website, please follow these directions.  If you do not have administrative access, contact Lauri at info@cantonrotary.org or at 330-452-2882.
 
On the website:
  • Go to Administration
  • On the left go to Events
  • Go to Event Planner
  • Insert your information
District 6650 Clubs Making a Difference
District Rotary Foundation
 
Rotary helps disaster victims – Please help us make a difference
 
 
 
 
Local Grants UPDATE Checks were mailed to Club Presidents in mid-August. If you have not received your funds, please let me know. Keep me informed of progress and send pictures of the final project for the website www.Rotary6650.org.
 
Global Grants UPDATE - As we begin a new Rotary year, the District Rotary Foundation Committee has approved Global Grant funds for several international club projects in our District.
 
Please consider supporting one or several of these projects ‘Doing Good in the World’. Individual donors and clubs will receive tax-deductible receipts. Donations count toward Paul Harris Fellow recognition.

 
November is Foundation Month
 
Arch Klumph said that the purpose of the RI Foundation was to “do good in the world.” By any reasonable standards, the Foundation has lived up to that promise, and the best is yet to come. Our Foundation is one of the best run in the world, earning perfect scores from Charity Navigator. But perfect scores are not good enough for Rotarians; we want to do even better. We now focus on six areas of needs, and every project is designed to be sustainable long after we complete a project. The areas of focus are:
  • Promoting Peace
  • Providing Clean Water
  • Saving Mothers and Children
  • Supporting Education and Literacy
  • Growing Local Economies
  • Fighting Disease (Polio and so much more)
In the past, the district has had one or more district-wide programs to celebrate Foundation month. We will not be doing that this year. Instead, I would like every club to devote at least one November meeting to the Foundation. Perhaps your club’s Foundation Chair or someone else in the club who is knowledgeable about the Foundation could speak about the many programs supported by the Foundation. There are some wonderful film clips on YouTube and on the Rotary International website that can be played for your club. Learn about the Foundation and you will want to be a part of it.
 
Last year, our district gave over a quarter of a million dollars to the Foundation (more than $125/per member). That was up $50,000 from the previous year. Part of this legacy stems from a relatively small number of incredibly generous members, and I want to thank every one of those members. But most of that generosity was the result of the majority of members from our district contributing what they can to the Foundation. The decision to contribute should be yours, but if you would like information about how to contribute, feel free to contact me.
 
Do You Know a Student Who May Be Interested in Being an Outbound Exchange Student?

We are also starting to recruit for the 2018-2019 Outbound class.  Applications may be accessed and completed at District 6650’s Youth Exchange website.  Applications are due by October 31.  We will be conducting interviews, for the Outbound class, on December 3rd and 10th at Louisville High School.  If you would like someone from Youth Exchange to visit your school and discuss the Outbound Program, please contact Bill Wood (330) 284-4779 or Aletha Carver (330) 614-1367.  
 
 
Open House at the Military Family Center
On September 23rd from 10am-1pm an Open House was held at the horse farm at 5495 Meese Road on the northeast edge of Louisville. This farm is now known as the Military Family Center(MFC), a collaborative project by Rotary District 6650, Pegasus Farm and Walsh University. The purpose of the open house was to showcase the farm to any Rotarians, Military Veterans or First Responders interested in seeing it. Louisville Rotary helped with the water and soft drinks (it was a very hot day), Plain Twp Rotary provided cookies, and there was a hot dog wagon selling many kinds of tasty hot dogs. Also present were representatives from various county veterans services commissions. They will serve as a referral network to send veterans to the farm for equine therapy.
 
Horse handling demonstrations were offered in the riding arena by two Pegasus Farm staff members, Missy Howard and Joy Adamski.  Horses were available for petting as well. The farm was purchased recently and is managed and staffed by Pegasus Farms as the Military Family Center. Veterans and First Responders who are interested in horse therapy, or simply working with horses will be able to take classes at the MFC at no cost. Physical and Occupational Therapy equipment purchased with a Rotary Global Grant will be installed in the basement of the house as well as in a few of the empty stalls in the horse barn. Physical and Occupational Therapy will be offered by Walsh University faculty and students.
 
Any veterans or first responders who are interested in enrolling in the upcoming horse handling classes should contact Equestrian Director Tammi Gainer at 330-935-2300 ext. 104. Tammi’s email is   tammi@pegasusfarm.org  
World Polio Day
World Polio Day
 
October 24 is World Polio Day. I know that several clubs have plans to celebrate, including the Youngstown club. I am looking forward to attending their ceremony on the 24th. I encourage clubs to recognize World Polio Day, perhaps with a brief program at your regular club meeting. Whatever you decide to do, let the media know. This is an incredible Rotary story. Just over 30 years ago, Rotary declared their intention to wipe out Polio, and over those 30 years, we have cut the rate from just over 360,000 new cases a year to less than a dozen (a 99.97% reduction). We worked with more than 100 governments, inoculated 2.5 billion children, negotiated cease fires to allow us to go into war zones to an inoculate children, and in the process we built an infrastructure and set of procedures that will be the model for fighting global disease for decades. Need another reason to be a proud Rotarian? This certainly is a good one.
 
If your club does not have someone who is comfortable being a media spokesperson for the Polio Plus effort, let me know as soon as possible. We have several knowledgeable people in the district who would be delighted to spread the word beyond Rotary. The program held in Youngstown last year got excellent press coverage.
 
 
6TH Annual Operation Warm Campaign

Operation Warm, Inc. was founded in 1998 by Dick Sanford, a Charter Member of the Rotary Club of Longwood, PA which still supports the project to this day.  Operation Warm has provided  over 2 million coats and operates in all 50 states.  96% of all funds raised go directly toward the purchase of coats.

 

These new coats provide more than just warmth.  They allow children to attend school on a regular basis, they improve their self-esteem, and allow their families to spend money on other critical essentials such as food, medical care, rent and fuel.
 
Operation Warm was introduced to District 6650 in 2012 by then DGE Debbie Esbenshade from The Rotary Club of Youngstown and Clubs in Division 1a in conjunction with the NE Ohio Ford Dealers Association and Cumulus Broadcasting.  That first year, 703 coats were distributed to our local Salvation Army. 
 
Operation Warm was the District Project in 2013 during Debbie’s year as District Governor and clubs in our district, along with the NE Ohio Ford Dealers raised almost $63,000 and provided over 3,200 coats to children throughout District 6650 --- in fact, EVERY club in our district participated that year!!  Since 2012, participating clubs in our District have provided over 15,000 new coats to kids in our district!
 
Contact PDG Debbie Esbenshade  (330-727-6316) if your club would like to participate this year!!  Orders must be placed with Debbie by October 11th.
Please add mailservice@clubrunner.com to your safe sender list or address book.
To unsubscribe from future e-mails, click here.
To forward this email to your friends, click here.
To view our privacy policy, click here.
 
ClubRunner
905.829.5299
102-2060 Winston Park Drive, Oakville, ON, L6H 5R7
 
ClubRunner is a registered trademark of Doxess Technologies Inc.
© 2016 ClubRunner. All Rights Reserved.
ClubRunner