Support Rotary Causes by Donating to The Rotary Foundation
Rotary officially added a new cause in 2020 - Supporting the Environment. Donating to Rotary means clean water and sanitation. Health and hope in areas that were once ravaged by diseases like polio. Economic development and new opportunities. Your financial help makes all this happen, and more.
Welcome to Rotary Foundation Month
Greetings Fellow Rotarians. Welcome to Rotary Foundation Month!!
Back in 1956, The Rotary International Board of Directors designated a week in November urging all clubs “to devote a program to the Rotary Foundation.” In 1982, the Board determined that the entire month of November should be dedicated to the Foundation.
When one looks back at the momentous 1917 Rotary Convention (held in Atlanta, GA), it is difficult to see what could have been contentious about the words of then-Rotary President Arch C. Klumph: “It seem eminently proper that we should accept endowments for the purpose of doing good in the world.” Yet, at the time, support for the idea was far from unanimous. Some thought an endowment fund would create more trouble than it was worth. But Klumph’s idea received the support it needed in the form of an in initial donation of $26.50 from the Rotary Club of Kansas City, MO.
103 years later, we recognize Klumph’s idea as not only visionary, but revolutionary: It set in place the mechanism that allowed Rotary to become the vast force for “doing good in the world” that it is today.
I’ll take a risk here – I think our Rotary Foundation is the foundation of Rotary as we know it. It has created a mechanism for cooperation and partnership among clubs and between Rotary and other organizations; it has enabled us to be ever more ambitious in our work and to reach for goals of historic proportion, such as the eradication of polio. It is impossible to quantify the good that has been done over the last century as a result of The Rotary Foundation. All we can know for sure is that Arch Klumph, if he could see us, would be proud.
Madison Rotarian Dr. Michelle McGrath Selected as District Governor Nominee Designate
Michelle McGrath, a member of the Rotary Club of Madison has been selected as the next Rotarian to serve as District Governor for Rotary District 6250 upon approval at our upcoming annual meeting, this spring. As District Governor, Michelle will provide strong leadership skills and decision making to strengthen and support the 60 clubs that reside in Rotary District 6250. During her year in office (2023-2024), Rotary clubs will look to her for leadership, support, and motivation as they carry out service projects and participate in Rotary programs.
Dr. Michelle McGrath has been a long time educator for 25 years; high school teacher, coach, advisor, administrator, college professor, and for the past decade in her role as Executive Director at the Wisconsin Association of School Councils (WASC). She has been published and spoken nationally about her research on “The Urgency of Youth Leadership”. Her leadership extends both nationally and in her community of Madison. She has served as the President of the National Association of State Student Council Executive Directors (NASSCED).
Her previous Rotary service has included Rotary District 6250 Trainer, and Chair of the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) youth leadership camp. She’s served in multiple roles including Club President of the Rotary Club of Madison. She is married with four beautiful teenage kids.
The Rotary District 6250 District Governor line has received numerous requests to help the clubs move towards electronic acceptance and payment of funds.
There are two distinct categories driving these funding needs:
Payment for traditional and recurring club activities such as dues, events and other related functions
Payment for “Happy/Sad Dollars” and other programs used within your Club to raise money
Read more for suggestions on Traditional/Mainstream Options as well as Newer Options
Olabisi Gwamna, PhD Mount Pleasant Iowa Rotary - Editor, Foundation Minute
The greatest Global Grant by TRF for any project in Africa happened recently.
Mercy Ships is an international charity that uses hospital ships to respond to global humanitarian emergencies by providing humanitarian aid like free health care, community development projects, community health education, mental health programs, agriculture projects, and palliative care for terminally ill patients. Mercy Ships provide surgical services during crisis by reducing the surgical backlog in developing countries while providing training and mentoring to increase local medical skills and renovating local facilities in each of the countries the ships visit.
The Eau Claire Morning Rotary Club recently organized a project called R&R: Rotary and Rainworks in our community in Eau Claire. Rainworks is a super awesome invisible (and magical) street art that only appears when wet, most often on a rainy day. The designs are meant to make people smile and provide pure joy. The club got plenty of inspiration out of the project and many believe that it can change lives everywhere.
Member Growth Success 7/2019 - 6/2020: Sun Prairie +7, Mayville +4, La Crosse After Hours +4, Waunakee + 3
November is Foundation Month for Rotarians, as you have no doubt heard and read. All of us have some commitment to the opportunities our donations allow us to unlock all over the world. But the key to doing all that good is those first three tiny words: “all of us”. If we don’t have enough members, we can’t achieve our missions. Whether it’s polio, or building sanitation systems in Peru, if Rotarians don’t fund the Foundation, eventually the money runs out.
But I’m not trying to get you to give more – I’m suggesting you find more to give – more people! More Rotarians means more donors. More Rotarians means more help with projects. More Rotarians means more fun! So whatever else you do, remember that anything that is this worthwhile is worth sharing with a friend, or with an acquaintance who might become a friend. The next time you and your friends sweat for six hours setting up that brat stand, or clearing that trail, remember you can get more help, and get it done just as well, but in less time.
Not only do many hands mean less work – they also mean more fun, and many more ways to help Rotary unlock opportunities!
John Locke
Membership Chair
Take a Photo from "Pretty" to "Purposeful" with People of Action.
During Rotary Foundation Month (and any other time of the Rotary year), we as Rotarians are charged with the task of telling our story in a way that inspires Rotarians and non-Rotarians to want to be with us, to engage with us and to donate to us through our Foundation. A powerful story can help make all that happen. In this fast paced, scrolling and tapping world, we may only have seconds to tell a story. What a challenge we face, grabbing attention and inspiring in such a short amount of time. Here to save the day: the People of Action Campaign. Keep reading to find out how to use this powerful message and create your own purposeful images.
November is Foundation Month. I know, I know, this is the Youth Update, the kids that we work with probably aren’t donating monthly to the Foundation, but they are more involved than they know.
Their fundraisers can be matched by the Foundation, through district grants, so they can make a bigger impact. They might need your guidance and a partner club, what a great opportunity to connect with them!
When we bring over Youth Exchange students, we learn about possible opportunities that can be acted upon by use of Foundation monies. Reach back out to your former inbound and outbound students, and see if there are new opportunities for action due to COVID.
Our clubs partner with youth to get the “hard work” done that sometimes we aren’t always capable of doing. Use the youth in your community to get the word out about efforts your club is leading. The “hard work” might not be physical, it might be technological and the knowledge that they have is paramount.
Throughout this year, I’ll continue to promote the idea of dreaming up new ideas and thinking up new ways to work with the youth in your communities. Whether that’s through an already established club, or one that you’re working on creating, there are opportunities. The worst thing for us to do in this “off year” is just wait around and not keep planning for future years.
Webinar:
Learn How Interact Can Help Put an End to Polio
Lodi Interact Club in conjunction with District 6250 Interact Clubs proudly present: Learn How Interact Can Help Put An End to Polio.
Watch Interactors light up the screen along side Rotary International’s world wide chair for PolioPlus, and our districts very own champion of PolioPlus, Randy Sproule.
