Rotary Club - Index

Rotary Club - Experience - Index

A Shared Experience 6 April 25, 2008
The Foundation Moment
PDG Colleen Wood
1. The registration deadline for District Conference is fast approaching and
Governor Gwen has promised a powerful “Foundation Lunch” for Saturday. The
luncheon will not only feature powerful messages but a powerful lunch – rice and
beans – with the proceeds going to the Foundation. Call Mark Kessler for
Conference registration information.
2. Incoming Club Presidents, club officers and all interested Rotarians are invited to
attend the District Assembly on April 12. This year’s Assembly will feature
Foundation information that you won’t want to miss – learn more about Governor
Elect Mary’s “Foundation Backpack” which will include information about the
Nigerian Project. Learn more about various Foundation programs and how to get
your club involved from PDG George Wood. For more information on the
Assembly call Mary Berge.
3. Since 1991, the Rotary Foundation has awarded over a million dollars in
humanitarian grants for solar cookers. The solar cooker has no sophisticated
technology but depending on its size the cooker can feed a single family or
hundreds of people cleanly and efficiently. Other advantages of the cooker are it
conserves the environment by curbing deforestation, it prevents children from
being burned by cooking fires and it protects people from respiratory illness
caused by wood or coal burning fires.
4. The people of Tajikistan live in one of the water richest countries in the world but
half of the people do not have access to piped water. This lack of access to clean
water has led to water borne diseases such as typhoid and made it difficult to
grow food. A Rotary Foundation matching grant has brought clean water to more
than 15,000 people in Tajikistan. The local coordinator for the project said, “It
was really difficult but life will be easier with water.”
5. Foundation Alumni are an important part of the family of Rotary and to
emphasize the importance of Alumni, Rotary will hold a Rotary Alumni
Celebration at the RI Convention in June. Foundation Alumni, who number over
105,000 people, include those who have been Ambassadorial Scholars, World
Peace Fellows, Group Study team members and leaders, Rotary Peace and
Conflict participants and recipients of Rotary Grants for University Teachers and
Volunteer Service Grants. For more information on Alumni in District 7330
contact Joe Mangarella.