The Highlighter
February 2012
Vol 85 No 8
Table of Contents
Governor's Message
Doug Fowler
Many
District Rotarians participate in various Rotary projects around the
world. I believe it’s safe to say that those of us that do
participate not only see how we change lives, but we find our lives
changing too. It was just a few years ago that my home club,
in search of a new international project, provided an opportunity to
go to a rural community in Mexico. That visit resulted in
providing that community with three fire trucks that immediately
saved the life of a young child. Over the years other projects were
completed with this rural community, and many long term friendships
were established.
In 2009 I was selected to lead
our District 5300 GSE Team to The Republic of Turkey. During that
exchange living with local Rotary families, I got to see how another
culture focused on family just as families in our own communities focus
on their own. I was surprised to find that they only discussed
politics & religion when they were trying to educate me about these
cultural activities. We were embraced as family members, visiting
uncles, aunts, and other relatives.
The
earthquake in Turkey a couple of months ago prompted an email from me to
some of my Turkish friends to assure they were safe and not near the
devastation that country encountered in the eastern rural part of the
country.
Last year, as a member of our Rotary District
Rotaplast Team to Guatemala, I was able to witness the strong family
bonds when a child is having surgery, and the angst the parents are
feeling when they cannot see what is going on in the other room while
their child was in the care of a surgeon and skilled nurses.
During my club visits over the past several months I got to hear
about humanitarian projects being implemented and new projects in the
planning stages whereby District Rotarians travel to the project and
have a hand in their progress. In the various humanitarian
projects I have been fortunate to participate in, I find the wheelchair
program, where one actually lifts a child or elderly person into a
position of mobility, to be very gratifying and heart-felt.
Your participation in our distribution of over 500 wheelchairs
scheduled for June 13-17, 2012 in Hermosillo with the Hermosillo Rotary
Clubs will leave you with a feeling of pride and accomplishment that
only you can describe. With the very successful contribution of
pledges, another opportunity to distribute wheelchairs in the
communities of Puruandiro and Morelia, Mexico will be made available
later this year when our partners finalize their plans.
The many opportunities to participate in humanitarian projects
are open, and with just a positive mind, you, too, can have
opportunities such as these. District Rotarians will again go to Tecate,
Mexico to build a home for a deserving family on July 19, 2012.
Please join your fellow Rotarians and family members for a day’s work
that will leave you too with a whole different mindset.
Rotary is something different for everyone, but most importantly it is a way to “Reach Within to Embrace Humanity.” Your lives will certainly change.
Happy Trails!
Doug and Debbie.
February 4
February 11
Las Vegas' Valentine's Day Gala
Feb 11 (NV) or 18 (CA)
Board of Directors Training Seminars
February 24-26
May 6-9
Optional Pre and Post Rotary International Convention Tours
June 10
San Marino's Rotary Car Classic
PolioPlus Challenge Grant Update
We have not only met the goal, but we have exceeded it! As of January 17, 2011, The Rotary Foundation has raised $202.6 million towards the eradication of Polio. In addition, Jeff Raikes, Chief Executive Officer of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced that the Gates Foundation has awarded The Rotary Foundation an additional $50 million grant for polio eradication. The new $50 million grant from the Gates Foundation is not a challenge grant; it results from Rotary's early achievement of the $200 million milestone and of the need for continued funding support for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. To help answer many of the questions you may have, a Fact Sheet has been prepared. Please feel free to share the Fact Sheet with your fellow Rotarians.
Cowboy Logic
Next month's theme
Literacy
Click here for publishing guidelines.
[Editor's Note] We would like to have participation and contributions from members of your Interact Clubs. Please encourage them to contribute to The Highlighter. Interactors can receive The Highlighter by sending their names, club names, and email addresses to highlighter@district5300.org.
In This Issue
Montebello Rotary Helps Tijuana Kids Celebrate the Feast of the Three Kings
West San Gabriel Valley New Generations Rotary Club Elects Officers
Montebello Rotary Helps Tijuana Kids
Celebrate the Feast of the Three Kings
Children
with disabilities attending Multiple Care Centers in Tijuana, B.C.,
Mexico, enjoyed the feast of Epiphany on Saturday, January 7, 2012,
through the altruism of the Rotary Club of Tijuana, Rotary Club of
Montebello, CA, and other Rotary groups, for the tenth consecutive year.
Rotary District 5300 Assistant Governor and Montebello Rotary
Club member, Ted Jones, enjoyed dressing as one of the Three Kings,
Balthazar, for this event. Montebello Rotary Club Director
Fernando Cuevas was also in attendance.
A magician
delighted the children with tricks that brought joy to their faces.
The children were given food, toys, blankets and a lot of love and
affection. Ivette Rivera Castillo, President of the Rotary Club of
Tijuana, said that attendance was around 400 children. They also
enjoyed a mobile farm, four characters from Disneyland and “THE THREE
KINGS.” “These children usually cannot go to other activities
where there are children who have all of their capacities to 100
percent, so it is important that we make an event just for them, where
conditions are suited for them to have a happy time,” she noted.
Covina Rotary Cares – A Growing Annual Tradition
An
annual tradition has grown from 60 families in 2007 to 240 families in
2011. The Covina Rotary Club service project, gathering and
delivering food and gifts for needy families during the holidays, is one
that can tear your heart right open.
First it’s
the process of getting the community involved with boxes for donations
placed throughout town. Then it’s getting the lists of needy
families from the schools and city. And then there is the fun of
working with the Interact Clubs to put together hundreds of boxes of
food, and hopefully just the right gifts for each family according to
the number and ages of their little ones. It isn’t a rich holiday
as some might define it, with only one gift per child. But it is
as rich as life can be, when you see the family light up at the arrival
of this holiday care package.
This year, my father
accompanied me as we delivered these goods to the families. The
first place we delivered to was in a mobile home park as old and tidy as
can be. The grandfather and grandson came out onto the porch as we
approached with our box of food and bag of gifts. The grandson’s
eyes lit up, and the grandfather’s eyes filled with tears. My
father has mentioned this family many times, the grandfather so
dignified and touched. My father says he’s not sure who was
impacted more, him or the grandfather.
That’s what
Rotary is all about!
Arcadia Rotarians Hold Work Day at Camp Trask
The
Arcadia Rotary Club, along with Boy Scout Troop #358, held a special day
of “work, fun and fellowship” earlier this month at Camp Trask Scout
Reservation.
Located on the camp grounds, nestled in
Monrovia Canyon, sits a full-size fort known as Fort Rotary. At
Fort Rotary, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, and Webelos work on crafts such as
ropes, knots, leatherworks, basketry, and wood carving. Other
activities include metal works, first aid training, environmental
science, soil conservation, wildlife/mammal/bird studies, astronomy and
more.
“Several years ago, Arcadia Rotary helped build
and underwrite Fort Rotary for the San Gabriel Valley Boy Scout
Council,” said Rotarian Jack McRae. “Arcadia Rotary continues to honor
its commitment by maintaining the facility and the grounds on which it
sits.”
“We are here to clean up the grounds and rehab
aging parts of Fort Rotary as part of ongoing maintenance and to provide
an avenue for community service for the Boy Scouts, Rotarians, and
others joining us here today,” said Brad Miller, Arcadia Rotary Club
president.
The approximately 85 volunteers, which also
included Duarte Rotarians, Arcadia High School students and other
community members, fanned out canvassing the grounds of the camp, which
was dedicated as Tallman H. Trask Scout Reservation in 1972, conducting
general cleanup along with some overdue maintenance to the fort.
After several hours of hard work and a well-deserved lunch, the
volunteers were pleased with all they had accomplished.
“We are so grateful to Arcadia Rotary for maintaining this facility
for our scout troop,” said one member of Troop 358. “It’s been fun
today working up with club members for this cleanup.”
“Our priority is to keep Fort Rotary usable for the Boy Scouts and
others for camping and related activities,” said Miller. “We want
to thank everyone who joined us here today and did such a great job.”
The face of The Rotary Foundation is our members. The face of our humanitarianism is those in need … continents away
As we look back over the first 6 months of the 2011-2012 Rotary Year,
we are excited to report that members from eight clubs have exceeded
their contribution goals for the full year. These clubs include
Apple Valley, Five Points, Las Vegas Central, Las Vegas West, Pasadena
after Hours, San Dimas, San Marino, and Sierra Madre. On the
opposite end of the spectrum, we have more than half of our clubs having
not yet contributed. To ensure proper recording, Club Treasurers
should forward member contributions to The Rotary Foundation as quickly
as possible upon receipt.
Our contributions, to the
Annual Program Fund [APF], provide the necessary funding for
International Matching Grants, District Simplified Grants, Ambassadorial
Scholarships, Group Study Exchange, and other Rotary Foundation
humanitarian programs. It is noteworthy that Fifty Percent [50%]
of our member contributions come back to District 5300 after 3 years to
fund the District share of those programs. Our APF goal for
2011-2012 is $286,085, of which members have donated $102,725.
This puts us at 36% of goal. We need your continued efforts
to ensure that over the next 6 months we make up the deficiency and not
only reach, but also, exceed our goal.
We are equally
excited to report that Altadena, Azusa, Claremont Sunrise, East Los
Angeles, Laughlin, Monterey Park, Sierra Madre, Victorville, and Walnut
Valley have reached their annual goal for Polio Plus contributions.
The District 5300 Polio Plus goal for 2011-2012 is $128,000; of which,
we are 42% of goal with $53,734 in member contributions. We truly
are “this close” to eradicating polio worldwide. Your continued
contributions will help make this a reality in this generation.
The needs of so many rely on our continued humanitarian efforts
and giving. Reaching our District Goals for APF and Polio Plus
ensures that the basic needs, we frequently take for granted, will be
made available to those across the globe. Vaccinations will
continue; wells will be dug and water cleansed of impurities; sight will
be restored; housing will be built, children will be educated, crawlers
will walk; the hungry will eat; and lives will forever be changed with
every dollar you give.
District 5300 Stops to
Smell the Roses
On
behalf of the Rotary Rose Parade Float Committee and me personally, let
me say thank you to District 5300 Rotarians for your financial support
of the 2012 Rotary float. Rotary International does not fund our
committee/float, and we may only solicit donations from the United
States and Canada. Therefore, the donations from each Rotary Club
are critical. The Rose Parade has become a much anticipated
viewing priority for the international community, and your efforts
contributed directly to the success of getting our Rotary message out to
over 400 million people worldwide.
Each year, the Float Committee grapples with artistically interpreting
two themes – the Rotary International theme (Reach Within to Embrace
Humanity for 2012) and the Tournament of Roses Parade theme (Just
Imagine for 2012). We have strict limitations and guidelines in
choosing a theme interpretation and designing the float, both of which
Rotary International and the Rose Parade Committee must approve.
As you know by now, these two themes came together January 2, 2012, and
resulted in our receiving the Princesses’ Trophy for Most Beautiful
Float under 35 feet in length! Rotarians Juan Carlos Quiroz-Zolezzi
(Rotary Club of Upland) and John McDannel (Rotary Club of Pasadena)
proudly walked down the parade route beside float riders Rotary
International President Kalyan Banerjee and First Lady Binota.
This was a well-deserved honor for Juan Carlos and John, having
participated in a National Immunization Day in India last year, where
they discovered firsthand the powerful impact of Rotarians at work.
We were fortunate to have KTLA Reporter Gayle Anderson visit the float
building site and interview three of our Float Committee members.
Those interviews generated over $2,000 in donations. It also
prompted people to call and volunteer their time to work on the float. I
received numerous phone calls from polio survivors telling me their
heartbreaking stories of pain and suffering to this day.
Our goal is to have the Rotary International Float serve as a beacon to
spread the word of our worthwhile projects, such as polio eradication,
and as a call to increase membership domestically and around the world.
We could not do this without you. Please consider this an open
invitation to join in our efforts in the building of next year’s float
with the same enthusiasm and commitment you displayed this year.
West
San Gabriel Valley New Generations Rotary Club Elects Officers
Taking one more step in the many steps it takes towards becoming
chartered, this provisional New Generations club Thursday night elected
a nine-member Board of Directors. Besides the four officers, each of
the other five took on roles each Rotary Club operating under the Club
Leadership Plan requires: PR, Membership, Service Projects and The
Rotary Foundation. The leadership team takes office immediately taking
the five months remaining in the Rotary year to get up to speed, then
going on to serve a full Rotary year 2012-13 in these positions.
President Will will be attending PETS for training this month along
with the other incoming Club presidents. Congratulations to each of the
West San Gabriel Valley New Gen members for taking on this exciting
challenge - that of leading a brand new club!
Will Kelso - President
Chris Paulson - President-Elect
Vanessa Sanchez - Secretary
Stephanie Kou - Treasurer
Will Walls - PR Chair
Todd Sakamoto - Service Projects Chair
Miriam Hamby and Patrick LeBrun - Membership Co-Chairs
Seda Norodom - Rotary Foundation Chair
The new Board of
Directors bring specialized qualifications to the table: that of a
connection to the sponsoring club – Alhambra Rotary Club. Of the
nine, one is the son of a Past President, one is the daughter of a Past
President, and one is the grandson of a Past President!
The West San Gabriel Valley New Gen Club meets Thursdays at
Frontera's Mexican Grille, 118 W Main Street, Alhambra from 6:00- 7:30
pm. All local Rotarians are encouraged to visit, and to
recommend professionals for membership from their communities. For more
information, contact the new Club President Will Kelso via email at
william.j.kelso@gmail.com,
or Mark Paulson, Alhambra Rotary Club at
markrpaulson@earthlink.net
In
Memoriam - The passing of an icon...George R. Hensel