This month I am starting off by wishing Rotary a happy birthday. February 23rd marked the 116-year anniversary of the first Rotary meeting in Chicago. This has been quite an accomplishment growing from its original four members to a worldwide organization of 1.2 million members.
As you may already know, our district submitted a proposal to the Council on Legislation. We received news that the proposal to make Interact a standing committee at RI has passed the first step for consideration by the full body. This is great news. I want to thank Chris Miller and the Rotary Club of Los Gatos Morning for all their work on this proposal. Also, a thank you to all the clubs for supporting his effort and to PDG Joe Hamilton who lead the process for submission.
The latest reports on Foundation Giving show District 5170 to be leading both Zones 26 & 27 in Total Giving. I am so proud of all the effort the clubs are doing in this area. With all that has been going on this past year, our Rotarians are still giving unbelievable support to the foundation. If you haven’t already given, I encourage you to do so. Thanks for all the support!
On the spending side, over two dozen international grants have been approved. As always, we remain very committed to international projects. PDG Orrin Mahoney has visited more than half of the clubs to talk about the great work of the foundation.
As of February 17th, the last update, there has been only one wild polio case reported this year. That is great news, but we must continue the fight until polio is completely eradicated. In the spring, we will be starting our PolioPlus fundraising drive.
We continued with our Zoom to Learn sessions. We just finished the two-part training on Youth Services. As a part of that training, we introduced the updated Youth Protection Program software. This should make the process easier to follow and make information available to the clubs.
The March 16th Zoom to Learn training session will be on creating a club communications plan. The Public Image Committee is meeting monthly with the Club Chairs to promote the club’s activities, projects and to share ideas. This month’s training will help the clubs plan for next year. This training is open to all Rotarians, so sign up at https://bit.ly/5170ClubCommunicationsPlan
The District Conference date has been changed. We moved it to July 17th at Gilroy Gardens. We are hoping that this can still be done in person. It is an excellent location (All outdoors) for in person events and by moving the date we increase our chances of gathering together. Mark your calendar for this fun event. More information will be coming out soon.
March is Rotary Water and Sanitation Month. Clean water and sanitation is a human right, but not everyone is afforded that right. Rotary members are providing communities with sustainable access to safe water, improved sanitation, hygiene management training. When people, especially children, have access to clean water, improved sanitation facilitates, and better hygiene habits, they lead healthier and more successful lives. I encourage all Rotarians to work towards Rotary’s goal of providing everyone with safe water, sanitation, and hygiene by 2030.
Here are some upcoming events.
Zoom to Learn this March 16th is on Club Communications Plan.
The District Book Club upcoming meetings are March 31st and April 29th
The District Training Assembly will be in four sessions starting April 24th and ending May 6th
The Finals for the District Speech Contest will be on April 24th at the District Training Assembly.
We will be having a Membership Workshop on May 22nd to get the Club Membership Chairs ready for their year.
The Rotary International Convention is scheduled for June 12-16, and will be a virtual event again this year.
Thanks for all you do, keep up the great work and stay healthy.
We just celebrated Lunar New Year, Valentine’s Day, and President’s Day in February and March marks the arrival of Spring. This is a perfect time to meet with your current Club leadership team, to reflect on 2020: what went well and what challenges still exist.
COVID-19 is still upon us and we are all meeting virtually, mostly via ZOOM. Rotary is adapting, however, we are not standing still – Rotarians continue to champion charitable projects that meet current demand in the communities, host virtual fellowship activities to connect friends, and raise money through fundraisers that maximize online joy and laughter.
Vocational Service is at the core of Rotary’s objectives, and calls upon Rotarians to encourage and foster high ethical standards in business and professions, recognizing the worthiness of all useful occupations, and dignifying each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve society.
Whether your club has a Club Vocational Service Chair or someone else overseeing current and new initiatives for Vocational Service, here are five easy and free to implement ideas to consider acting on to help grow your club’s vocational service.
On Tuesday, March 16th, Public Image will host a District Training Session on “How To Write A Club Communications Plan”. To register, go to https://bit.ly/5170ClubCommunicationsPlan
The session will be informative and provide tips and techniques, a Public Image Club Survey template to share with your Board of Directors and Club Chairs to help you lay the groundwork on formulating your club communications plan.
Your Rotary club can earn a Rotary Citation for achieving goals that strengthen Rotary and your club. Goals include increasing club membership, developing sustainable service projects, giving to The Rotary Foundation, and building awareness of Rotary in your community.
International Projects in Need of Partnership from Around the World meeting was conducted on February 17th, 2021. The countries that presented the projects wereIndonesia, Turkey and Haiti. In January Mexico and India had presented their projects. Both the events were very successful. The January event was attended by 59 Rotarians from eight different countries. The February event was attended by Rotarians from eight different countries: Bahamas, Nepal, Turkey, Indonesia, England, Haiti, India and USA. A total of 63 Rotarians attended and they are happy to be friends with our District 5170 Rotarians. If you need introductions and emails, please let us know.
The District Young Professionals Task Force is working to boost the engagement of existing young professional Rotarians/Rotaractors and increase clubs' attractiveness for other young professionals to join.
If you are age 40 or younger, please help us by taking this survey to share your thoughts with us:
Project ToLife aims to bridge the generational divide. In this pandemic, both young people and seniors feel isolated. Project ToLife brings together youth needing someone to talk to or ask for advice with interested seniors who want to spread their wisdom. Students can also offer tech help — like video-conferencing setup so seniors can connect with friends and family. There are already dozens of senior-student pairings who love their experience. You can click here to watch an Instagram video from Teresa, a high school junior, who shares her story.
