District Newsletter

January 2021 

 
 
A Message From District Governor Gregg Giusiana
This is our first newsletter after the holidays.  I truly hope you had a wonderful holiday season.  The holidays were different for us this year, but I hope it was just as meaningful.
 
I am amazed by the work done by the clubs during the holiday season.  The ingenuity of the members, raising funds and distributing holiday gifts, was an incredible accomplishment.  Some clubs gave out gifts, some gift cards, and many used the time to support feeding the hungry and homeless.  I am so proud of all the work this District does.
 
This past month the District continued to be very busy.  The biggest news is that two RI Presidents visited the District.  RI President Holger Knaack addressed the members and took questions in early December.  Past RI President Gary Huang visited us in January.  Both these meetings were open to all the members of the District and were very inspiring.
 
The Rotary Club of Dublin celebrated their fifty-year anniversary as a club.  They did a terrific program on the history of the club and reached out to many members who have moved or left the club so they could be involved.  What a great accomplishment and entertaining event! Thank you President Megan Rouse for letting me be a part of the evening.    
 
We had the Mid-year Leadership Meeting last January 9.  We started off with a very inspirational presentation from Kavita Gupta who talked about her innovative work involving students in the STEM programs.  She also shared about her visit to the Galapagos Islands. For the first time, all the Club Presidents and Presidents-Elect were invited to attend. The District works very hard to ensure a smooth transition from year to year by including incoming leaders in the activities of the current year as soon as possible.  DGE Richard Flanders has begun the training for his year with the recent PrePETS with his Presidents as he prepares for his year.
 
We continued with our Zoom to Learn sessions. John Lipp did a great leadership presentation in December.  If you want to hear from him again, he is the speaker for our District Book Club tomorrow. He will talk about some children’s books he wrote. Register at http://bit.ly/D5170BookClubJohnLipp The next Zoom to Learn Session on Youth Service is on February 18.  This is open to all Rotarians so sign up at https://bit.ly/5170YouthService2.
 
The last month, the District Public Image Team launched its Public Image Guidebook.  This month, they continued their meetings with the Club Public Image Chairs.  This was a very lively session and Maggie Padovani will continue having them through the rest of the year. See her article later in the newsletter.
 
The Foundation Committee continues to be active. We have a new ARCH KLUMPH SOCIETY member in the district. A huge thank you to Jill and Tom Duerig for the generous donation to The Rotary Foundation and to all the past Arch Klumph Society members for their continued support of Rotary.
 
Over a dozen international grants have been approved.  PDG Orrin Mahoney has visited almost half of the clubs to talk about the great work of the foundation.  In the spring, we will be starting out the PolioPlus fundraising drive.
 
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.
 
February is World Understanding Month for Rotary.  Peace through understanding has always been a part of Rotary.  Programs such as youth exchange, and international scholars are ways the District participated in World Understanding.  This is a great month to have international speakers at you club meetings to support this theme.  
 
Here are some upcoming events.
  • Zoom to Learn is scheduled for February 18th and the March session is already being planned.
  • The District Book Blub upcoming meetings are January 27th, March 31st and April 28th.
  • The District Training Assembly will be in four sessions starting April 24th and continuing on April 29th, May 1st and ending May 6th.
  • We will be having a Membership Workshop on May 22nd to get the Club Membership Chairs ready for their year.
  • The Rotary Convention is June 12-16 in Taipei.  Sign up now for the lowest price.  To register for the convention follow this link RI Convention.
Thanks for all you do, keep up the great work and stay healthy.
 
Gregg
 
Meet our District Governor Nominee Designate - Hung Wei
 
The District is pleased to announce that the Nominating Committee, chaired by PDG Susan Valenta, has selected Hung Wei of the Rotary Club of Cupertino to serve as District Governor for the 2023-2024 Rotary year.
 
Hung has served as the Rotary District 5170 Membership Chair over the past four years, was an Assistant Governor for Area 8, and has supported many District events including the annual District Conference, District Training Assembly, and Avenues of Service. A champion of The Rotary Foundation, she has traveled with Rotary grant projects in Mexico and Asia.  Hung is passionate about service and has dedicated thousands of hours to her community and to the family of Rotary.
 
Read more...
District International Service Committee News
We at the District International Service Committee (DISC, please remember yet another acronym) are pleased to update you about our journey thus far. We had an initial first meeting in September 2020 (yes a mega slow start, all blame on Geeta Kadambi).  Our team consists of Sangita Seshadri, Shannon Chan and Patrick Coyle.
 
Our November meeting was participating in WASH project training sessions. Very useful updates are available on their website. So if any one of you are writing a water related project, we highly recommend you check their presentation slides out.
 
Read more...
District Public Image Corner
We recently held a Public Image Workshop on Tuesday, January 19th on Press Release Writing and Media Relations.  It was well attended, and we showcased the tools District clubs’ public image chairs can use to write up their stories and share with their respective community newspapers and online papers, such as The PATCH.com.
 
Read more...
Rotaract Update

Starting the new year, we are happy that all Rotaractors abided by the codes and ensured that all meetings were conducted in a safe manner. Many of them also made sure to help out in ways to prevent the spread of COVID.

Oakland Community Rotaract Club has been a part of UMOJA outreach in partnership with Oakland Frontline Healers. They have been volunteering to not only help people with testing for COVID-19, but also promoting checkups through the distribution of flyers to the local community.

Read more...
District Book Club - Meet the Author, John Lipp
Thursday, January 27, 2020 - 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Book series information and availability - https://monsterboypublications.com/the-book-series
Read more...
Toastmasters Naval Post Graduate School Open House
Friday, January 29, 2020 - 12:00 pm to 1:15 pm
Read more...
Darren Dean Vocational Education Grant
Rotary Club of Morgan Hill
Read more...
Zoom to Learn - Youth Services, Now and Tomorrow Part II
Upcoming Events
District Book Club - Meet the Author, John Lipp
ZOOM Meeting
Jan 27, 2021
 
Pre-PETS
ZOOM Meeting
Jan 28, 2021
 
District Leadership Meeting
ZOOM Meeting
Feb 03, 2021 5:30 PM
 
AG Meeting
ZOOM Meeting
Feb 17, 2021
5:30 PM – 6:30 PM
 
ZOOM TO LEARN: Youth Service 2
ZOOM Meeting
Feb 18, 2021
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
 
Far West PETS
Online
Mar 05, 2021 – Mar 07, 2021
 
District Leadership Meeting
ZOOM Meeting
Mar 13, 2021 8:30 AM
 
AG Meeting
ZOOM Meeting
Mar 17, 2021
5:30 PM – 6:30 PM
 
View entire list
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District 5170 Rotaract
District 5170 Interact
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