February is Peace and Conflict Prevention/Resolution Month. Also, February 23 is Rotary International's 116th Birthday. What is your club doing to celebrate this event?
I am so proud of our club's and district's great work helping our communities locally and internationally. Thank you to everyone for making a difference during this difficult time that our communities are facing.
I have been visiting clubs virtually and I am discovering how we are all adapting to this new way of doing Rotary. I am proud to say that I have visited 90% of our clubs, not only once, but two or three times for some. I have been visiting our Presidents' Council Meetings and I am proud to say that our Area Governors are working diligently with clubs to share ideas and work with each other to make their communities a better place.
It might seem like a small thing, but a logo that isn’t used properly can create confusion and mistrust. When clubs use Rotary’s logos consistently and properly, we maintain a global Rotary brand that members, donors, and the public can trust. In the first of a series of Rotary Voices blog posts on this topic, Rotary’s brand specialist Liz Thiam explains why clubs should use the Rotary logo correctly in their communities.
Pourquoi l’image de marque du Rotary est importante
Il peut sembler une petite chose, mais un logo qui n’est pas utilisé correctement peut créer de la confusion et de la méfiance. Lorsque les clubs utilisent les logos du Rotary de manière cohérente et adéquate, nous maintenons une marque rotative mondiale en laquelle les membres, les donateurs et le public peuvent faire confiance. Dans le premier d’une série de billets de blog du Rotary Voices sur ce sujet, Liz Thiam, spécialiste de la marque au Rotary, explique pourquoi les clubs devraient utiliser correctement le logo Rotary dans leurs communautés.
Conflict and violence displace millions of people each year. Half of those killed in conflict are children, and 90 percent are civilians.
We refuse to accept conflict as a way of life. Rotary projects provide training that fosters understanding and provides communities with the skills to resolve conflicts.
Through our service projects, peace fellowships, and scholarships, our members are taking action to address the underlying causes of conflict, including poverty, inequality, ethnic tension, lack of access to education, and unequal distribution of resources. Visit the Rotary International https://www.rotary.org/en/our-causes/promoting-peace and help us make a difference.
This is an invitation to all Rotarians, Rotaractors, and the whole Rotary family in District 7040 and beyond. Marking 2021 Earth Day, District 7040, along with neighbouring Districts, will be organizing a first-ever Rotary Great Lakes Watershed/St Lawrence River Cleanup on April 24, 2021. Individual clubs are welcome to hold their events during the week of April 17-24, 2021.
To date, we have commitments from 15 Districts bordering the Great Lakes as well as the Niagara, St. Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers and the Erie Canal in New York State. We are naming the event the Great Lakes Watershed Cleanup to open it up to any club on a waterway that empties into the Great Lakes system. Rotary International Director Valarie Wafer with Rotary International President Holger Knaack are both supportive of this collaborative project.
This will be a great way to engage our Rotary Family and non-Rotarians in a day of action, draw attention to our fragile environment and our desire to be part of the solution. With the plan for heavy promotion, it is an opportunity to bring awareness to the good work of Rotary.
Get your club to select a nearby waterway or even a local park to clean up and be a part of this exciting event on Saturday, April 24! Mark this in your calendars - more details will follow.
I’ve been legally blind for over seven years, first losing sight in my right eye and then in my left eye. However, I won't let my sight challenges hold me back from leading as normal a life as possible. I work as a real estate broker and owner for my own company, Tina Leonard Real Estate, from my home office in Lake Placid, NY.
Since becoming blind, I’ve accumulated a few pet peeves. It frustrates me no end when I find individuals who don't know how to interact with people who are sight impaired. That’s why I’m always on the ready to teach them, not only for selfish reasons, but more importantly to help the entire blind community. The following are four basic guidelines to help improve overall connection and communication.
Blizzard conditions and a short city-wide power failure were no match for the Rotary Club of Iqaluit’s 2020 Christmas dinner hamper delivery.
The Christmas hamper is a community tradition that began more than 40 years ago. Donations from businesses, city groups and Iqaluit residents raised about $56,000 to fund the 2020 effort, which easily covered distribution of 250 boxes containing essentials to make Christmas dinner for a family.
“People in Iqaluit are always very generous, I think even more so this year than ever before,” said Catherine Hoyt, lead organizer of the event. Donations for the 2020 season hit a record high, which matched needs of the ever-growing territorial capital in Canada’s eastern Arctic.
Here is our “success story” from the Hawkesbury Rotary Club thanks to the grants that we received and are still spending. The first thing we did as a club in March when the government suggested that everyone stays home, was to reach out to the local food banks and the meals on wheels groups to see if they needed extra hands.
I knew that many of the volunteers for these places are older people, retired from their jobs, and these are the people that are being encouraged to stay home. Our club has a variety of ages, so we were able to help. We had the manpower, but we needed names and names I got! We were delivering fresh meals 5 days a week, for 3 months. Then when summer hit, we cut it down to 3 frozen meals a week in one delivery, this was easier to control the volunteers as well during the summertime.
I lumped all of Hawkesbury and Vankleek Hill Rotary deliveries separate from the Services Communautaires de Prescott-Russell that we also do. These deliveries were chosen because they have been suggested to us from the Schools, where the teachers or principals have been worried about the families or people who are taking cancer treatments or recuperating from some sort of an operation, so we feed them and their caregivers. We have never refused anyone.
I reached out to the club members for feedback. I asked for comments that they were getting from the people that they deliver to. The comments are as such, “Oh my god, I am so happy I am on your list for another week!” or “Oh I just knew that we were going to get more this week, you don’t know how this helps us, we are afraid to go out there, and my kids don’t want us to” or “I don’t know who the cook is, but please pass on our complements to the chef”. I have even had calls from older children that reside in the United States wondering how their parents can be added to the list. The light in the eyes and the smile that truly says they made it through another week is something else.
Posted by Paul Elsley, President and Co-Chair of Rotary in Kingston Centennial
La version française est ci-dessous
January was a busy month for Rotary in Kingston as we prepared to formally launch our Centennial projects and events. It is hard to believe that the process that began two years ago is finally under way.
The official kick off occurred at our first Zoom meeting of 2021 with Mayor Paterson’s “State of the City” address. It was nice to have Rotarians from other clubs present for the ceremony and we hope to replicate open invitations to Rotarians in the District at other Centennial events and projects. The Mayor congratulated Rotary on the launch of our Centennial year. He reflected on a comment by us on Facebook that we described the pandemic as a “time for serving even in the midst of everything that is going on.” Mayor Paterson told the group that he “appreciates the work that Rotary does and our [strong] presence in the community.” He finished by stating that it is “inspiring to have groups like Rotary” helping those in need.
Scolar, our Intermediary in Mukuru Nairobi Kenya reported the need for additional PPE for students and staff at Kware Siloam School once school was to restart in January. In November, Rotary had provided hand washing stations and Thermo-guns and 250 masks. But with the new school year starting after the forced COVID closure, students would not be able to attend the new term without proper masks. This need was identified and Eganville Rotary responded with an additional 800 locally sourced masks for the children. With crowded conditions at Siloam, it is difficult to maintain socially distancing as we see it but with mandatory mask wearing, the handwashing stations and daily temperature monitoring COVID is somewhat mitigated thanks to our many project sponsors.
Our District is offering 500 Paul Harris Recognition Points to any Rotarian who signs up with Rotary Direct between January first and February 23rd, Rotary’s birthday. That’s halfway to a Paul Harris Fellow for you before you even begin to donate!
Ask your Club President or Foundation Chair to share the form they received over the holidays or check here https://my.rotary.org/en/rotary-direct . You can choose any program or area of focus you desire. There is also an FAQ information sheet they have which you may ask for to clarify any questions you have.
All Recognition Points will be credited during this Rotary year in March or April, allowing for processing your enrollment.
Participate in whatever way is most comfortable to you! This year’s District Conference will be available both in-person and on-line.
In-Person: District Conference 2021 will take place at Auberge des Gallant in Ste. Marthe, Quebec. Participants will have opportunity to attend plenary sessions, break out sessions, enjoy the House of Friendship and Silent Auction, mingle, and catch up.
On-line: For those who prefer to participate on-line, they will have live access to plenary sessions and separate break out sessions and interactive sessions with others who are participating online.
Please note that all current Covid-19 protocols will be followed at the time of the conference. Should restrictions be such that an in-person conference is not feasible, adjustments will be made, and the conference will be held entirely online.
