Weekly Elixir - December 3, 2007

Rotary International and Gates Foundation together commit $200 million to eradicate polio - Press Release

EVANSTON, Ill., U.S.A. (Nov. 26, 2007) -- Rotary International today announced a partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that will inject a much-needed US$200 million into the global campaign to eradicate polio, a crippling and sometimes fatal disease that still paralyzes children in parts of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East and threatens children everywhere.

The Rotary Foundation has received a $100-million Gates Foundation grant, which Rotary will raise funds to match, dollar-for-dollar, over three years. The Evanston-based volunteer service organization will spend the initial $100 million within one year in direct support of immunization activities carried out by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), a partnership spearheaded by the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and UNICEF.

"The extraordinary dedication of Rotary members has played a critical role in bringing polio to the brink of eradication," says Bill Gates, cochair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "Eradicating polio will be one of the most significant public health accomplishments in history, and we are committed to helping reach that goal."

The polio eradication grant is one of the largest challenge grants ever given by the Gates Foundation and the largest grant received by Rotary in its 102-year history. Polio eradication has been Rotary’s top priority since 1985. Since then, Rotary has contributed $633 million to the eradication effort.

"Rotary members worldwide have worked very hard over the years to reach this point, and it is rewarding to see our approach validated in such a significant way by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation," says Dr. Robert Scott, who leads Rotary’s polio eradication effort and chairs The Rotary Foundation, the not-for-profit charitable arm of Rotary that will administer the grant. "We hope that this shared commitment of Rotary and the Gates Foundation will challenge other donors – including foundations, governments and nongovernmental organizations – to step up and make sure we have the resources needed to rid the world of polio once and for all."

Adds Rotary International President Wilfrid J. Wilkinson: "This endorsement of Rotary's polio eradication efforts by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is just the catalyst and challenge Rotary members need to keep our promise to the children of the world that polio will be eradicated."

Founded in Chicago in 1905, Rotary is a worldwide organization of business and professional leaders who provide humanitarian service and help to build goodwill and peace in the world. Rotary’s global membership is approximately 1.2 million men and women who belong to more than 32,000 Rotary clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas.

Weekly Elixir - November 26, 2007

Rotarians “share” Rotary



The Rotary Club of Des Plaines, Illinois, USA, put its Rotary Foundation matching grant into motion teaching schoolchildren math and science in an unconventional way.

The students use tiny gears and motors to build working machines under the mentorship of local club members.

Please follow the link below to see a video from the Rotary International website. Copy and paste the link into your web browser's address bar.

(Copy = Ctrl + C) (Paste = Ctrl + V)

http://www.rotary.org/en/MediaAndNews/News/Pages/071112_news_gears.aspx

The key to the success of this program is:

 The program captures the imagination of the children. The kids find this very interesting.

 The children also get excellent role models from the participating Rotarians.

 The Rotarians receive the satisfaction of “sharing Rotary” much more than if they just contributed money.

So, let’s all remember: Share Rotary!

Weekly Elixir - November 19, 2007

Rotary scholars travel globe

Around the world, many young students get involved with Rotary Exchange programs. Here is the story of one club’s activities in Salinas, California. The article is written by Roger Powers of the Salinas Steinbeck Rotary Club.


Salinas club's silent auction, which funds exchange program, is set for Saturday

At this moment Kalah, a high school student from Salinas, is living with a Rotary family and going to school for a year in Belgium. And Anna, from Norway, is attending school in Salinas, where she is also an honorary member and participates in all Steinbeck Rotary Club activities.

This is the result of the club's student exchange program, which is funded by the club's annual silent auction, to be held Saturday.

Planting seeds for the future! That is the bottom line of Steinbeck Rotary's focus on kids, which is an ever-turning wheel of activity.

It is interesting to watch that wheel go 'round. Several years ago, a young girl from a low-income family was attending Alisal High School. She decided to apply for the Steinbeck Rotary student exchange program, was selected, and spent a year living with a Rotary family and studying in France, all expenses paid for by Rotary.

When she returned, she worked part-time for a local company owned by a Steinbeck Rotarian, went to college, graduated, and is now a biologist with a local seed company. Her name is Estella, and she is now an active member of Steinbeck Rotary.
Student exchange is just one of the many Steinbeck Rotary youth programs. Others include:

• Scholarships
• Youth leadership summer camps
• Spring-break trips to New York City and Washington, D.C.
• Recognizing students of the month
• Top 100 dinners (honoring the top 25 students from each class at Alisal and Everett Alvarez high schools)
• "Job shadowing" with members at their work to see what that kind of work is really like.

All of this, and more, is funded by those who do Christmas shopping amid a myriad of wonderful donated items. Bargains range from kitchen cutlery to dinners out, AT&T Pro-Am season passes, golf club memberships, bikes, phones, televisions, toasters, pictures, paintings, tools, tune-ups, flowers, candles and trees ... You name it and you'll probably find it there - at Steinbeck Rotary's Silent Auction from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas.

You will eat and drink well, too, from complimentary fine foods and superb wines - all donated, of course. And, you'll probably find Estella and Anna working there - to help continue the program and activities that helped them.

ROGER POWERS is a Realtor and member of the Salinas Steinbeck Rotary Club.

Weekly Elixir - November 12, 2007

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We have just finished World Interact Week – November 5 through 11.

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So, What is Interact?

Interact is a Rotary-sponsored service club for young people. Made up of members ages 14-18 or secondary-school age, Interact gives young people an opportunity to participate in fun, meaningful service projects. Along the way, Interactors develop their leadership skills and initiative while meeting new friends.

Through their service activities, Interactors learn the importance of

• Developing leadership skills and personal integrity
• Demonstrating helpfulness and respect for others
• Understanding the value of individual responsibility and hard work
• Advancing international understanding and goodwill

Interactors have access to the many resources of Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation of RI. Rotary International provides the administrative support that helps Interact clubs thrive.

When RI President Harold T. Thomas traveled the world during his year in office in 1959-60, he discovered a deep and widespread feeling among Rotarians that Rotary’s potential for developing youth service had not been fully realized. In 1960, Thomas appointed a committee of five Rotarians to explore the issue, and two years later, 23 students at Melbourne High School in Melbourne, Florida, USA, came together to form the first Interact club.

The word Interact stands for “international action,” and today nearly 200,000 young people in more than 110 countries belong to some 8,700 clubs, making Interact a truly international phenomenon. All over the world, young people are spreading fellowship and international understanding through a wide array of Interact service activities.


How does Interact fit into the Rotary family?


Rotary International is a worldwide service organization for leading business and professional men and women, with more than 1.2 million members in over 31,000 Rotary clubs. Interact clubs are self-supporting and self-governing but receive guidance from a sponsoring Rotary club.

This sponsorship is a result of Rotary’s belief that young people, or New Generations, should take an active interest in community life and have the opportunity to develop leadership skills. Interact provides a vehicle through which New Generations can find that involvement.

Organizing an Interact club is one of the most rewarding activities a Rotary club can undertake in its community. The Interact program gives Rotarians the opportunity to mentor promising young men and women interested in serving their own communities as well as the global community.

Rotarians also act as resources for Interactors who are on the path toward becoming professionals and community leaders. In turn, an Interact club can bring new energy to a Rotary club, inspire fresh ideas for service, increase support of projects, and help develop future Rotarians.

The Standard Interact Club Constitution defines the role of the Rotary club sponsor in Articles III, V, and XIII.