President Brian Hayes welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Centerville Rotary Club and led the group in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. PDG Harvey Smith provided the prayer.

 

President Brian gave the following announcements:

Ron Hollenbeck reminded all to  pick up your annual Rotary Foundation drive letter. It details how much you need to get your first Paul Harris Fellow or to the next level of Paul Harris Fellow. Remember the club will match your donation dollar for dollar, using points. Ron will mail any letters left after the meeting today.

Ron also mentioned the new Rotary 125 Club. Simply donate $100 to the Annual Fund and $25 to Polio Plus this year, and you will get the 125 Club pin.

 

This quarter we are collecting for Blue Star Mothers (of America) – which is a private nonprofit organization in the United States that provides support for mothers who have sons or daughters in active service in the U.S. Armed Forces.

 

Our Sergeant of Arms today was Pat Beckel. Pat introduced his guest and local celebrity, Jake Preston. Jake appears in all movies filmed in Dayton, including the last movie Robert Redford filmed here.

 

Happy Bucks were generously given today for:

 

 

 

Arnie Biondo introduced our speaker today, Frank Scott, a member of the Dayton club, has been involved in many District roles, and is currently our District Governor Elect.

 

Frank Scott mentioned when he visits the Centerville Club, he has a hard time knowing what to say about the Rotary Foundation, as our club is always in the top 3 most generous in the district.

 

When there was a need for a global grant for the driest country in the world, the Centerville club led by Ron Hollenbeck, stepped up to secure funding for 20 life pumps in Malawi. Frank shared that women in undeveloped countries worldwide, spend 200 million hours/year collecting clean water, often times walking 6 hours one way to reach a water source. Frank gave thanks for the impact the Centerville Club has had worldwide.

 

Frank then shared the lifetime giving to the Rotary Foundation from our club is $480,000. Rotary has a new area of focus this year - the Environment and our 50th anniversary plans include protecting the environment. He recognized our club for being in the forefront of Rotary needs.

 

District recognition

Can donate to an area of focus if want: clean water, promote peace, (Kim Forester we sponsored is now a peace sponsor for Rotary), fight disease, save mothers and children, support education, grow local economies, and protect the environment.

 

Last year, the Rotary Foundation ran out of money on June 4 (had spent all in budget). Usually approve 1,000 grants, and last fiscal year they approved 2,000. Ultimate budget totaled $140 million and covered all areas of focus.

 

Polio became a focus in 1980’s. District 6670 raised $1.2 million from ’85-’87

In 2007 Bill Gates made his Polio challenge and Rotarians met the challenge. Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only 2 countries still with polio and only 2 new cases were reported this year in February. Rotarians/Vaccinators are still able to go house to house even with the recent change in government in Afghanistan.

 

So why is there still a need to raise funds for polio?

 

There is a requirement to vaccinate children 3 years in a row and 450 million still need vaccinated. Not every lab in the world can detect the polio, (by looking at wastewater systems). Still have several years of eradication before the world can be declared polio free.

 

In 2020 Africa was declared polio free by the WHO. Rotarians still volunteer on national immunization days - a life changing experience for them.

Have to get through 3 years without a new case to declare polio free

 

Gates challenged Rotary to raise $50 million this year to get $100 million from Gates. Donations provide for worldwide work. If every member participates, we can raise enough for the Gates match. John Germ is the current chair of the Rotary Foundation.

 

Frank explained about how the District grants work. District 6670 was able to fund our 3 requests this year. They gave out $75,000 total this year and transitioned to online for grant submissions and closing reports. April 30 is the deadline to apply; review in May; fund in July/August. Rotary changed accounting system this year so there have been a few bumps in the road.

 

Frank explained how Rotary invests money. Annual Fund Share is a 3 year funding cycle. RI invests the principal on short term basis, and 50% of the funds are returned to the District three years later. He gave the example of district contributing $200,000; three years later district receives $100,000 which the district splits up as $50,000 district grants, $50,000 global grants of which 20,000 goes back for Polio. Rotary Foundation investment proceeds provide operating funds, so they are not taking from the donations to operate the foundation.

 

You can designate Polio for your PHF donation, if desired.

 

Global Polio Eradication Initiative - oversees all polio operations around the world. Our money goes there and they decide how it is spent.

 

72 labs around the world are currently operating to detect polio in wastewater. Research, vaccinations, and education still going on to eradicate polio totally. India still has immunization days.

 

Ron Hollenbeck noted Frank has been a great friend to this club; helped marshal through our district grant applications. He is a great resource for the Global grant process.

 

President Brian thanked Frank for the great information.

 

 

To honor the sacrifices of our Veterans, Chuck King shared a video of Steve Richie, a Veteran and speaker at Eustis, Florida Rotary Club. Steve is one of the five aces in Vietnam. (Shot down 5 airplanes) He told the story of a soldier rescue after being lost in Vietnam for 23 days. You can watch this inspiring story by visiting this LINK.

 

Next week our guest speaker will be Mike Cordonnier who will share about the CHS Theater Tech Program.

 

President Brian led reciting of the 4 Way Test and wished everyone a good week.