March is Literacy Month!

On Feb. 18 and 19, I had the honor of joining in the celebration of the 100^th Anniversary of Rotary in Minnesota, and the chartering of the Rotary Clubs of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Rotary International President John Kenny was here for the occasion and, demonstrating Rotary’s commitment to addressing issues of illiteracy, he joined Rotarians in visiting the public schools of Minneapolis to present dictionaries to the third-grade students.

Literacy empowers people and is essential to community development. Literate populations are more likely to develop economically, live healthier lives and be more peaceful. Yet, nearly 800 million people worldwide cannot read or write – 64 percent of them being women. Nearly half the children in Africa will not complete secondary school for a wide variety of reasons. They will not be able to make the type of contribution to their personal well-being, and that of their families and communities that they would if literacy were addressed.

District 5950, under the direction of our Literacy Resource Group Chair, Karin Treiber, has made an active effort to reduce literacy – in our communities, in our country and internationally.

In the next March newsletter, you’ll read of many club successes in an article by Assistant Governor-Elect for Area One, Linda Roles. Additionally, Community Service Grants Committee Chair Don Stiles recently reported four matching grants for literacy projects:

• The Rotary Club of Hutchinson is working with kindergartners and first graders to improve their reading skills.
• The Rotary Club of Minneapolis South, in conjunction with Read Across America Day on March 2, will sponsor a Read-a-Thon, March 8-12, that is focused on increasing reading fluency and involving parents in promoting reading to their children. There will be an awards ceremony, gift certificates to purchase books, and refreshments.
• The Rotary Club of St Michael-Albertville is working with young people in their communities to provide age-appropriate books and reading material.
• The Rotary Club of Waconia-West Carver has developed a Summer School Reading Program at the Carver County Libraries, included reading as part of the programming done with STRIVE students, and presented the Rotary Four-Way Test as a guide to ethical behavior.

As Rotarians, we invest in programs that will make a long-term impact on saving lives and changing lives in our local and world communities. Reading and writing – literacy – helps everyone become a full participant in society.

What are you and your club doing to improve literacy in your community and the world?

The FUTURE of Rotary is in YOUR Hands!

Sincerely … In Service Above Self,

Sandy

SafeWater Plus … Another Life is Changed

In the past nearly 20 years, District 5950 has invested in safe water and sanitation projects in Haiti and other countries throughout the world. Our program – SafeWater Plus – has focused on that precious commodity that we in the Land of 10,000 Lakes take for granted – water! While our projects have emphasized “safe water,” they have also given us the opportunity to extend our service projects to the “plus” side of the equation, addressing issues of health and hunger, literacy and education, and micro-lending and business development.

For three years, Rotarians from District 5950 have travelled to District 9200 in East Africa – Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda – on a Friendship Service Mission. While there, we have met with Rotarians and visited Rotary projects that include wells and water treatment plants, ablution blocks, orphanages, schools, health clinics and start-up businesses.

During our first trip, we met Moses Mwaura, a barefoot, tattered and wall-eyed young boy living in the slums of Mathare Valley outside Nairobi, Kenya. A year later, we saw Moses as a student, dressed in his school uniform and learning to read. This year, when Rotarians return from Kenya on March 24, they will be joined by Moses who will undergo surgery to correct his eye problems.

Just 6 years old, this young man will receive the gifts of travel, health care, surgery, hospital care, home care and special activities and events -- thanks to the generosity of Rotarians!

This is the “plus” for District 5950’s SafeWater Plus Program. This is the reason we contribute to The Rotary Foundation. And, this symbolizes what we represent – Service Above Self!

The Rotary Foundation: Tips for Fundraising Success

At the end of January, the clubs in District 5950 were 40 percent of the way to our goal!

Has every Rotarian in your club contributed to OUR Foundation? As Rotarians, we are expected to contribute to the Annual Funds Program. It is the program that supports our Community and International Service Matching Grants, Ambassadorial Scholar and Peace Scholar Programs, Group Study Exchange and Competitive Grants like the one that District 5950 received for our SafeWater Plus Project in Gulu, Uganda.

In 2008-2009, The Rotary Foundation awarded $3.2 million to support service projects organized and conducted by Rotarians around the world.

Tips for increasing your club’s giving and actions that you can take to ensure the success of Every Rotarian Every Year in your club follow:

• Educate Rotarians about the Foundation’s humanitarian and educational good works. Rotarians want to understand how their gifts are being used.
• Remind Rotarians of the credibility of The Rotary Foundation. Rotarians decide on the projects, Rotarians do the work, Rotarians oversee and monitor the projects and Rotarians ensure that the projects reach completion and that the money is spent as intended. It’s called “Rotarian credibility.”
• Remember to ask for gifts. Solicit gifts in a respectful and appropriate manner, and be a credible solicitor. The best appeal is a personal one: “Will you join me as a member of the Paul Harris Society?”
• Have resources readily available. Make sure club members know where to find contribution forms, addresses and gift officers.
• Say thank you. Rotarians don’t seek recognition, but they do appreciate being thanked. Say thank you again and again!
• Offer meaningful recognition before the club. It’s a big deal when someone becomes a Paul Harris Fellow, a member of the Paul Harris Society, a Bequest Society member or a Major Donor.
• Share success stories. Let Rotarians see how they’ve made a difference by supporting The Rotary Foundation.

If every Rotarian in District 5950 contributes to The Rotary Foundation, we will have no problem reaching our goal of $1 million. Some members give more, some give less; the important thing is for every Rotarian to give what they are capable of giving every year!

What can $1,000 -- Paul Harris Fellow or Society -- provide?

• Educational materials for 150 elementary students in Costa Rica
• 400 Pairs of eyeglasses for needy patients in Nigeria
• Playground equipment for an orphanage housing 128 AIDS orphans in Thailand
• Bedding, bed frames, school uniforms, and notebooks for 14 children of an orphanage in India
• 24 desks for a community school in the Solomon Island
• Small microcredit loans for 23 women in the Philippines to begin income-generating activities to support their families

A cumulative gift of $1,000 honors the donor or designee with a Paul Harris Fellowship (PHF) certificate for framing and a pin.

An annual gift of $1,000 honors the donor with membership in the Paul Harris Society, another fellowship and recognition with additional gemstones on their PHF pin.

Rotary continues to strengthen its commitment to world peace, the elimination of poverty and improved health, through the Rotary Centers for International Studies in peace and conflict resolution program. Honoring the life of founder Paul Harris and commemorating the 50^th anniversary of his death, six Rotary Centers for International Studies now operate at seven universities, each with a unique curriculum related to peace and conflict resolution.

Up to 100 fellowships are available annually on a world-competitive basis for study at one of these six centers (50 for master’s degree study, 50 for professional development certificate study). Click here for a list of these universities, and a summary of their unique programs.

District interviews for the Rotary World Peace Fellowships will be held April 24. Each Rotary club may submit as many applicants as they deem qualified. Club-endorsed candidates’ applications must be received at the District 5950 Office by April 2.

With what was likely the most competitive and skilled hockey tournament played on North American soil in nearly a decade, it would have been easy for the Twin Cities Northern Lights Hockey Team to lose focus. The Bloomington-based, Tier III Junior A hockey organization, organized as the Rotaract Club of Athlete Village, headed to the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver as missionaries of sorts. They took in the Olympic experience, played some hockey and watched some as well.

But the driving force behind an unforgettable experience for this group of 17- to 20-year-old Minnesota Junior Hockey League players had little to do with the world's best hockey tournament taking place a slapshot away. Instead, it was an opportunity to use their puck playing abilities to help leave a trail of good will throughout British Columbia.

As Twin Cities Northern Lights vice-president Stephanie Smith put it: "We are hockey first, but this provided a platform to do so much more." While in Vancouver, the Northern Lights worked to raise $30,000 for polio vaccines as part of the Rotary International Polio Plus “End Polio Now” campaign. Their fundraising efforts included a 10,000 rubber duck toss (think chuck-a-puck), a snowball fight and auctioning memorabilia items.

Not bad for a group of hockey players just hoping to make a difference.

"For a lot of young guys like ourselves, it opens our eyes," said Northern Lights forward Jonathan Barrick. "It's not just hockey, not just school or even the United States in effect. We are helping people that can't get the necessities. It's important and it's showing the guys that there is a lot more out there than just hockey."

Although it is through hockey that the team helped in the fight against polio, they used the sport to get involved off the ice throughout the rest of their Olympic trip. The Northern Lights/Rotaract Club of the Athlete Village stopped at local schools to read to children, participated in the Olympic Torch celebrations, and volunteered with set-up and tear-down of events centering on the Winter Games.

From start to finish, the team was gone Feb. 2-18. The days were hectic, but it was a small sacrifice for what they experienced and accomplished.

Calendar of Events

12 District 5950 club and individual service awards nominations due

13 Youth Exchange Orientation Session #3 – Outbound Exchange Students

24 Moses Mwaura visits District 5950 from District 9200 – East Africa

25 Rotary, Rotaract and Interact Presidential Citations Due to DG Sandra Schley

2 Ambassadorial Scholarship Applications due at District Office

2 Rotary World Peace Fellowship applications due at District Office

3–5/2 Outbound Group Study Exchange Team to Ethiopia and Uganda (District 9200)

7 World Community Service Committee – 3:30 p.m.; Boy Scouts of America; 5300 Glenwood Ave.; Golden Valley

23 – 27 Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA); YMCA Camp St. Croix; Hudson, Wis.

24 Rotary World Peace Fellowship Interviews

1 Ambassadorial Scholarship Interviews

1 Local Community Grant Applications Due

2 - 30 Inbound Group Study Exchange Team from Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda (District 9200)

4 Youth Foundation Board Meeting – Northern Star East Council Boy Scouts of America; 393 Marshall Ave.; St. Paul; 5-7 p.m.

5 World Community Service Committee – 3:30 p.m.; Boy Scouts of America; 5300 Glenwood Ave.; Golden Valley

13-15 District 5950 Conference – Westin Edina Galleria; Edina