In October, College Rotary Club President Jane Lanford tied in a successful polio fundraiser with the running of her 100th marathon. In the descriptive words of AG Mike Pollen:
“Jane really wanted to do something special for World Polio Day. Even though this wasn’t par for the course, she decided that, in the long run, it would be appropriate to celebrate that event by combining it with her 100th marathon.
Jane really is willing to go to any length to meet her objective. Boldly setting a goal of $10,000 she reached out to her Rotarian and non-Rotarian friends, not just once, but in order to jog their memories, attended numerous Rotary club meetings and sent out multiple email reminders to donate to the cause. Totally ignoring any attempt to pace herself, she worked right up to the moment that she departed Fairbanks for Detroit to run the fabled Detroit Free Press Marathon. Of course, with all of her running skills, she was able to do the marathon in stride and succeeded in placing in the top three in her age group. Even after the running event was over, she still kept her sights on the finish line and continued her fund-raising efforts in order to hopefully break the tape on her goal of a $10,000 donation to the world polio eradication effort.
Clearly with this kind of dedication, the wild polio virus doesn’t stand a chance to keep up with Jane.”
To date (10/27/18), we have raised $5,600 for this initiative, to be tripled by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and we aren’t done yet! Thank you to all contributors.
Juneau Rotaract: Four members of the Rotaract Club of Juneau attended the fifth annual Big West Rotaract Institute, a leadership conference held in California this past July. The conference brought Rotaract leaders, ages 18 to 30 years old, together for a three-day intensive training that focused on leadership, conflict resolution, event planning, sales, marketing, delegation, recruitment, and membership retention.
While attendees were able to learn a wealth of Rotaract leadership knowledge, the BWR Institute also served as a unique opportunity for Rotaract leaders from the West Coast of North America to meet one another in-person. The conference was a great chance to network with other clubs, share ideas and get advice from other Rotaract leaders to bring back home to Alaska.
In attendance from Juneau were President Kaia Rongstad, Board Member Alexa Duran, and District 5010’s District Rotaract Representative (DRR) Marciano Duran. Board Member Portland Highbaugh also attended as conference staff and a presenter after spending months planning the conference with other BWR members. BWR Institute focused on three main curriculum tracks: President Elect Training Session (PETS) for club presidents and president-elects, Governor Elect Training Session (GETS) for DRRs, and Board Elect Training Session (BETS) for club officers. Having multiple Rotaract Club of Juneau members with different leadership positions attend the conference allowed the Rotaract Club of Juneau members to be able have representatives in each track of focus.
All four Juneauites that attended BWR Institute reported that they gained a lot of valuable knowledge and skills to bring back to their club and to District 5010. In the couple of months since the conference the Rotaract Club of Juneau has grown their membership by almost 40%, their meeting attendance has increased (despite all of the amazing summer weather Southeast Alaska was spoiled with), they held a very successful fundraising event and they are currently planning a large Halloween event for the community, all using the skills that club members gained from attending the BWR Institute.
For the 28th year in a row, moose nuggets are helping raise money for charity.
Yes, you read that correctly.
The Rotary Club of Anchorage Hillside held its annual Moose Marble Madness event Friday, in which 2,000 wrapped up pieces of moose poo are tossed from a helicopter.
Each one is numbered to match a corresponding ticket. The holder of the ticket matching the number of the nugget that comes closest to a designated bullseye will receive $5,000 for the charity of their choice.
Prizes range from that $5,000 award down to $20 awards, with about a 1-in-39 chance of winning.
This year, ticket No. 219 was the winning nugget; No. 1235 was second, the ticket holder of which will receive $1,000 for non-profit contribution; and No. 253, in third place, will take $500.
Hurry! Join the India National Immunization Day Tour and Rotary Friendship Team in January 2019.
There is a well organized trip in India to participate in a NID tour and Rotary Friendship team visiting Rotary projects and sights in India coming in January. India Rotarian Diwan Signh or "Dev" through his business "Indian Holiday Dreams" has been leading District 5010 Rotarians and others for several years. I would encourage you to apply. Applications are due soon and there is limited availability. Perhaps this is a last opportunity for you to have an experience of a life time.
Rotary India leadership indicates that there will be no more volunteer opportunities in the near future to administrate the polio vaccine. As a past participant in an India NID, I can say that India has a very good system for accounting who has been vaccinated. It is an amazing experience in itself. India is full of amazing sights! This is a great opportunity.
For questions or insight you are welcome to call or email Mary Kowalczyk or Richard Dyson. We are both past participants. See contact information on the Tour Information and Schedule. Happy Travels!
Homer-Kachemak Bay Rotary Club members continued work this summer on its adopted city park, Ben Walters Park on Beluga Lake near McDonald’s Restaurant.
Rotarians adopted the park several years ago with a goal of making the park safer and more user-friendly.
In early June, volunteers repainted the restrooms.
At an Aug. 11 work party, they cleared brush and last week built and painted new picnic tables, including a wheelchair accessible one.
At the February Homer Winter Carnival, the club held a Cranium Cup fundraiser at Alice’s Champagne Palace to raise funds for park improvements.
According to Rotarian Tom Early, those funds were doubled with a generous donation from McDonald’s and a Rotary District Grant.
The Homer-Kachemak Rotary Club plans to continue work, with more brush cutting.
Peace Garden Project – by Matthew Pyhala of the Soldotna Club
Last February my wife Sarah and I attended the Presidential Peacebuilding Conference for Environmental Sustainability and Peace in Vancouver, Canada. It was a wonderful experience. At the conference she and I received 2nd generation seeds from a gingko tree and hackberry plants which survived the Hiroshima nuclear bombing…Gingko Trees History
This spring we germinated the seeds and now have 1 gingko and 3 hackberry plants. We have since begun working to build a Japanese garden in Soldotna. Sarah is leading the effort. Yesterday I was at the Rotary Club of Homer Downtown. At the meeting was Noko Yoshida. She and PDG Steve Yoshida were at the Peacebuilding conference dispensing the seeds. They are very excited to hear we successfully germinated the seeds and for the effort toward a garden where the plants will be included.
DG Diane has been on a whirlwind of tours of our clubs in District 5010. Her adventures have been fast-paced and very eventful!
DG Diane is entertainingly introduced to the Anchorage Rotary club by Lt. Gov. LaMarr Anderson. President Leah Boltz awards over 15 new Paul Harris’ including Past District Governor Harry Kieling for his Major Donor award. Some major projects completed by the Anchorage Rotary Club with their partners are The Justice for Victims Park, the fully accessible Cuddy Park, the Karl Eid Ski Jump, and the Planet Walk along the Coastal trail.
The Russian Vocational Training Team from Yakutsk, Russia visited to learn about follow up care for cancer victims. Thank you PDG Ted Trueblood, Penny May and the Anchorage Int’l club for hosting them and making sure their visit were full of helpful meetings and knowledgeable professionals.
The Clubs of Homer Downtown and Katchemak Bay ensured a sunny welcome for DG Diane that included a garden party at the Olson’s lovely house with Inbound Exchange Student Claudia and many members. Presidents Bernie Griffard and Jane Little showed off projects which included a Little Free Library by Homer Downtown, Park upgrades, Waterway Boardwalks, covered Pavilions for picnics and moveable mats for fully accessible beach trips by Homer Katchemak Bay – not to mention their 35th YEAR of HEALTH FAIRS! Homer is definitely healthier and more literate because of our clubs! That must be why 4 Past District Govs. still live there.
Kodiak Morning President “Nitro” Mike Hjorstorp, President-Elect Richard Lantz, member Tom Solenberger and Kodiak Noon President Elect Trent Dodson showed off their Emerald Isle of BIG machinery, FAST boats, Beautiful parks and Sunny weather – who would think they need all those big Wind Turbines?
President Dave escorted DG Diane on a trip around Kenai including the future dog park. The Club visit included discussions about attracting even more new Young Professionals to join up, perhaps at an evening meeting?
Way up North in Utqiagvik, the Barrow-Nuvuk club is used to dealing with wild creatures – no not President Judetta who is a calm, dignified teacher at the adult learning center of Ilisagvik . They work with their community to put on a wildly successful fair for the entire town and finish it off with a welcoming Little Free Library at the Airport. Be sure to visit when you travel to the northern reaches of our District.
Soldotna President Dan Nelson and Asst Gov Matt Pyhala toured DG Diane to their Kenai River fishing area which was made fully accessible by the Soldotna club. Allowing those with lesser mobility to fish in the world famous Kenai shows caring to the community members who may then continue to live a full life – Inspirational indeed!
The Kenai River Club encourages all to live a healthy life. This means exercise so they measured, paced off and built trails to track the requisite 10,000 steps per day. Past President Bill ensured that DG Diane could actually walk those 10,000 steps – success! President Rachel
Nash’s library houses art drawers and allows community members to experiment with their 3D printer – now that’s community involvement and enterprise!
In the lovely Matanuska-Susitna Valley - Wasilla Sunrise President Janet Kennedy and past Pres Dan Kennedy hosted DG Diane overnight in their dedicated Youth exchange room -to ensure she wasn’t late to their lively, energetic 7AM meeting. The Kennedy’s have hosted how many – could it be 17, 18, 19 or more exchange students – likely a record! As the successful parent club of the new Rotary Club of Wasilla Sunrise-Sunset satellite club, Wasilla Sunrise members show off their skill in attracting new members by social gatherings at the local brewery. Their many projects include the Wasilla Freedom Park, the Wasilla Sunrise Newcomb Park Playground, and Bell Ringing at Christmas, Scholarships, Career talks at middle school and Youth Exchange, of course!
The Rotary Club of Seward, not to be outdone under President Jake Collins hosted a great barbecue and the weather was gorgeous. Jessica their exchange student from Indonesia brought an Indonesian dish that you assemble on the spot – it was fantastic! The tour of the Seward Gazebo for rainy day picnics included a discussion of a potential art project on previously installed piers. This might incorporate the inland water feature and the rising/falling tide as part of the art – great concept!
I’ve just returned to Cape Town after 2 months interning with the Resident Coordinators Office at the United Nations Namibia office in Windhoek during my university winter break. It was an incredible experience! The Resident Coordinators Office (RCO) is the top UN office in Namibia that coordinates all UN operations across the country and works closely with governments. Its housed with the UN Development Program (UNDP) office. My work involved a lot of research and data analysis on development priorities, focus areas and development sectors across the country. I had the opportunity to do work analyzing and collecting data on which development sectors each foreign government (from literally every corner of the globe!) were investing in, and where gaps and shortfalls exist.
For me the most exciting work I contributed to, was to make a recommendation to the RCO on where and in what development sectors UN Namibia should focus their area-based programming expansion plans in the next 5 years. By identifying the most impoverished areas of the country and the most pressing social challenges in those regions, I was able to generate a proposal for the RCO office who will be presenting their expansion plans to the UNDP office in New York. The Northern part of Namibia is the most disadvantaged area, with youth unemployment (sitting at a shocking 65%), teenage pregnancy and access to early childhood development programs as the top 3 most pressing social challenges in the region (and largely across the country). I’m really looking forward to hearing how the UN operations in Namibia will expand and potentially integrate my suggestions into their expansion. I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity to intern with the UN in Namibia! It was an incredible learning experience!
While in Windhoek I also had the opportunity to present at 2 of 3 Rotary clubs and connect strongly with the Windhoek Rotaract Club. I was even lucky enough to be able to volunteer with the Windhoek Rotaract Club doing some tree planting at a local orphanage. I have a couple pictures attached! Was great fun!
I have jumped right back into classes now for my second semester at UCT. I’m thrilled to be back on campus everyday and am excited about my courses this term! I hope everyone has had a lovely summer back home! Its starting to warm up in Cape Town and I’m really looking forward to spring here!
Cheers, Allison
Allison Furniss is one of 90 global grant scholars worldwide. She is specializing in peace and conflict global. She completed her internship in Namibia with the UN in July, and will complete her Masters in Justice and Transformations at U of Cape Town in December 2019. Allison is active with the Rotary Club of Sea Point in Cape Town.
Warm greetings from Rotary District 9400 (Southern Africa)
District 9400 covers the following countries, Botswana, Swaziland, Mozambique and the following provinces in South Africa – Gauteng, Limpopo, North West and Mpumalanga.
We are looking to do a Rotary Friendship Exchange in your area and will appreciate it if you can circulate this information to Rotarians of your district.
If your district is interested in having an exchange with our district, it will be my pleasure to complete the formalities.
Should you however be interested in a potential exchange for 2020, it will be appreciated if you can put me in touch with the Friendship Exchange co-ordinator in your district, so we can start with the planning of an enjoyable exchange.
There is considerable interest from our members in hosting and visiting your area, and I look forward to hearing from you.
We have a request for contributions towards Global grant No. GG1979053 from Rotarian Rahul Mamman rahul@actfordilse.com District 3201. The Grant can be viewed on Matching Grants the site we use. The MG Global Grant program can be sorted by country, areas of focus and amount of contribution needed..BUT see our grants committee for details.
-Colombia Fair Project
Columbia is becoming a memorable International Partner for those clubs and/or districts who want to work with well-organized projects that fulfill all expectations. (Add LINK) We are 100% qualified at the Rotary Foundation with the project work. I am at your service at all times. Also my very good friend Trevor Birt, District 4271 Chair for International Services, is available to help if it is required (trevoredwinbirt@hotmail.com). We are both hopeful to have the opportunity to work with you in the future and cement new partnerships and friendships!
Sonia Uribe López PG
District 4271 Chair for International Services - DISC
Chair for Colombia´s Zone Institute 2012-2017
Training Leader 2016-2017
-Letter from DG Chintamani Bhattarai of District 3292 DG Diane and all Rotary Members of District 5010 are invited to his District Conference in Butwal, Nepal, in February 2019. Over the past 20 years, many Clubs in our District have been involved in projects in Nepal.
Have you invited a guest to your meeting this month? Every Rotarian, every month, invite someone to your meeting and try to induct at least one of them for this Rotary year! Learn how to bring in Millennial & Past Rotarians.
Over half the world populations is under 35 years old, and only 5% of Rotary is under 40 years old. The Average age of Rotary is 55-60 years old. 68% of the world work force is under 50 and 34% under 35. 78% of millennials prefer to do service work with a group. 91% of millennials.
We need to adapt Rotary clubs to appeal to this group of the world population. We need to invite this group of people.
Most of us are not going to attract these younger people. We really don’t need to attract them all, we just need to get one key person. Anchorage South has done a nice job with this with Past President Jess and with Membership Chair Laurel. They are bringing in their friends that are the same age group. Get that one young person that thinks like they do, they communicate like they do. They do not respond to newspaper ads, radio ads or phone calls, they do use the internet. I use Facebook quite a bit in Kodiak, we have a closed group site, “Friends of Kodiak” that has 7000 members, about our population. I am working on setting up an Instagram for Kodiak Rotary. These are methods that we all need to look at to promote Rotary.
Past Rotarians
This is a huge group of folks! We don’t need to sell them on Rotary, they already know! In 2016, the Rotary world inducted 159,000 members, but 150,000 did not maintain their memberships. Have you gone through your past rosters and called these folks from your club? Some of our 5010 clubs are indeed doing this very thing. A good membership goal is to contact these past folks. I am not sure about everywhere else, but in our two Kodiak Clubs, it seems like a big number of these folks are Past Presidents. A Rotarian is President of his club for his year and after he is done, we don’t seem him much or not at all. There are all sorts of groups that we can look at, but this is just some suggestions for two groups of potential members!
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