Dear Dream Team,

 

Welcome to February and Rotary’s World Understanding Month.  What a great time to have a program at your club that promotes peace and world understanding.  At our District Council next week, we’ll present the District Peacemaker Award to a very deserving individual.  You all know the Four-Way Test, but I bet that not as many of you know the Object of Rotary (unless you’ve attended the District Leadership Academy!).  In it, the fourth object states that we will encourage and foster “the advancement of international understanding, good will, and peace through a world fellowship”.  Be sure and highlight that during this month.

 

The Rotary Foundation

 

Last month, Bill Gates demonstrated to the world his trust and confidence in Rotary by announcing his $255M donation to The Rotary Foundation.  I was able to be in the room and the excitement was incredible.  It isn’t common to see a room stand and cheer when asked to raise $100M!  We will eradicate polio!  We now are committed to raise a total of $200M by the end of June 2012.  That may seem daunting, but in a little over a year, we have raised close to $80M.  We can do that.  I find that the publicity on this announcement is making it easier to ask individuals and organizations outside of our clubs to join us in the effort.

 

Our Annual Programs Fund donations continue to grow.  We are currently at about 50% of our goal for the year.  I know that it is a challenging time, but RI President D. K. Lee announced while in San Diego that throughout the Rotary world we are ahead of our giving to date as compared with last year.  I know we will do all that we can to support The Rotary Foundation. 

 

I want to thank Maureen Eberle and her wonderful committee for providing all of us a fantastic Foundation Gala.  It was an outstanding event that gave us the chance to celebrate The Rotary Foundation and get inspired too.  Thanks also to PDG John T. Capps and his wife Jane.  And the dancing was fun too!

 

Our GSE team returns from East Africa on February 9.  If you want to be a part of the airport greeting party, contact GSE Chair Larry Sundram for details.  It will be exciting to hear from GSE Team Leader Dale Barnes and her team about the amazing experiences that they had.

 

Membership

 

While I continue to hear about members having to leave Rotary because of financial reasons, we continue to grow!  We have more members now in our district than we did at the start of the year!  Keep up the good work!  People have told me how appreciative they are of the flexibility that you are exercising with leaves of absence and other methods to keep people in the family.  I truly believe that good Rotarians don’t want to leave and if we can find a way to keep them, they will stay and be even better Rotarians in the future. 

 

Please make an effort to visit the North County New Generations Provisional Rotary Club and the Miramar Provisional Rotary Club.  They are both getting close to chartering.  Contact Membership Chair Carl Kruse for meeting days, times and locations.  Let’s all support them so that they will have a successful start.

 

International Assembly

 

I want to once again thank all of you who volunteered in support of the International Assembly this year.  We are so fortunate to have this amazing opportunity and to experience the internationality of Rotary in our own backyard.  As so often happens, those who volunteer get more out of it than they give.  If you didn’t get a chance to participate this year, be sure to sign up next year.  There are so many different ways to volunteer.

 

PETS

 

DGE Marge Cole and the Club Presidents-elect will be heading up to Los Angeles later this month for the President Elects Training Seminar.  Be sure to help your club president get prepared for this exciting time.  I still remember how “pumped up” I was after that weekend.  As leaders in the club and the district, it is our responsibility to help the new leaders do their best possible job.  Give them your support, your knowledge, your files and your time.  It will help them and all of us.  After all, The Future of Rotary is In Your Hands.

 

 

Keep up your fine effort to Make Dreams Real for the children of the world.  This is an amazing year and we are all blessed to be a part of it.  Thank you for all you do.

 

 

Future Dates to Save

 

February 10, 2009          District Council – History of Rotary in District 5340

March 21, 2009              District Assembly

April 7, 2009                  District Council – Four-Way Test Speech Contest

April 25, 2009                Rotarians At Work Day

May 14-17, 2009            District Conference

June 9, 2009                 District Council – End of Year / Start of Year Celebration

 

 

Have you texted the word polio to 90999 yet to donate $5?

 

 

 

Pam Russell

District Governor 2008-2009

Rotary District 5340

Telephone: 619.723.3651

Fax: 858.271.4138

www.rotary5340.org