Co-President Rich Lalley opened the meeting and welcomed everyone. Barb Tubekis shared a thought for the day about honesty. Michael Ambrose led the Club in the Pledge of Allegiance.
After lunch, Rich shared a few Rotary announcements:
- Rotary International is hosting an online discussion for International Women’s Day: Advancing Women, Building Peace. Click here to register and see more information about the international panelists. If you can’t attend, register anyway and you will receive the full recording of the session.
- Rotary International is hosting a new member orientation session (Rotary: Your Path to Purpose) on April 4, 12pm-4pm. You don’t have to be a new Rotarian to attend, all are welcome!Click here for more info and to register.
- Scholarships for vocational training are available through the District, more information is available here. The deadline for application is March 22.
- Our Club will be participating in the District’s collaborative grant program – the Wilmette Club has submitted the grant application. We will be joining the Wilmette Club’s ongoing project to pack lunches for the homeless, the first Tuesday of the month, 6:00pm-7:30pm at St. Joseph Church in Wilmette. Further details will follow.
Other announcements:
- Tom Applegate shared that the Counseling Center of the North Shore’s thrift shop is open for the spring season!
- Tom also shared that he and Moha Bouacha attended a meeting of the Northbrook Rotary Club recently, where Moha gave a presentation about the Global Grant our Club is sponsoring. Moha and Tom participated in the 50/50 raffle held that day and Moha won – and promptly donated the proceeds to the Morocco Global Grant project.
- Amy Skalinder shared two opportunities for Rotarian socializing are coming up at the Community House: Rock the House on March 8 (with two local bands) and the Village Follies, a variety show starting March 14.
- Robert Mardirossian shared that Cubs opening day at Wrigley Field is April 4. He predicts they will make the playoffs this year.
- Arlynn Presser shared that her new book, Your Book of Days is out, offering a story for each day. She shared a brief story about Oreo cookies, originally considered a “health food” meant to stimulate appetite – and brought Oreos to share in celebration.
For happy bucks, Heidi Sibert shared that her company, James Martin Associates, gives charitable donations to organizations chosen by their customers for the holidays, and she presented a check to our Club Foundation for Operation Warm.
Liz Taylor shared fun facts about a variety of subjects for Dig-N-Grin. Greeter Michael Ambrose introduced John Baer, who is visiting from the North Chicago Rotary Club.
Our speaker for the day was our own Rich Lalley, who gave a presentation about our Club Foundation and the Rotary Foundation. These are distinct entities – both are 501(c)(3) organizations that allow our Club and Rotary International, respectively, to receive donations and designate funds for charitable projects and activities.
For our Club Foundation, funding has recently gone to Thanksgiving groceries, Operation Warm, bike racks for local park districts, disaster relief projects, Global Grants (including the one we are working on now in Morocco), and community grants (application process required).
The funds for these projects for come from money put on the table at our weekly meetings for Dig & Grin, Happy Bucks, birthday donations, appeals for specific projects, general appeals to our membership, fundraising events, and donations from member donor-advised funds, required minimum distributions, and estates. Funds can and often are designated for specific projects. You do not need to be a member of our Club to contribute to our Club Foundation.
The Rotary Foundation is linked to Rotary International, and its mission is to help Rotary members to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace by improving health, providing quality education, improving the environment, and alleviating poverty.
Major programs of the Rotary Foundation include District Grants, Global Grants, Programs of Scale Grants, Peace Fellowships, and Disaster Response Grants. Most grants are linked to Rotary’s areas of focus: promoting peace, fighting disease, saving mothers and children, supporting education, growing local economies, protecting the environment, and providing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene.
When you give to the Rotary Foundation, you can choose to give to the Annual Fund – SHARE, which results in district designated funds (DDF) coming back to our Club to be used for charitable projects as we choose (within guidelines). But there are many other options for giving to the Rotary Foundation, including funds for specific issues and planned giving.
The Rotary Foundation raised $352 million last year. It carries an A+ rating from the American Institute of Philanthropy, and 4 stars (the highest rating) from Charity Navigator.
If you give $1,000 (or someone donates $1,000 in your name), you become a Paul Harris Fellow. There are many other levels of recognition as well.
Our Club has set a goal of having 100% of our members give at least $25 to the Rotary Foundation (which again, is separate from our Club Foundation) every year. We would also love to have 100% of our Club membership be Paul Harris Fellows. The Board has decided that if anyone who is not a Paul Harris Fellow reaches $250 in donations, the Club will provide the rest to make that person a Paul Harris Fellow.
In closing, Rich reminded everyone of the Rotary vision: Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.
The meeting adjourned with our usual recitation of the 4-Way Test.