A sixteen year veteran of the grants staff at The Rotary Foundation, Valerie will share stories about some of her favorite Rotary Foundation grant projects. She has worked on progjects all around the world (she speaks five languages). She currently oversees grants in Brazil, much of the Caribbean and Portgual.
The meeting in the Winnetka Community House was opened at 12:16 by President Bill Leske. “Thoughts for the Day” came from Patti Van Cleave with quotes from Groucho Marx, George Carlin and Albert Einstein. It was followed by the pledge of allegiance led by President Bill. He also noted our only visitor was Asst. Dist. Governor, Mary Bak.
Lunch was served at 12:20 and the meeting started at 12:40. There were 23 of our 54 members in attendance.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: President Leske reminded us that there is a service project at the Winnetka Farmers Market on Sept. 15. We will have a “booth” and volunteers are needed He also noted there were no membership anniversaries nor member birthdays to be celebrated today.
Barb Tubekis said the New Trier Food Pantry needs contributions – with money being the most useful. For further details, contact Brian Leverenz at the Township Offices in Winnetka.
Asst. Governor Bak informed us of several upcoming events. First was the Sept. 3 Brewers/Cubs game in Milwaukee. Then on Oct. 20 at Harper College will be the Fall Training Seminar. Lastly she noted the May 2/4 Rotary International Conference will be held in Hamburg, Germany.
HAPPY BUCKS: Mike Shelton threw in some Happy Bucks honoring Mark Kotz who, he reported, is doing well in retirement. Barb Tubekis did so also in recognition of an impending vacation.
SPEAKER : The speaker for the day was Liz Kunkle introduced by Barb Tubekis. Ms. Kunkle is a Winnetka resident who advocates for protecting and preserving our environment. She recently received special recognition from The Volunteer Center for her work to protect our environment through sustainable and reasonable measures. Lynn is a practicing attorney and formed Go Green Winnetka in 2011.
During her talk she said over a third of food produced in the US, or 1.38 tons, is wasted.She claimed uneaten food goes to land fills, rots, and generates methane gas. That gas, in turn. traps heat in the atmosphere. She made no mention of how much methane is captured for re-use. She provided several ways individuals can importantly reuse food waste:
- plan carefully and don’t overbuy at the store.
- use the on-line “guest-imator’ for party food planning food
- make strong use of your freezer to store extra food for re-use.
- collect food scraps and compost them versus sending to the landfill
As Ms. Kunkle finished her talk at 1:28, there was no time for Q&A but she stayed on to chat with those who had questions.
The meeting closed at 1:32 p.m. with a recitation of the Rotary 4-Way Pledge.
Thank you to the 32 members of our club who donated a total of $11,430 to The Rotary Foundation's Annual Program Fund in the 2017-18 Rotary Year, exceeding our goal of $10,000 and setting a record level of giving!
Please thank these Rotarians for making their annual contribution, especially those in bold who are Paul Harris Fellows:
Sam Badger*+, Wes Baumann, Jean Beckman, Mary Lou Bilder Gold, David Birkenstein*+, Laura Cunningham, Joe Fell, David Grant*, Heather Higgins,Tony Kambich*, Gerry Keenan, Mark Kotz, Marie Kuipers,Rich Lalley+, Bill Leske, Robert Mardirossian, Rodger Morris*, Tom Nash, Chuck Norton, Felicia O'Malley, Lee Padgitt, Brooke Peppey, Keith Reed, Randy Reeves, Bob Sanfilippo, Fred Schwimmer+, Heidi Sibert, Peter Skalski, John Thomas,Barb Tubekis, and Patti Van Cleave, Carl Yudell. * signifies a Major Donor+ signifies Paul Harris Society ($1,000 per year)
There are many reasons to give to the The Rotary Foundation:
Contributions support humanitarian and educational projects initiated and run by Rotary Clubs and Districts in six areas of focus- Disease prevention and treatment, maternal & child health, education & literacy, water and sanitation, economic & community development and peace & conflict resolution. Learn more by reviewing the Foundation’s annual report.
Contributions come back to support projects of our club's projects, like our coats for kids, Kids Against Hunger and International grants projects like our breadfruit tree project in Haiti, the water and sanitation project we helped fund for school in Guatemala, and the digital x-ray/community health clinic project organized by District 6440. This year, we received nearly $4,000 for our Kids Against Hunger project! But we must give to receive.
Giving to The Rotary Foundation is an easy way for you to participate in Rotary’s service work beyond our club, providing you a personal connection to this great organization and the good it does throughout the world.
It’s easy to give. You can donate with a check or credit card at lunch; you can send a check to “WNRCF” (mark TRF in the memo line) to our club at 620 Lincoln Ave, Winnetka; you can donate via PayPal by clicking here, or you can donate directly to The Rotary Foundation at www.rotary.org or by calling 866-976-8279. One very convenient way to give is by making a recurring monthly gift on your credit card, which you can set up on Rotary’s website.
If you have not already supported The Rotary Foundation this year, please do so now.
If you have any questions about The Rotary Foundation or how to give, contact Rich Lalley.
We are pleased to announce our formal agreement with the Rotary Club of Les Cayes, District 7020, Haiti, to partner on a Global Grant project that will bring sustainable jobs and locally grown protein rich food to the Jeremie region of Haiti.
We are looking to raise approximately $20,000 for this project, which when matched $2.50 to $1 by The Rotary Foundation, will provide $70,000 in funding for this project. Rotary Clubs interested in participating should email info@wnrotary.org.
Areas of Focus
¨ Economic & Community Development
¨ Maternal & Child Health
¨ Bonus: Positive Environmental Impact
Project Objectives
¨ Restore and expand breadfruit production in Jeremie region of Haiti that was devastated by Hurricane Matthew
¨ Create a local, solar-powered breadfruit processing facility
¨ Provide vocational training to farmers, facility workers
¨ Develop the domestic and export market for breadfruit products
Planned Activities
¨ Propagate and grow 5,000 breadfruit saplings
¨ Provide ready-to-produce tress to small holder farmers and coop orchards
¨ Fund processing equipment for new facility (building funded by cooperating NGO)
¨ Provide packaged breadfruit breakfast meals to local schools
¨ Provide vocational training to farmers and workers
Expected Outcomes
¨ Produce 2.5 - 5 million lbs. of breadfruit annually
¨ Economic impact on region- $470,000 - $900,000 annually
¨ Good jobs and businesses for local population in poorest region of Haiti
¨ Provide nutritious meals to school children
¨ Develop an export industry for Haiti
Contribute to this project with the button below. Donations will be matched 2.5 to 1 by The Rotary Foundation.
Areas of Focus