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GOVERNOR’S MESSAGE
May 2020
Wow! What a difference a year makes. Or, for that matter, a month and a half. Our lives have certainly taken quite a turn; we now have an entirely new “normal.”
Pam and I are so pleased and encouraged that our clubs and Rotarians transitioned so quickly and smoothly to virtual meetings. Meeting attendance has increased for quite a few of our clubs – there is a message there, lol. And, we have learned that Zoom also works for socials and get-togethers with friends and family. Bonus!
It amazes us how much support our clubs are providing to their communities during this difficult and challenging time. Although our Rotary fund raising will be taking a big hit this year, we Rotarians are still capable of making a substantial, positive impact on our communities through our donation of our leadership and managerial skills and of our labor.
Your priority is to your personal health and safety, and to the well being of your family. Then, as you safely can, please reach out and look out for the well being of others in your sphere of influence.
Then, and only then, please support your Rotary club and your club’s activities, to the extent that you safely and comfortably can. We all want to support Rotary, and hands-on participation in our club’s projects is one way to do that. But, if hands-on participation is not currently a good fit for you, there are other ways one can support Rotary.
Thank you very much, for taking care of yourself, and for taking care of others.
We will get through this, together, because we are one family.
Pam and I send love to you all,
DG Andy
Andrew Glazier
District Governor, Rotary District 7780
Best Practice for Zoom Meetings
Rotarians who joined the District’s Growth call in April shared best practices for virtual meetings, and we all learned a lot! Some clubs are getting better attendance at their virtual get-togethers than they did before COVID! Here’s how they are doing it:
1.Provide the Zoom info/call in data three times. Announce the call/speaker/agenda at the beginning of the week, repeat it a couple days in advance, and also an hour or two in advance. Each time provide the call-in info.
2. Consider a (slight) change in meeting time. There’s no point in having a Rotary meeting at mealtime if Rotary is not providing a meal - it just keeps the Rotarian away from his/her family meal. So consider running your breakfast meeting at 8:30; your lunch meeting either at 11:00 or 1:00, and a dinner meeting at 5:00 pm. or so.
3. Keep all electronic meetings to one hour.
4. Learning curve.
Some of your members use Zoom and other teleconferencing platforms in their worklife. For others, it’s brand-new technology. Offer a primer session during which a seasoned Zoom user can help newbies through the basics – logging on, finding the video, finding the audio, screen-sharing, hand raised, et cetera. Explain that there is a first time for everything.
If problems persist, "pair" a member having technology issues with another Rotarian who can guide them through the process. This makes the people for whom technology is an issue feel valued, and it doesn’t overload a few (generally younger) members with everyone asking them for help.
5. Urge members to log in on computer with video so they are not a disembodied voice. That said, members who are having continued trouble logging on – or who do not have a speaker or camera on their computer – should be made to feel that the phone-in option is a welcome choice.
6. Security. Zoom has its issues, as recent headlines have indicated. Consider using a security code for your meetings.
7. Record meetings and post them on your website. This will keep involved the members who miss the meeting, and may let others know that your Rotary club is filled with People of Action.
The next monthly call of the District Growth Team will be held Saturday, May 16, at 10:00 am. In accordance with the above best practices guidelines, an email/link will be sent three times! Meanwhile, mark your calendar to share your club’s successes, and learn how other clubs are making Rotary work in the age of COVID!
Until then, stay safe.
Marty Peak Helman
District Growth Chair
The Rotary Foundation
UPDATE REGARDING DONATIONS
These are trying times, both health wise and financially. This is very evident at Rotary International headquarters in Evanston, IL. where personnel are not being permitted to enter the building.
Should you be able and willing to make a contribution at this time, Elizabeth Davis, our Rotary Annual Fund Giving Officer, has sent the following guidelines
1. The Rotary Support Center does not have phone or contribution processing capabilities at this time. They are only available to answer inquires via email. Their email address is rotarysupportcenter@rotary.org. Members should not email contributions to this email address.
2. Any contributions sent to One Rotary Center will not be processed for some time. Additionally, our capability for accepting faxed contributions has also been placed on hold indefinitely. We highly encourage members who would like to contribute to do so online at myrotary.org/donate.
3. At this time, our lockbox address, The Rotary Foundation 14280 Collections Center Drive, Chicago, IL, 60693, listed on contribution forms is active. However, should USPS discontinue service this will become an issue as well. Again, the best place to make a contribution is online at myrotary.org/donate.
I know that some of you are using Rotary Direct to make your contribution. Others have already made this Rotary year’s contribution. I thank you very much for having done so. If you have not yet made a contribution, please consider doing so. In this time of worldwide crisis, our Rotary Foundation needs your help more than ever.
Lawrence Furbish District 7780 Foundation Committee Chair
EVERY ROTARIAN EVERY YEAR
What is Rotary’s EREY Initiative and How is it Related to the Annual Fund - SHARE?
During the past 100 years, the Rotary Foundation has spent $3 billion on life-changing, sustainable projects throughout the world. Individual member’s contributions help Rotary International strengthen peace efforts, provide clean water and sanitation, support education, grow local economies, save mothers and children, and fight disease. Therefore, each year Rotarians are asked to participate in EREY or Every Rotarian Every Year by supporting our Rotary Foundation at Rotary International. Your gift to the Annual Fund helps Rotary clubs take action today to create positive change in communities at home and around the world.
The Every Rotarian Every Year (EREY) initiative asks every Rotarian to support the Rotary International Foundation every year. A goal which many Rotarians set for themselves is a sustaining contribution of $100 per year. Your donation may be more or it might be less. This year let’s achieve a District Foundation goal of having 100% of the members from Rotary Clubs in District 7780 give at least $25 to the Rotary Foundation (TRF) and Rotary’s Annual Fund (AF). By meeting this goal, we are helping Rotary’s 35,000 clubs and their partners worldwide carry out sustainable service projects.
At the end of every Rotary year, contributions directed to the Annual Fund-SHARE from all Rotary clubs in the district are divided between the World Fund and the District Designated Fund, or DDF. At the end of three years, our district can use the DDF to pay for Foundation, club, and district projects that your club and others in the district choose. Districts like ours may use up to half of their DDF to fund district grants. The remaining DDF may be used for global grants or donated to PolioPlus, the Rotary Peace Centers, or an emergency project. This amount is separate from Polio Plus contributions. A percentage of the Polio Plus money does not return to our district to be used as DDF. The DDF is used for our District’s smaller, local projects as opposed to minimum $30,000 projects which are Global grants. Let's support District 7780’s 2020 Annual Fund goal of $174,214.00 so that we can continue ask the district to support our club’s projects!
The Rotary Foundation transforms your gifts into service projects that change lives both close to home and around the world. With donations like yours, we’ve wiped out 99.9 percent of all polio cases. Your donation also trains future peacemakers, supports clean water, and strengthens local economies.
Why should I donate to The Rotary Foundation’s Annual Fund? Because your donation makes a difference to those who need our help most. More than 90 percent of donations go directly to supporting our service projects around the world. Only if Every Rotarian makes a gift to the Annual Fund Every Year can the great work of Your Rotary Foundation continue. WHY? Because, the Annual Fund is the primary source of unrestricted funding for programs in more than 180 countries on seven continents. From within our district our clubs are promoting and saving the cultural heritage of the Zulu people in South Africa, providing equipment and staff training for a cancer care center in Uganda and drilling a well Guatemala to provide 3,000 inhabitants with clean water. During any given moment in a day thousands of Rotarians volunteer their time and expertise to ensure that all contributions given to the Annual Fund are spent wisely on quality Rotary projects.
If you are an EREY Member, thank you so very much for your support. If you are not yet an EREY Member, please consider becoming one. It’s so simple—if you can just contribute at least $25 to The Rotary Foundation Annual Fund-SHARE by June 15, 2020. Remember no amount is too small. Can we please count on you to help with district projects such as educational support for native American children in rural school district in US, job training in hospitality and tourism in Jordan or closer to home mobility accessible walkways and food security for young people and older adults? You can make the difference!
Doing good in the world and making your EREY donation just got easier. Rotary Direct, Rotary’s recurring giving program, saves time, money, and lives. Contributions go directly to The Rotary Foundation, resulting in faster processing and quicker achievement of your district, club and personal charitable goals. Enrollment is as easy as one, two, three: (1) Select your fund, (2) choose your amount, and (3) indicate how often you wish to contribute. Sign uponce to give continuous support.
Donald MacRae Peace Award
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS!
Do you know a Rotarian or Rotary organization that deserves plaudits for their international work?
Every year, a Rotarian or Rotary organization is celebrated in Zones 28 and 32 for outstanding achievement consistent with the ideals expressed in the Fourth Object of Rotary:
“The advancement of international understanding, goodwill and peace through humanitarian activity of international significance.
Is this the year for you to honor one of your members?
Candidates for the awards will have demonstrated the advancement of international goodwill, understanding and peace through peace-making efforts or humanitarian activity of international significance.
The award is open to Rotarians and non-Rotarians, but the applicant must have a relationship with the Club or District that is nominating them.
The award honors the contributions of Halifax Rotarian Donald MacRae who, at the International Convention in 1918, proposed that Rotary become an agent for the promotion of goodwill and peace among nations. This was the first time that an international vision of Rotary was publically expressed.
Who has won the Donald MacRae Peace Award in the past? The list reads like a “who’s who” of our two Zones’ most active internationalists, and includes Safe Passage, the literacy support program in Guatemala, and Dr. Robert Raiche, founder of Friends Forever, a program that teaches Protestant and Catholic youth in Northern Ireland how much they really have in common.
While you are there, check out this year’s application form. Filling out the application to honor someone is easy, and recognizing the work of eligible deserving individuals is exceptional and just the right thing to do!
Deadline for receipt of applications is May 15, 2020, and they should be emailed to: PDG Marty Helman, martyrotary@gmail.com
Thanks for making it a priority and taking the time to say Thank-You to a deserving person or group.
YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE NOMINATION FORM HERE: https://clubrunner.blob.core.windows.net/00000050077/en-ca/files/homepage/donald-macrae-nomination-2020/Donald-MacRae-Peace-Award-2020.pdf
RYLA
Our RYLA Staff is hard at work preparing and designing RYLA 2020: Make Connections, Build Community. Here are some important dates you all need to know in order to best support us and the Servant Leaders you will be sponsoring!
Student Camper Registration: Camper’s must be registered for camp ASAP. Once you have chosen your students they must be registered online, just like last year. Please refer to your Rotarian Registration Guide for assistance, or reach out if you have questions. We are still planning on camp for this year and will adjust if we need to based on Covid-19.
Camper Welcome Packages: We will begin sending these to campers who have been registered by you on April 15th for students to return their Medical forms by June 1st if possible.
Hinds Clean-Up Day: Sunday, June 14. Rotarians are invited to help as we prepare camp with our annual clean up. Expect to clear trails, spread mulch, organize materials, and hang banners. Bring tools and dress to work!
Staff Camp Week Dates: Friday, June 26 - Thursday, July 2 (we usually leave around noon on Thursday)
New Staff decisions have been made and have already been sent out.
Camper Dates: Sunday, June 28th- Wednesday, June 1st
If you have any questions regarding any of the above, please reach out to Phil Giordano, Emily Rumble, and Sam Klemarczyk at the following contact information.
SHARE COMMON INTERESTS WITH OTHER ROTARIANS IN OUR DISTRICT!
We are setting up "affinity groups" for Rotarians who have common interests or hobbies. So far, we have the groups listed below. Let us know if you want to join one (or more) of them, or if you have an idea for a new group, by sending us a message at "Contact Us" on the district home page.
JAG Officers
Peace Corps Alumni
Rotary History/Technology
Diplomats, Foreign Service and Others Who Have Lived Abroad (including Missionaries, Teachers, Business people)
Paddling (SUP, Canoe, Kayak)
Running
Hiking
Sports Cars
(Local) Traveling Rotarians (to support fundraisers and events at other district clubs)
International Traveling Rotarians (interested in visiting clubs in other countries)
Healthcare Workers (doctors, nurses, etc.)
District History for May 2020
There were no responses to my history requests for April.
Will you send me something for the June 2020 newsletter?
Tell me, if your club is meeting via Zoom or another way. My club, The Rotary Club of Kittery, is meeting via Zoom meetings. If this old dog can learn to do it, anyone can! I will have to admit that DG Andy had to walk me thru step by step on how to do it but it is really neat!! Thank goodness, he and Club President Eric set it up. They are both from the younger generation or at least younger than my generation. I am in what they call the “elderly generation” with what is going on in the world right now. It is great to see my friends from Rotary once again on a weekly basis. Seeing them and talking to them on the computer is so much better than just an email. It has given me back a little bit of the human contact that we are all missing right now. If you haven’t tried, please do!
Is your club involved in a community service project to help out those in need during this time? Tell me what it is so it can be shared with other clubs. Your project might inspire someone else to do the same. How many times have you heard – I never thought of doing that! Or we can do that! My club was able to give hand sanitizer to 4 locations in town housing senior citizens, which was very much appreciated by all involved.
To check out the District History pages, go to https://www.rotary7780.org/ then click on ABOUT US, then on District History in the drop down. Then click on anything that is light blue and it will bring up the page. If you click on Rotary Clubs of District 7780, the list of all 41 clubs in the district will appear. Just click on the club name you want to look at and see what information there is about that club.
I know there is a lot more information/history out there about our District clubs – PLEASE SHARE something with me so I can share it with everyone one in the District!
Send me what you want to SHARE along with your name and your club’s name to mawilliamspdg@comcast.net. It will appear in the next newsletter. You will become part of District 7780’s History that will live on and may inspire someone else to share or take on a project in their community or around the world! It, also, gives the “human touch” to Rotary!
Everyone, stay safe!
Marie
Marie A. Williams, PDG
District 7780 Historian
The Rotary Club of Bath Sunrise
THE LITTLE CLUB THAT DOES A LOT OF GOOD
When co-presidents, Eleanor Swain and Bob Reed put out the call for members to pledge money in order to fund community needs during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bath Sunrisers answered the call. $3,100 dollars was raised in the blink of an eye. Here’s how we spent part of it.
$500 for the purchase of books and puzzles from the Library Bookstore. Delivered to the Plant Home, Bath Housing and Big Brothers/Big Sisters (children’s books). We are looking for additional agencies who may need books.
$850 to insure connectivity for several New Mainers families, allowing their children to continue online learning while schools are closed.
$350 to the Bath YMCA for student meals during school vacation week.
$150 to United Methodist Church for Wednesday night take-out meals.
$200 in quarters for Bath Housing residents (Laundry).
$50 in stamps for Bath Housing residents.
We are also doing a reverse fundraiser. Last year, over 46 merchants in the greater Bath area supported our Calendar Raffle. To support our wonderful businesses, we are buying the amount they donated in gift certificates to be used in a future fundraiser. Seems like everyone wins with this one.
Bath Sunrise Rotary meets on Friday mornings via Zoom. Would you like to attend a meeting? Please email Bob Reed at reedart@sover.net for an invitation. If you want to do a lot of good, join our little club.
The Rotary Club of Bethel
MONTHLY RECAP
Bethel Rotary is having our weekly meetings on Zoom now!
Dr. Kevin Finley, a Past President (twice) of our club is modeling a cloth mask that Rotarian Robin Zinchuk made for him and the employees of our local Bethel Family Health Center.
President Tim LeConey facilitating our final monthly club assembly before the pandemic put an end to our face to face meetings.
The Rotary Club of Brunswick
CLUB ADJUSTS, ADAPTS AND MOVES FORWARD
Regular club meetings meet via ZOOM on Monday noons. Attendance is very good.
May 4 will celebrate new Paul Harris Fellow Awardees. Several of the Paul Harris fellows joined a group of five in honor of Doc Phillips, beloved club member and Foundation Chair, who passed away on September 17, 2019.
May 11 guest speaker will be Peace Fellow Nominee Mario Guevara from El Salvadore
COVID Care Team continues to phone members on a weekly basis
“COVID Tiger Team” is busy awarding checks from the new $10,000 budget for community efforts to relieve hunger and homelessness. So far, checks have been sent to Oasis Clinic, Midcoast Hunger Prevention Project, Tedford Housing (homeless families), Harpswell Aging at Home (to-go lunches every Tuesday noon) Early Action Network (food for school aged children and families in need) YMCA (childcare for essential workers) Midcoast Humane (dog and cat food).
International efforts: Pledge to contribute to GG#2094820, COVID 19 prevention in Lusaka, Zambia.
Contact President Carolyn Bulliner if you wish to visit a virtual club meeting. cbulliner@yahoo.com
The Rotary Club of Damariscotta-Newcastle
CLUB ADOPTS EMERGENCY FOOD KIOSK
Our community service committee has adopted the emergency food kiosk at Main Street Grocery IGA. This food cabinet has been going for months now, intended to tide folks over until the next payday or the next food pantry day. Past President Jane Gravel, MSG owner, has customers who give $ and Jane restocks shelves as needed. Now they can donate through our club foundation. A Rotary project sign is being made; this project started before and will continue after Covid19. Thanks to everyone who has helped in some way.
CLUB SUPPORTS FOOD BANKS
Thanks to the efforts of one of our club’s organization members, the CLC Y, every Tuesday we support all the area food banks as well as Lincoln County Food Initiative in a physically distancing appropriate manner. Drive by, drop donations into shopping cart. Money can also be donated and then it used at the end of the day to purchase needed items, filling gaps.
The Rotary Club of Hampton
CLUB RECEIVES THANK YOU FOR HAND SANITIZER
The staff at Partridge House and Oceanside Center would like to thank The Hampton Rotary for donating this awesome hand sanitizer to our center. Kudos to Copper Moon Distillery for revamping your product to assist healthcare providers during this unprecedented health crisis!
Pictured here: David Longo, President of The Hampton Rotary and Sarah Kearney from Partridge House.
The Kittery Rotary Club recently purchased and distributed hand sanitzer to its four age 55 and over communities.
Pictured above, Pam Gray is delivering a case to Meeting House Village Manager, and fellow Rotarian, Larry Knowles. The hand sanitizer was sourced from Assistant Governor and Hampton Rotarian Larry Marsolais.
The Rotary Club of Ogunquit
CLUB REACHES OUT TO SENIORS DURING COVID-19 CRISIS
In mid-March, club members Heath Ouellette and John Clancy suggested our club try reaching out to senior citizens in Ogunquit to see how folks were faring as the COVID-19 crisis was worsening. Working in concert with the Ogunquit Police Department, Clancy obtained a list of phone numbers of Ogunquit residents 75 years of age and older. Starting at the end of March, about 15 members began making calls. Happily, everyone reached was safe and in good health. Many of those folks expressed sincere gratitude for the action of our club in making those calls. On weekly follow up calls, many of the seniors said they were pleased to be contacted; members were equally pleased to speak with these new companions. A handful of the seniors requested assistance getting groceries and medication; with the help of some volunteers and the police, their needs were met.
TWO OGUNQUIT ROTARIANS MAKE PROTECTIVE FACE MASKS
Working independently, two members of the Ogunquit Rotary Club have produced more than 500 cloth facemasks since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis. The masks have been given to friends and family, a hospice facility, a hospital and the Wells-Ogunquit Center at Moody, a non-profit senior center. Some of the masks have been made available to the general public.
The Rotary Club of Oxford Hills
MEMBERS KEEP IN TOUCH THROUGH ZOOM
The Rotary Club of Oxford Hills has started Zoom club meetings to keep members in touch with each other and to discuss possible options for helping those less fortunate during this pandemic. They recently sent out $2,500 in checks to 4 local food pantries to help with food insecurities. Several Club members have teamed up with the Bridgton-Lake Region Club and are delivering food baskets weekly to those that are high-risk or who are having to self-quarantine.
The Rotary Club of Portland
ROTARIANS TRAVEL TO INDIA
Portland Rotary's International Services Committee was invited to visit our Rotarian colleagues in Texcity, India, in March. They delivered humanitarian assistance with 50 hearing aids donated by Portland Rotarian audiologist Roger Fagan and water filters for schools. Among the events they attended were a wedding reception and a District Conference. Thankfully, the Portland Rotarians returned home just before the travel restrictions were imposed in response to the coronavirus pandemic and all are safe and well.
President Amy Chipman is dressed in a stunning blue and orange striped sarees with a beautiful group of wedding reception guests.
Past President John Curran (center) and his wife Alison attended the District Conference with Rob Chatfield. (Rob is shaking hands with Past District Governor of District 3201, Baby Joseph.)
The Rotary Club of Sebago Lake
RSU14 Backpack Program
The RSU #14 backpack program supplies a total of 152 backpacks to students at the Raymond Elementary School, Manchester School and Windham Primary School during the school year. The bags contain food items that are kid friendly, nutritious and lightweight enough for them to carry home in their backpacks.
The Sebago Lake Rotary Club has recently donated $2750 in support of the RSU14 Backpack Program for meals and for school supplies for the local Elementary Schools. During this time of uncertainty, families are hit in many ways. The SLRC wanted to make sure that the children in our communities had the necessary tools to fulfill their school requirements and needs as well as meals. The program relies solely on donations which cost $200 per student to provide this service during the school year. Families are picking up these supplies on Tuesdays and Fridays at Raymond Elementary and Windham Primary Schools each week.
The Rotary Club of South Portland-Cape Elizabeth
CLUB HOSTS ZOOM PRESENTERS
Over the past month the SPCE Rotary Club has been doing weekly Zoom meetings and still hosting presenters for those members who can join in. Our club likes to explore new avenues for participation; energy and care for the environment looms large during this time. Recently we had Vanessa Berry from ecomaine present an engaging overview of the company, which specializes in waste-to-energy production. The waste-to-energy plant was built in 1988, and provided two major benefits: 1) use of municipal waste as fuel to generate and sell electricity for the financial health of the organization, and 2) reduction in the volume of trash by 90 percent to greatly extend the life of the landfill. Recycling was added in 1990 and single-stream recycling was added in 2006 for both environmental and financial considerations that have succeeded beyond expectations. Valuable information and very educational!
Join York Rotary and York Park and Recreation for the 41st Annual Four on the 4th Road Race! The race is virtual this year, which means you can run (or walk or skip) a four mile course of your choosing anytime between Saturday, June 27th and Saturday, July 4th. Sign up with family or friends, have a great time, and support Rotary. Register by June 5th, and your $27 registration fee includes a collector’s item t-shirt. Thank you for your support! We look forward to “seeing” you.
Updates and short articles with images or videos, and the names of new members and those who have passed, may be submitted to our Newsletter Editor, Deb Marsolais, at deb.marsolais@comcast.net to be included in our Monthly Newsletter. The District Newsletter is a means of communicating to other clubs in our district; items of interest, upcoming events, fundraisers, opportunities of service, or member news.
Deadline forJune Newsletter Submissions: May 24th
PLEASE NOTE:
As a precaution, unless you have obtained a written consent from a parent/guardian, every child’s face which appears in a picture submitted for the newsletter or website, will be edited so that it is blurred out in the picture. Since there may be situations involving abuse, neglect, custody dispute, etc., and parents wouldn't want their child's picture to appear in public, this is being done for the child's privacy and protection.
If you have a submission for the newsletter or website, and would like to have us post a picture with a child (children) in it, please let us know if you have received a consent, otherwise we will edit it accordingly.
Thank you for your cooperation.
www.rotary7780.org … or follow us on Facebook!
Everyone’s Phone Number at Your Fingertips . . . and Much More!
Have you done the easy ClubRunner download yet?
How would you like to have not only your own Rotary Club members contact information but also the entire District at your fingertips? You can and so much more by downloading the new and improved ClubRunner Mobile App. You can also access club and district leadership, stories and events all with just a few clicks. Connecting to them is as easy as clicking on the phone number or email address.
You can download it on the AppStore or GooglePlay and be on your way in minutes. Now would also be a good time to make sure that your profile is current, and if you do not have a picture saved, or your birthday listed, considering updating your information now!
Reach out and collaborate with other like minded Rotarians from around our district and be the People of Action that your are!
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How would you like to have not only your own Rotary Club members contact information but also the entire District at your fingertips? You can and so much more by downloading the new and improved ClubRunner Mobile App. You can also access club and district leadership, stories and events all with just a few clicks. Connecting to them is as easy as clicking on the phone number or email address.
