Month: May 2012

Patrick Joyce (Mpls. City of Lakes Rotary) distributed a colorful handout of interconnected ideas he called Club Growth ‘Mindmap’ Linkages.

His Five F’s of Excellent Meetings were:

1. Have Fun.
2. Schedule Fantastic programs with a variety of business and organizational speakers. Go offsite on field trips.
3. Have a Function. Tie your meetings to service and purpose. Raise awareness of service programs and opportunities through Rotary.
4. Foster Friendships. Make sure there is enough social time built into meetings and events.
5. Keep it Fresh. Infuse meetings with variety. Ask veteran members to do another vocational talk for the benefit of new members. Invite new members to do an extended introduction. Showcase district programs and evaluate how your club can stretch through its district involvement.

Kelvin Choi arrived in the U.S. in 2005 as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar from Hong Kong, an opportunity made possible through Rotarians’ support of The Rotary Foundation.  He credits
Rotary for “making my American dream happen.” 

During the District Assembly’s opening session, Kelvin offered his interpretation of the 2012-13
Rotary theme, “Peace Through Service.”

World peace, he said, is achieved through the kind of service Rotarian perform. “Service is about putting someone else’s needs above yours.”

Inner peace is also accomplished through our Rotary projects. It is a one-on-one service that touches and connects people.

Kelvin closed by saying “No matter how
big or small (the project)…as long as you provide service, you are promoting world peace.”

Kelvin is now a full member of the Minneapolis University Rotary Club while he pursues his PhD. “My visits to different Rotary Clubs make me feel that Rotarians are
always concerned about the world issues, and it was my pleasure to be here to assist the exchange of information and ideas from one part of the world to another part.”

District 5950 is seeking four outstanding professionals to visit
Rotary District 3040 in Central India from January 26–February 24, 2013. This large and diverse geographical region includes the cities of Bhopal and Indore. The visit is part of a Group Study Exchange (GSE). For application requirements and GSE Program information go to www.rotary5950.org/news.asp?docID=469.

Thanks to Paul Kelzer, the Rogers Rotary STRIVE program is featured prominently on Rotary Showcase in conjunction with the International Convention. See it at:
http://map.rotary.org/en/project/Pages/project_detail.aspx?guid=ac8b4654-5058-4772-aafc-23222bab3f91

The Rotary Foundation Future Vision is a three-year test of the new grant structure.
In District 5950, Past District Governor Sandy Schley (2009-10) is heading up the transition that takes effect on July 1, 2013. She summarized these Foundation changes:

1. Future Vision will now fund bigger club/
   collaboration projects — using the same pool of dollars but distributing them through fewer grants.
2. Rotary International (RI) is using the new
   Future Vision structure to give districts more control over managing projects.
3. Future Vision will reduce the administrative burden RI carries from overseeing approximately 10,000 (relatively small) projects around the world. Because each project has an initiating club (like Rogers) and a host club (perhaps Bangladesh),
   RI has to monitor all vendor records and project reports until the project is completed and turned over to local residents.
4. The minimum project will be $30,000 (currently $10,000). A $30,000 project (post matches) means a club/collabora-tion initially funds approx. $8,500. (This
   is the level of local investment Brooklyn Park Rotary is asking Area 4 clubs to partner in.)
5. Right now, 50% of all donations from District 5950 Rotarians are returned three years later to the district. The other 50% stays in RI’s World Fund and is used to match and/or further RI projects.

District training events are always geared toward upcoming club leaders. But that’s each one of you!

Editorial: I love these events. In a 45-minute breakout session…I can “go to Guatemala” on an international service project with Buffalo Rotarians, meet an Ambassadorial Scholar, hear about The Rotary Foundation from a former district governor who went on to serve on the Rotary International board of directors, get a heads up about grant changes coming through Future

Vision, and sit next to the District Gov., DG-Elect, or DG-Nominee. (Each upcoming DG is a very real, very approachable Rotarian.)

The next newsletters will recap some of the breakout sessions and share information that these district leaders wanted relayed to 5950 clubs. Plan to attend the fall training event at the Golden Valley Country Club in September. It’s a free Rotary education.