Rogers Rotarians worked at CROSS Food Shelf on November 14. Before leaving, President Lenny Kirscht (center left) made a $750 donation from the club. CROSS provides food and clothing to those in temporary need. It serves the Northwest Hennepin County communities of West Champlin, Corcoran, Dayton, Maple Grove, Osseo, & Rogers.
Congratulations to Pancake Breakfast raffle winner Doit Barth. He won the Kindle Fire HD donated by Mettle Computer Solutions. Doit worked for many years in the technology support field and was happy to get a new Kindle!
Case Study:
Turkish Rotarians have provided 2,500 students in four schools in
Adana, Turkey, with new toilets and clean water facilities through a water and sanitation project supported by a Rotary Foundation global grant.
The project, sponsored by the Rotary clubs of Adana-Cukurova, Turkey, and Frutal, Minas Gerais, Brazil, demonstrates how Rotary’s new grant model can enable Rotarians to reach more people in need and make a larger and more lasting impact by involving the community, having a measurable outcome, and building in sustainability.
An article on the Rotary International website provides much more detail about this project. The case study demonstrates how these Future
Vision’s key features are applied to a large grant-funded project:
Proving that you’re never too old to go back to school(!), these Rogers Rotarians completed Junior Achievement leaders’ training on Nov. 14. Two-person teams will volunteer in four different third grade classrooms.
On World Polio Day, October 24, people around the globe participated in the World’s Biggest Commercial, promoting the international effort to eradicate polio.
The innovative, interactive online initiative gave everyone a chance to join Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Bill Gates, Jackie Chan, Angelique Kidjo, and other world figures and celebrities who have already joined in Rotary’s This Close campaign in support of polio eradication. Participants could upload photos of themselves to Rotary’s polio eradication website, endpolionow.org, to be edited into the expanding promotional spot. They received an email with a direct link to their image and comment within the commercial.
Rotary is also releasing End Polio Now, an eclectic album of songs performed by its celebrity polio eradication ambassadors from the music industry. The lineup includes several polio survivors: violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman, folk rock musician Donovan, and Staff Benda Bilili,
a Congolese soukous band scheduled to launch its U.S. tour in Los
Angeles on World Polio Day. The End Polio Now album is available for download on iTunes, and soon as a CD, with all proceeds from sales going to PolioPlus.
Although new polio cases are at an all-time low — there were fewer than 180 worldwide as of October 16, 2012 — a funding gap has already curtailed scheduled immunization activities in polio-affected countries. If eradication fails and polio rebounds, up to 200,000 children per year could be paralyzed.
Under the The Rotary Foundation’s new Future Vision grant model,
vocational training teams (VTTs) allow Rotarians to share their professional skills with people in another part of the world, using their talents to make a lasting impact. VTTs embody the spirit of vocational service which has deep roots in Rotary’s history.
Hands-on activities vary from one team to the next but may include
training medical profes sionals on cardiac surgery and care, sharing best practices on early childhood education, or explaining new irrigation
techniques to farmers. A successful VTT increases the capacity of the
host community to solve problems and improve the quality of life.
For more information, check out the VTT Fact Sheet.
What does Junior Achievement do?
Use the principles of financial literacy, market-based economics, and entrepreneurial thinking to teach youth about the global economy and the responsibilities of citizenship, consumerism and employment.
Why?
Combining the strength of JA’s curriculum with corporate volunteers’ mentorship and role modeling makes a significant impact on the students. It also generates meaningful community involvement for businesses and employees.
Why else?
Because it aligns with the Rotary Mission: To provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through its fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders.
What’s the commitment?
There are five lessons to be taught to the students; each take about 40 minutes and typically is done over the course of five weeks. All materials are provided to effectively equip you for a successful experience!
For more information and to volunteer at one of the Rogers Elementary Schools, talk to Heather Farr, 763-428-2926. 
Club Radio is a “New Media” Production about Rotary. It is produced in St. Croix Falls, MN by St. Croix Falls Rotarian Kirk Anderson in partnership with Rotary International and District 5960. Rotary Club Radio delivers audio and video via a podcast to Rotarians and supporters, allowing them to stay informed about what Rotary is doing around the world. Rotary Club Radio is available on the District 5960 website, in iTunes, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube! It brings Rotarians and other humanitarians’ voices to life via the internet with a high quality podcast that is entertaining, educational, and motivational. From a listener: “Hello, my name is Raf Verheyden. I’m a new Rotarian, a little bit more than a year, in the club of Aarschot (District 1630) in Belgium. It was hard to find some relevant information about Rotary International — until now! Great show guys! Now, while I’m driving, I can now listen to your podcast and hear what is going on in other clubs and can get a better understanding about Rotary in general.