November Is Rotary Foundation Month

• From The Governor's Desk
• RI Receives Highest Rating
• International Assembly Volunteers
• Florida PETS Date Set
• Polio Eradication Update
• Let's Build Some Leaders
• Million Meal Event Planned
• Let's Build Some Leaders
• NFL All-Star Ticket Special
• Interactors Pack It In
• Special Ticket Pricing for NFL All-Star Game
• District Calendar

Thank You To Our District Sponsor

November is the month for every club to have a meeting or program to help our members learn about the fantastic work our Foundation does around the World. We are blessed to have one of the top 3 Charitable Foundations in the world supporting the great work we do in Rotary. The Rotary Foundation is the only Foundation that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation match our donations 2 to 1. Please take time this month to learn more about YOUR Rotary Foundation. 

On behalf of the Trustees of The Rotary Foundation, I want to take this opportunity to share some special congratulations to 16 of our clubs in District 6980 who have been recognized this fall by the Rotary Foundation for their Foundation Giving efforts last fiscal year. Special 2022-23 banners are being presented in recognition as an expression of our sincere appreciation for your members' generous support of the Annual Fund. 

These clubs are distinguished from more than 36,000 Rotary clubs worldwide as being one or more of the following:

• One of only 4,500 clubs worldwide to become a 100% Foundation Giving Club (clubs must have achieved an average of US$100 in per capita giving and 100 percent participation, with every dues-paying member contributing at least US$25 to any gift designation during the Rotary year).

Altamonte Springs

Apopka

College Park

Dr. Phillips

Lake Buena Vista

Leesburg

Leesburg Sunrise

Orlando Breakfast

Oviedo

Sanford (Breakfast)

Seminole County South

Seminole County Sunset

Winter Park

The Parks - Orlando

• One of only 3,800 clubs worldwide to attain status as Every Rotarian, Every Year Club (clubs must have achieved a minimum Annual Fund contribution ofUS$100 per capita with every dues-paying member contributing US$25 or more to the Annual Fund during the Rotary year).

Altamonte Springs

College Park

Dr. Phillips

Lake Buena Vista

Leesburg

Leesburg Sunrise

Orlando Breakfast

Oviedo

Sanford (Breakfast)

Seminole County South

Seminole County Sunset

Winter Park

The Parks

• One of only 1,530 clubs to achieve Top Three Highest in Per Capita Annual Giving honors in their district (only clubs with a minimum US$50 Annual Fund per capita contribution were eligible).

Our Top three District 6980 Per Capita Giving Clubs 

 #3 The Rotary Club of Altamonte Springs $447.16

#2 The Rotary Club of The Villages – Evening $601.50

#1 The Rotary Club of The Villages $614.65

Additionally, Four of our clubs have been honored for their 2022-2023 contributions to our End Polio Now campaign.

Apopka. .

The Villages – Noon

Windermere

Winter Garden

On behalf of our District 6980 and The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International please convey our gratitude to every member of your clubs for their generous gifts to our Rotary Foundation. Your support enables Rotary members to tackle the world's toughest challenges, both in your community and across the globe.

Congratulations and thank you for making The Rotary Foundation a continued priority.

Yours in Rotary Service,

Don

Donald A. Harris

District 6980 | Central Florida

District Governor 2023-2024 

Rotary Foundation Receives Highest Rating From Charity Navigator for 14th Year

For the 14th consecutive year, The Rotary Foundation has received the highest rating — four stars — from Charity Navigator, an independent evaluator of charities in the U.S.

The Foundation earned the recognition for adhering to sector best practices and executing its mission in a financially efficient way, demonstrating both strong financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency. Only one percent of the organizations Charity Navigator evaluates have received 14 consecutive 4-star evaluations.



“We are honored to have been recognized and to be among the top 1% of charities evaluated,” said Rotary Foundation Trustee Chair John Germ. “Our donors can feel proud knowing that their gifts will allow them to make an impact in their communities and the world for years to come.”

The rating reflects Charity Navigator's assessment of how the Foundation uses donations, sustains its programs and services, and practices good governance and openness.

Promo Fliers Now Accepted

For The District Calendar

Fliers will follow the calendar listings

Send Info to billpeeper1@gmail.com

District Governor Calls For Volunteers

District Governor, Don Harris has put out an early call for volunteers to meet, greet and direct the 1,600 Rotarians from around the world coming to Orlando for the International Assembly. See his note below.

As many of you have heard during our District events earlier this year, or during my official visits, we have the great honor of hosting Rotary's International Assembly in Orlando this January.

• The International Assembly is the final leadership training, education, and preparation for District Governors-Elects worldwide to help enable them to lead their respective Rotary Districts. Attendees include:   525 District Governor-Elects, and their Partners
• An incredibly talented team of senior leaders, training leaders, speakers, and staff members

   Totaling over 1,600 Rotarians from around the world.

Last year we had the opportunity to serve as Airport Greeters. This year we have three different opportunities to serve - each identified below along with the link to sign up for each activity.  Get with your fellow club members and pick where you would like to serve together to help support RI.   

Airport Greeters January 6 and 7 - Orlando International AirportJanGreeters Jan 7

Trainer Partners Service Project January 6 – Food packing at Second Harvest

Staff Service Desk and Hallways Monday through Thursday, January 7 - 11 at Rosen Shingle Creek 

In addition, there will be a Volunteer Reception on January 8 for all volunteers at Rosen Shingle Creek. Additional details for the reception and for each activity will be provided as you sign up. I.e. where to meet, duties, etc.

Now is the time to begin registering. Let's have some fun and plan to warmly greet and support our fellow Rotarians from all over the world!

Yours in Rotary Service,

Don

Donald A. Harris

District 6980 | Central Florida

District Governor 2023-2024

District Youth Services Foundation Director

Rotary Club of Lake Mary

RotaryDon6980@gmail.com

417.848.7051

Presidents-Elect! Mark Your Calendars!

Registration Details To Follow.

An Update From Alex Sacharoff

District International Service Chair and Polio Plus Chair D6980 

The current case count is 6 (2 in 2022) cases year to date in Afghanistan and 4 (20 in 2022) Cases year to date in Pakistan for the week ending November 7th.

There have also been 39 y-t-d (22 in 2022) separate environmental samples of polio virus detected in Afghanistan and 53 y-t-d (43 in 2023) instances of environmental polio virus detected in Pakistan.

Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only 2 countries in the world with endemic wild polio virus spread and are both incredibly difficult to address due to the complex mountainous terrain, dense pockets of unvaccinated or under-vaccinated children separated by large distances between villages making vaccination campaigns very challenging. The vaccinators are some of the bravest people we might ever encounter.

Against the backdrop of continuing wild type 1 polio spread we are so gratetul for the many individual Rotarians in District 6980 as well as some of our clubs who have taken the recent World

Polio Day as a call to action and carried out fundraising events to raise funds for The Rotary Foundation Polio Plus Fund.

Consider joining our district's Polio Plus Society by committing to donate at least $100/year to Polio Plus UNTIL Polio is eradicated everywhere. We already have more than 10 members of our district signed up and many more of our members are eligible based on this year's and or last year's Polio Plus giving. For more information reach out to Alex Sacharoff (asacharoff@cfl.rr.com) or DRFC Michael Franklin (strataceo@yahoo.com)

 ROTARY MILLION MEAL MARATHON CONTINUES!

        (Over 2 Million Meals and Counting)

Well, our District 6980 continues to be energized and successful in our Rotary Million Meals Marathon, as we change lives and bring hope to others.

Your club is the key to Rotary having an impact that changes lives. Continue to help us document the impact of this mission, submitting to us each instance where your Club provides cash or food items in support of individuals or organizations, like to food pantries or schools, etc. Additionally, we continue our District food packing events at the Second Harvest Food Bank. The next event is November 17^th, 1:00pm to 4:00pm.

Sign-up will be directly with Second Harvest at their link below. Those using this link will receive a free Second Harvest Foodbank T-Shirt:

Event Name: Rotarty Million Meal Marathon Group

Date: 11/17/2023

Time: 1:00pm-4:00pm

# of Volunteers: 25 volunteers.

Volunteer Opportunity: Donation Sorting 

Location: 411 Mercy Driver Orlando, FL 32805

Please sign up via the link below:

You will be asked to create a volunteer account. There is no “join code”. We are “local corporate” and you only have to complete the “required” sign-up items!

If you have any questions please reach out to me.  

J.J. Lullen, email: jjmailbox76@bellsouth.net. Send updates to me and Vincent Chiaise at vbd22@yahoo.com.

Thanks for all your club does to fight food insecurity and bring hope to the world.

J.J. Lullen

Chair, D6980 Service Committee

Let's Build Leaders!

Commitment Forms Still Being Accepted Thru End Of Year, 40 Slots Still Open

"Rebuild Yourself" Has Candidates

Contact Executive Director, Cynthia Borgwing,

Cynthia@rebuildselfcare.com, 407-577-1084

"REBUILD YOURSELF IS AN OUTSTANDING PARTNER TO HELP REBUILD OUR STUDENT’S MENTAL HEALTH.

I CALL ON ALL CLUBS TO SPONSOR REBUILD STUDENTS AND PROGRAMS IN THEIR INTERACT CLUBS AND OUR ROTARY YOUTH LEADERSHIP ACADEMY THIS YEAR"

...DIST. GOV. DON HARRIS

Dates For Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Set

February 21-25, 2024, Check These Details

• LOCATION: Florida Elks Youth Camp, Umatilla
• COST: $400 per attendee
• QUALIFICATIONS: Age 16-17, a junior in a District 6980 high school
• IMPORTANT DATES:

January 19 – Students applications completed

February 2 – All student information submitted to camp facility

February 21 – First day of camp

• Volunteers and donations always needed
• CONTACT: Eddie Fernandez at eddie.rotary@outlook.com

Click Below For All Details

49 Interactors Pack It In At Second Harvest

The October 21, food packing project undertaken by Interact clubs was a huge success by any standard. Students from Edgewater High, St. Cloud High, Lyman High and the club at PATH showed their youthful energies by packing 11,071 meals that has been sent to families in need.

NFL All-Star Game Coming To Orlando

Special Rotary Pricing Set

Sunday, Feb. 4, the NFL All-Star game returns to Orlando and with the help of District Membership Chair, George Stuart, special $29 price for Rotarians, family members and friends has been arranged. Tickets are for a special Rotary corner seating section. Five dollars of every ticket sold will be refunded to our District 6980 and will be used to fund XXXXXX

The Pro Bowl Games were held last year in Las Vegas as the successor to the Pro Bowl which was formerly held in Hawaii and held in Orlando in recent years. The Pro Bowl Games feature a flag football game of NFL players with the teams coached by Peyton and Eli Manning. The afternoon also has other skill competitions for children and adults and will be nationally televised.



To get your tickets go to:

Nov 17, 1:00-4:00 PM Million Meal Food Packing Second Harvest 411 Mercy Dr. JJ Lullen jjmailbox76@bellsouth.net

Dec 7, 6:00-9:00 PM Avalon Park Club, Holiday Wine Walk. See flier below for full details

Dec 16, 8:15-11:30 AM Million Meal Food Packing, Second Harvest 411 Mercy Dr. jjmailbox76@bellsouth.net

Dec. 31, Deadline for Rotary/Rotaract Election Results

Jan 6-11, 2024 — Rotary International Assembly, Orlando, FL. Rosen Shingle Creek Resort

 Jan 23, 2024 - District Foundation Grants Seminar

Feb. 3, 8:30-3:330 PM District President Elect Training Seminar, Seminole State College

Feb. 10, 9:00 AM-3:00 PM District Interact Youth Summit, Main Event, 9101 International Dr.

Feb 21-25, 2024 Rotary Youth Leadership Academy. See article above for important dates, contact Eddie Fernandez, erfernandez24@hotmail.com

Feb 29-Mar 3 2004 Osceola Rotarians sponsor Rotary Cruise For A Cause. Leaving Port Canaveral on MSC Seashore $50 per room to benefit Guardian Ad Litem. Contact Cheri at 321333 8213.

Mar 1-3, 2024 — Florida PETS, DoubleTree Hotel Sea World 10100 International Dr.

Apr 27^th, 2024 — District Assembly

May 25-29, 2024 — Rotary International Convention, Singapore

June 7 & 8, 2024 - District Conference, Lake Mary, Florida