July #UtahRotary Newsletter

District 5420 Newsletter - July 2025

Together, let's transform!

Hello Rotarians,

As I begin my first month as district governor of #UtahRotary, I want you all to know how humbled and honored I am to serve. It’s a big job, and I’m following in the footsteps of giants, but I feel I have prepared for this role over the course of my 30 years serving our community and Rotary.

In 2016 when I was asked to speak at what was then called the Dixie Sunrise Rotary, I immediately felt the power of a membership dedicated to meaningful service and exemplifying the Four-Way Test. I joined the club!

From my experience as a manager of nonprofits including Root for Kids, I loved making positive contributions to the club and to #UtahRotary, first by becoming public image chair, then club president, Foundation president, and Assistant Governor.

This year, my goals include meeting with all of you, growing our membership across Utah, and organizing new clubs to broaden Service Above Self in communities across the state and in the world.

Of course, together we will continue to focus our district’s efforts eradicating polio - we’re so close! I hope to see the funding of a Perpetual Endowment Fund so our clubs can implement larger and even more important international projects around the globe. Please check out Egor Shulman’s column about Endowment-SHARE in this newsletter.

A little about me. I was born in Salina, Kansas, and raised in the small farming community of Tescott. I grew up with four older brothers who I must thank(?) for shaping my resilient and determined character!

At Fort Hays State University, I earned a bachelor’s degree in Pre-Law, followed by a master’s degree in Administration, Counseling, and Educational Studies. I am a licensed Mental Health Counselor as well as an Alcohol and Drug Addictions Counselor. Having served on numerous boards in Utah and Arizona, I currently sit on the board of the Washington Area Chamber of Commerce.

I am the proud mother of two grown daughters – one who lives in Oregon; the other a student at Utah Tech University.

And very, very happily I am now Mrs. Suzanne Leonelli Wilhelm, having recently wed the Love of My Life. But you can just call me Suzanne!

Suzanne Leonelli

Utah Rotary District Governor 2025-2026

dgsuzanneleonelli@gmail.com

Rotarians—You’re headed to the majors!

#UtahRotary Bees Night is Saturday, July 12 and we want YOU in the lineup for one of the most exciting nights of the summer.

Here’s the game plan:

Game Day: Saturday, July 12!

Venue: The Ballpark at America First Square, 11111 South Ballpark Drive, South Jordan, UT 84009

Pre-Game Fuel: Dinner starts at 6:05 PM

First Pitch: 7:05 PM sharp

Cost: $67 per person all-star amenities included:

• Covered premium deck along the 1st base line

• Pulled pork sliders, hot dog bar, mac & cheese, slaw, fruit, chips

• Chocolate chip cookies, assorted Coke products (yes, they’re doubled up!)

• Vegetarian and gluten-free options

• Miniature golf

• Post-game fireworks to light up the night!

To see if there's still room to sign up, contact Kristi Guest

at kristilguest@gmail.com or call 801-910-0747

This isn’t just a night at the ballpark—it’s a celebration of friendship, family, Rotary, and fun under the stars. So suit up and be part of the magic. The big leagues are calling!

Governor Todd Boyer and Governor Suzanne Leonelli are rolling out the red carpet for an unforgettable evening of baseball, camaraderie, and summertime thrills at the brand-new home of the Salt Lake Bees!

Introducing Rotary Intercountry Committees

A Global Network of People in Action

Rotary Intercountry Committees (ICCS) are unique entities within Rotary International that connect Districts and Rotary Clubs from different countries to foster lasting connections between Rotarians around the world and promote peace and international understanding across borders.

On December 2024, the ICC Agreement between the USA and Mexico was signed to strengthen friendship and make global grants.
On June 14, a new ICC Agreement between the USA and Israel was signed.
On June 24, at the Rotary Convention in Calgary on the Peace Park, a new ICC between the USA and Portugal was signed by the District Governors.
At the end of this summer, the ICC USA-Guatemala/Honduras/Belize Agreement will be signed under the guidance of Rick Chimblo (Rotary Club of Oro Valley), President of ICC USA-Spain.

Rotarian Claudine Schooley from the Oro Valley Rotary Club is the ICC National Coordinator for the USA. Please email Claudine at cdschooley@outlook.com if you would like more information.

They're Back! Rotary License Plates!

Announcing the best news ever – Rotary Humanitarian License Plates are available and YOU can have one – or TWO for both your vehicles. Not to mention RVs and commercial vehicles, too!

Money raised from Rotary license plate sales directly supports Rotary Youth programs – RYLA, Youth Exchange, Interact and Rotaract. Moreover, the legislature supports fundraising programs like ours by requiring (by law) that Rotary Humanitarian License Plates demonstrate their popularity by generating at least 500 participating donors.

We already have about 200 Rotary License Plate owners who pay $25 annually to support Rotary Youth. We need 300 more proud Rotary license plates cruising around the glorious state of Utah within the next seven months.

If every Rotarian orders a Humanitarian license plate now – we’ll achieve our goal!

To order yours, get the last four digits of your VIN number, your current license plate number, and your credit card, then click here https://dmv.utah.gov/plates/license-plates/humanitarian/

A picture of the Rotary plate should pop up. The DMV will assign you a new license number. If you want, you can choose to customize the plate with your own 5 letter/number “message.” If it’s already taken, you’ll be prompted to submit a different message. For either choice, you'll be charged $25 and regular DMV fees the first time.

There’s a lot of pent-up demand in our district for Humanitarian Rotary License Plates! So hurry. Get yours today!

RYLA - a big success!

Many thanks to all the students, parents, Rotarian volunteers, facilitators, and supporters for making this year's RYLA such a memorable experience. Thank you to all the students who attended!

Click here to see the RYLA 2025 video created by Stephanie Velasco.

Sydney King, RYLA

International Service in our District

Your club's column about International Service projects.

This is a column to describe your club's experience going abroad to help people in need around the globe. Simply get on the bus and submit your story along with a few pictures to the Newsletter Editor lolabeatlebrox@gmail.com by the 27th of every month.

If your club wants advice about developing an International Service project, please contact District International Service Chair Jerry Summerhays at SummerhaysGS@gmail.com.

Global Grant funding needed for research.

Only $7,000 needed. Can YOU help?

Commitments from clubs or individuals of $7,000 are needed to complete a Global Grant to send Elizabeth Gamarra to Cambridge University to continue her very valuable research.

The District Scholarship Committee and the District Peace Committee ask for your help. Japanese Rotary clubs are helping, already.

Utah Rotarians have enthusiastically followed Elizabeth Gamarra since she was Utah Rotary’s successful candidate as an Rotary International Peace Scholar in Japan in 2019. She received her PhD in Politics and International Studies. In parallel to her studies, she taught university courses in research, public speaking, and conflict resolution, and she represented the U.S. at events in India, Morocco, Thailand and Japan.

“My study explores how caregivers perceive and respond to children’s experiences of abuse and how caregiver support shapes children’s recovery and resilience," Elizabeth wrote recently. "This combination offers a more comprehensive, compassionate understanding of the interplay between adversity and caregiving. Insights can guide the design of more effective support programs, inform policy decisions, shape physician training, and influence government practices in child welfare.”

Elizabeth asks for support in raising the remaining funds needed to complete this research.

"Together, we can advance knowledge and action that give vulnerable children a better chance at healthier, brighter futures,” she says.

For more information or to make a $ commitment, contact Nancy Brown, District Scholarship Chair, nbrown@westminsteru.edu

Update on life-saving water project in Armenia

This June, eight Armenian Rotarians visited Utah to express gratitude for our water project in Armenia and to explore future partnerships — underscoring the global impact of service, shared vision, and compassion across borders.

The Armenians also explored Church of Jesus Christ warehouses, the World Trade Center Utah, as well as the University of Utah and Brigham Young University campuses. They were awed by the amount of volunteer work we do in Utah.

In 2024 Utah Rotary and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints partnered to fund a $205,000 irrigation project in Artsvanist, Armenia, a hillside village of 3,000 residents facing severe water shortages. The effort, led by Rotary and championed by Utah farmer Jeff Cooper and his wife Margaret, aimed to transform lives through improved access to water.

With 50% unemployment and many families earning less than $100 per month, villagers rely heavily on small-scale farming to survive. During growing seasons, families have had to go without water in their homes just to keep their crops alive.

This project is constructing two electric pump houses to transport water 800 feet uphill from Lake Sevan through pressurized pipes, feeding into open ditches to irrigate community farmland. The result will be increased food security, sustainable income from surplus produce, and renewed hope.

Tanner Manning, Spanish Fork Rotary Club

Find your club’s international project at a Colombia Project Fair.

January 29-31, 2026, the city of Neiva, Huila, Colombia, will host a project fair featuring inspiring and high-impact projects aligned with Rotary International’s areas of focus: health, education, water and sanitation, economic development, the environment, and more.

Colombian Rotarians will wine and dine you. Different clubs will show you projects they hope you will help. Before or after the Project Fair tours are available. Stay in the Hotel Neiva Plaza Huila

To locate other project fairs around the world, go to: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/a8e5334922114f0aa7bb14d7f6b7488f

The District Foundation Committee can also help you.

How? Finding a host club, doing the community assessment, using the simple global grant template, getting other clubs and districts to help with funding, etc.

Another way we help you is with the on-line Grant Management Seminar. Starting this year, the project manager/primary contact of a global grant must complete this course. This course can save a lot of time and energy because it prevents you from making errors. Also starting this year, the club president and the president-elect must sign a Memorandum of Understanding, to assure continuity and to receive district designated funds for a global grant.

Contact Jerry Summerhays, SummerhaysGS@gmail.com, Global Grants Chair on the District Foundation Committee.

Breaking News

Rotary comes to the rescue at the Pine Valley Fire in S Utah.

The members of the St. George Sunrise Rotary Club had been watching helplessly while the quaint town of Pine Valley burned just a few miles to the north.

The smoke filled our town and, as of this writing, more than 9,000 acres have been burned with many homes lost and minimal containment due to the winds. Started by lightning, this fire was brutal to watch.

So what do Rotarians do? We respond!

We found a list of needs for the Pine Valley residents and the 250+ firefighters, who are from many states. We donated needed items and collected over $1700.00 that will be used as needed. Members of the Sun River Hiking and Pickleball club also helped with this project. They came to our meeting Thursday with a bunch of items and $500 they collected.

Rotarians at work!

Sandi Schwartz, St. George Sunrise Rotary

Endowment-SHARE

What is it and how will it solve our chronic shortage of grant funds?

The District Designated Funds that we receive from The Rotary Foundation every year provide funding for our District and Global Grants.

For the 2024-2025 Rotary year, our clubs submitted District Grant requests totaling $175,000.

But we could only fund $66,000. That is very sad because a lot of worthwhile projects either received partial or no funding.

On the Global Grant side, we routinely run a deficit of funds – that is, if all of our Global Grant draft applications were to be approved tomorrow, we would not have enough to fund them either.

The solution is to find a way to increase our supply of funds. That solution is to build up a larger source of funds. The vehicle to get there is Endowment-SHARE fund which will provide ANNUAL and PERPETUAL source of funds.

The main differences between Annual Fund-SHARE and Endowment-SHARE are:

Annual Fund-SHARE – contributions are invested by Foundation for 3 years and then returned to fund district and global grants and the World Fund match.

Endowment-SHARE – earnings from the corpus (contributions) are returned to fund district and global grants and the World Fund match ANNUALLY and PERPETUALLY.

Endowment-SHARE fund for our district was established some years ago with very generous contributions from two Rotarians, Errol/Sonja Eernisse and Sterling/Marilyn Spafford. Since then, other Rotarians have contributed small amounts to this fund as well. The fund has been generating about $6,560 in DDF (2024-2025 year).

In the August newsletter we will lay out our Endowment-SHARE fundraising goal for the 2025-2026 year and our plans to supercharge our funding – stay tuned.

Egor Shulman

Rotary Foundation Chair 2025-2028

drfc5420@gmail.com

Setting goals for club and personal giving

Dear Rotarians and Club Presidents,

We have an exciting year ahead of us and together we can achieve your foundation goals. The goal is to have ALL clubs set their Giving goals in Club Central - we can suggest the following simple formula:

Rotarians in your club on July 1 multiplied by $100 PLUS
Paul Harris Society Rotarians in your club on July 1 multiplied by $1,000

Please use the Club Fundraising Analysis report to get the current membership numbers and if you need help, see below:

Lynn Hillstead - lynngrayh@gmail.com – Annual Fund Committee Chair

PDG Scott Leckman - leckman@xmission.com – PHS Committee Chair

Errol EerNisse - errol@xmission.com – Major Gifts/Endowment Committee Chair

Why give to the Annual Fund? Contributions fund our District and Global grants.

Why $100? Each Rotarian that contributes at least $100 becomes a Sustaining Member. Lets get our entire district to be a 100% Sustaining Member District in your year!!!!

Make giving easier? An easy way to achieve any foundation-giving goal you set for yourself is to use Rotary Direct (click on the Donate button and select Recurring Donation instead of One Time) where an amount you choose is charged to your credit card/bank account every month or every quarter or annually.

Thank you and lets make 2025-2026 Rotary year a generous one.

Egor Shulman

Rotary Foundation Chair 2025-2028

drfc5420@gmail.com

Events Around the District

Orem-Lindon’s Luau is Saturday, August 9

Get your coconuts ready! On Saturday, August 9 at 6:30 pm, the Orem-Lindon Club is hosting a Luau open to all Rotarians!

The event features food, service, socializing, and entertainment - fun for families and friends. You’ll enjoy a delicious Hawaiian plate dinner and make 100 self-care kits for women’s shelters.

Dancing and music will be provided by Ali-tasi Productions. Coconuts and leis will be a part of the fun - so come get your hula skirt on!

Location: Orem Senior Friendship Center (93 N 400 E, Orem). Early bird pricing $15 per plate ends July 15th. $20 per plate thereafter.

RSVP by August 4th to Debby Lauret at 801-319-8655. Pay by Venmo: @RCOOL-Utah. Mahalo.

Join Rotarians from around the world on a life-changing 10-day journey into the heart of Cambodia! In partnership with Sustainable Cambodia—a trusted Rotary-based organization —you’ll witness inspiring, hands-on projects that empower rural families through clean water, education, and economic opportunity.

This isn’t just a trip—it’s an unforgettable experience of service, culture, and connection. You'll enjoy comfortable, air-conditioned hotels, enjoying local cuisine, and being guided by a knowledgeable team—all for under $1,000 (excluding airfare)!

The Rotary Club of Salt Lake City is proud to serve as the international sponsor for a new Global Grant focused on Economic Empowerment and WASH. We're expecting Foundation approval by December, with the project launching in early 2026—impacting more than 3,000 lives.

To qualify for $25,000 in District Designated Funds and $20,000 in Rotary International matching funds, we need a few more Utah clubs to join in and support. Your club’s contribution—big or small—makes a meaningful difference. Let’s support each other’s projects and build something remarkable together. Salt Lake City Rotary is eager to collaborate!

Come make a real difference—and lifelong memories—with fellow Rotarians who share your spirit of service and adventure. Invite a friend, partner, or club member and be part of this transformative experience.

Even if your club doesn't contribute to the Global Grant, we’d still love for you to join us on the November or January trip. For more information contact Paul Stringham. pbstringham@gmail.com

The Club Hub

Get ideas, support other clubs! Send your service projects & fundraisers to

Newsletter Editor Lola Beatlebrox for this monthly section of the newsletter.

Got news, items, ideas, changes for utahrotary.org?

Peter Cardon, District Governor Elect-Elect, is currently the Webmaster for the #UtahRotary website. He can be contacted at petercardon@gmail.com

The Bountiful Rotary Club's Coats for Kids Car Show on June 13-14th was an absolute blast! This event united car enthusiasts, families, and kind-hearted people who raised funds for warm winter clothing for the children in the South Davis Elementary schools. Friday night roared to life on Main Street with thousands of people cheering for the Cool Car Parade. Our food court dished out tasty treats that kept the energy soaring. Saturday’s classic car show sparkled from 10am-4pm, while lively music kept everyone grooving. The Patriotic program was heartfelt - we honored all who have served our great country. We're endlessly grateful to our sponsors, volunteers and Rotarians for their incredible dedication.

The Utah Rotary E-Club enjoyed their Magic Treehouse book project with two elementary schools this year.

We donated more than 150 magic treehouse books with the challenge to do a book report in 30 days.

Rotarians returned to the schools to have a fun party with donuts, games, and prizes. The students’ ticket to the party was their completed book report.

This event encourages children to read and many teachers tell us students count the Magic Treehouse book report party as their favorite activity of the year.

The Park City Sunrise Rotary Club awarded two Park City High School students with the Bill Brown Scholarship award this June.

The scholarships were named in honor Sunrise Rotarian Bill Brown whose service was exemplary.

He established the scholarship fund. Scholarships go to students who exhibit outstanding leadership service as well as high grades and higher education objectives.

For the 18^th year, friends and members of St. George Rotary spent the week of Memorial Day in Guatemala building vented cinderblock stoves for 120 Maya villagers, bringing the project total to 3400+. Our travelers arrived home in time to see a club-record sendoff of six students to RYLA before President Dave Prisbrey passed the baton to our equally amazing LaRene Cox who stepped up – a year ahead of schedule - to serve as RY2025-26 President. Thanks to Dave, RY2024-25 was a whirlwind of “Rotary magic” … and St. George Rotary is already “United for Good” under LaRene’s leadership!

The Park City Twilight Club welcomed the Hope Alliance who us to work cleaning glasses at our last meeting. We always look forward to volunteering for this organization that provides eye exams and prescription glasses to people around the world who have never seen an eye doctor or received the gift of sight through a single pair of glasses, prepared and counted by our Rotary clubs. RYLA was attended by one of our members as a facilitator. It is amazing to see our upcoming youth aspire to being leaders in their communities - 96 participants for three days of fun and learning of new skills.

Spanish Fork Rotary and the Spanish Fork/Salem Chamber of Commerce's combined to host a golf tournament at Spanish Oaks golf course in May.

From the funds raised, the groups gave away 14 scholarships of $1,500 each to Spanish Fork and Salem high school seniors. MTEC, the tournament's presenting sponsor, also gave away six additional scholarships of $500 each to high school seniors.

While they did experience some hail during the tournament, more than 110 golfers enjoyed the day, and the recipients of the scholarship were very grateful.

On June 14, Murray Rotary along with Murray City dedicated 'Rotary Corner' which is located on the Murray City grounds of the Murray Mansion near the new city hall. The $30,000 project is comprised of a 9-foot-tall clock with inscriptions along with two very nice metal benches. Murray City donated the location and completed the installation. $25,000 of the $30,000 was a gift from Bruce Parsons, one of the founders of Murray Rotary in 1957.

Rotarians and award winners donated their time serving at the Richfield Rotary Club Memorial Day Pancake Breakfast raised $1000 for flags for veterans and for their city's Veterans Memorial.