Rotary District 6440 Newsletter
Sarah Oliver, District GovernorMarch, 2014
In This Issue
-- Governor's Message
-- Register by March 24.
-- Youthful Energy at Conference
-- Submit Names for Committee - Part of Gov.'s Selection
-- Rotary's 2014-15 Theme
-- HealthRays Newsletter Starts
-- Credibility of Rotary Grant Process
-- Int. Convention has Good Entertainment, Free Travel
-- A Few Noteworthy Things
-- Inspiring Video
-- Welcome to New Members
Quick Event Information
 See additional information about these events in this newsletter and on the District website at: www.rotary6440.org
 
  Deadline for Discounted Registration to District Conference is March 24
 (Click Link for Registration Page)    
Plan early to attend -- make suggestions,
consider your side trips.

(click link for info) 
District Zone Success Seminar will be
 Aug. 8, 2014.

More information about this motivating, informative event will follow.
Quick Contact Links
 
The Rotary District 6440 Newsletter is filled with announcements, articles and information about our clubs, our members and making a difference through Rotary. 
Governor's Message   2013-2014 RI Theme Logo
 

 

 Welcome to Rotary Spring!

 

 

Our Presidents-elect have completed their required PETS and are beginning to formulate club plans for 2014-2015 in conjunction with their incoming leadership teams. Current club boards Gov. Sarah Photoare reviewing accomplishments and benchmarking them against the club strategic plan. I am pleased to say the I have received from those boards a number of applications for RI President Ron Burton's Presidential Citation to receive official recognition of club accomplishments (deadline is getting form to me on/by March 31).   

 

Most of us are happily anticipating our District Conference at the Oak Brook Hills Resort on April 11-13. There we'll share ideas, learn new things, listen to great music, celebrate successes and enjoy lots of fun together from Friday noon through Sunday morning. We'll be joined on Saturday by students from our programs for younger Rotary Family members - Interact, Youth Exchange and RYLA. DGE Ellen's District Assembly that day will train future club leaders in a broad range of subject areas. It will be a good experience for every one of you who decides to join us.

 

I look forward to seeing you in Oak Brook very soon.

 

Governor Sarah  

 

Pricing Holds  thru March 24!  Extra Attendance by "Interact", RYLA, & Exchange Students Can Make This Year's Conference Especially Inspiring.          
Have you read your invitation and begun arranging to get together with friends in Oak Brook on April 11, 12 and 13?  Online registration is easy to use at Conference Registration (at Dist. Website) for meal selection, and you can pass from there to the Oak Brook Hills resort website or click here to make a room reservation at our special Conference pricing through March 24 !   For a list of interesting Conference speakers, click here.

We expect to have a large number of Interact and RYLA students joining the Youth Exchange students on Saturday for their New Generations Assembly, and for some joint sessions at lunch and later in the afternoon.  Dist.Gov.-Elect Ellen and her team are organizing a high impact District Assembly for Saturday morning to train 2014-2015 club leaders.

For more encouragement to register and attend, look at the Agenda (click here) and read Frequently Asked Questions by clicking here.

Rotary District 6440 Youth Service Assembly Brings Excitement            
A conference theme is SHARE IDEAS, CHANGE LIVES.  It will be
an interactive design to provide Rotarians with proven strategies for club success.  Part of the Conference weekend effort is the involvement of Rotary youth, our "New Generations" as we call them.

 

 

During this year's District Conference, a service project, Kids Against Hunger, will take place on Saturday, April 12, 2014. Participants in this service project will be our Youth Exchange, Interact and RYLA students.

 

We are asking that Clubs support our students and the KAH recipients of their efforts, by making a donation to secure the food product and materials. Our suggested donation is $100 for smaller clubs, and $200 for larger clubs, to assure the success of this project.  Your club executives know the details.  

  

To see the plan for the Youth Assembly, click here, and read the following which is for Rotary Youth Ages 12-18, plus advisors and Rotary Club Sponsors: 
  • Meet like minded students and advisers from other Interact Clubs, Youth Exchange (Long Term and Short Term) and the RYLA program!
  • Bring your club's projects and share your excitement!
  • Get ENGAGED with your "Kids Against Hunger" morning program to help feed the hungry!
  • Enjoy lunch with the Rotarians whose clubs have sponsored you!
  • Learn about Rotary Vocational Scholarships that may be available to you!
  • In the afternoon, learn from Speakers who will expand your thinking about "Service Above Self"
  • Learn about the many Rotary Scholarship programs and grants available to you and the community you serve! 
  • $35 includes: Kids Against Hunger hands on participation, lunch with leaders of your sponsoring Rotary club, and an "Official" Rotary End Polio Now t-shirt.
         

 


Invitation to Submit Names for the Nominating Committee This Month
Clubs are invited to submit names to the Primary Committee to consider for selection to the Nominating Committee.  It is the Nominating Committee which selects the District Governor who will serve in four years (2017)

According to the District manual of procedure, the immediate past Dist. Governor selects the Primary Committee.  Past Dist. Gov. Mike Yesner announced that Mimi Altman (Chair), Steve Swanson and Dick Peach are the members of the Primary Committee. 

Clubs may send recommendations to the Primary Committee, care of the chair, mimialtman@sbcglobal.net.  The Primary Committee will submit the slate of Nominating Committee members to the Dist. Gov. who will publish the results in the Governor's newsletter.  There will be an election of a Nominating Committee at the District Conference.  Club delegates at the Conference may also submit nominations from the floor.

The District Manual of Procedures gives the precise wording upon which the summary above was based.  The Manual can be found on the Club website by clicking here.

Rotary's Theme for 2014-15:

RI President-elect Gary C.K. Huang chose Light Up Rotary as his theme for 2014-15. Huang was inspired by the teachings of Chinese philosopher Confucious who said: "It is better to light a single candle, than to sit and curse the darkness."

 

"There are so many problems in the world, so many people who  need help. Many people say, 'There's nothing I can do.' So they sit there doing nothing. Meanwhile everything stays dark," Huang told the 537 district governors and their spouses and partners who are attending the 2014 International Assembly in San Diego, California.

 

"The Rotary way is the Confucius way. The Rotary way is to light a candle. I light one, you light one, 1.2 million Rotarians light one. Together, we light up the world," said Huang, who is a member of the Rotary Club of Taipei in Taiwan. To read and see more, click here.


Local Rotarians Start Healthrays Newsletter 
A recent edition stated, "Welcome to Rotary HealthRays Update, an electronic newsletter that will provide you with news and developments from the Rotary HealthRays initiative - Rotary's effort to bring digital x-ray technology to needy populations around the world...

"Rotarians in Rotary International District 6440 - near Chicago, Illinois -- have launched an effort to address this problem, with a new cross-sector model for action that we have introduced in Guatemala and hope to replicate eventually in countries around the world...."
 
To find out more or to sign up for the newsletter, contact (click on) larsonpw@gmail.com .

 

 

 

 


FYI -- Steps Taken Locally to Help Ensure Good Use of Rotary Grants

Though not many of us are involved with the "paper work" of Rotary grants, we can be heartened to know that Rotary takes steps to help ensure charitable monies are used effectively.  In addition to the good work by our Foundation chairs and committees, the linked Memo of Understanding outlines steps and procedure which can give us confidence in the work Rotary does.  To read/skim the document, click here.  

 

To participate in Rotary Foundation grants in 2014-2015, each club must agree to implement the financial and stewardship requirements in the Club Memorandum of Understanding provided by The Rotary Foundation and to send at least one club member to the district's Grant Management Seminar each year.  By completing these requirements, each club becomes qualified and eligible to participate in these grant programs.

 

By the way, District Grant applications for next Rotary year are due by June 30, 2014. 

 

SPEAK AUSSIE . . . "No worries-Not a problem, I can do it, forget about it"
... as in "No worries, I'll be at the Sydney Convention, mate." 

June 1 - 4 is coming soon !
HUMAN NATURE to perform at the Opening Plenary Session in Sydney!!!
...and FREE RIDES- Don't forget about the FREE public transportation for Rotarians attending the Convention.  From May 29 through June 5, convention goers can travel free on public busses, trains and fSyndeyConventionLogoerries within a 150-mile radius of Sydney's central business district!

The Convention is very soon, June 1-4 !  For up-to-date information, click here

For our District's Travel and Registration Form, click here, Mate.
 

 

A Short List... Noteworthy Things:
  • Seeking Your Proposals for Membership Pilot Discussion Groups on Rotary.Org  -- for information about this communication program, click here      

  • Agenda for District Conference - A conference theme is SHARE IDEAS, CHANGE LIVES.  It will be an interactive design to provide Rotarians with proven strategies for club success.  To read the extensive agenda, click here.

  • Extended Vocational Scholarship Application Deadline -- until April 25th.  For more information, click here.   
  • We've made a difference -- Our fundraising with our local ShelterBox Team to support families whose lives were shattered by disaster has placed us among the top fifteen districts in the nation for 2013.  That represents many dozens of tents and countless critical supplies!

  • Can Your Club Earn the Presidential Citation?  We often seem to get too busy to pause and think about what we've accomplished.  Your club may have been busy doing remarkable things this year, and should be recognized.  Ask your president if your club will be putting in for the Presidential Citation.  Forms need to be to Gov. Sarah by 3/31/14.  To see what's involved, click here.    

Check out "Rotary's Vision for a Better World" by Rotary International on Vimeo.
Click on the image  below:
Rotary's Vision for a Better World

 


We Welcome New Members to The Best Service Organization in the World:
ClubFirstNameLastName
Lake Forest-Lake BluffDavidBelmonte
St. CharlesHollyCabel

TonyHyler
WilmetteDiegoAcuna

MonicaUthe

 

Bob Paddock
Editor