The Rotary District 6440 Newsletter is filled with announcements, articles, and links to announcements, stories, and information about our clubs, our members and making a difference through Rotary.

Governor's Comments --

The calendar year 2010 is rapidly coming to a close, so there are several things to bring to your attention as we enter the last two months of the year:

Rotary Foundation month - November is Foundation Month, an opportunity for us to appreciate the "crown jewel" of our organization that enables us to do so much good in the world. Every dollar that each of us contributes to the Foundation changes lives in meaningful ways. Please include the Rotary Foundation in your year-end charitable giving.
Membership - As we enter the holiday season, our thoughts turn to giving gifts to family, friends and colleagues. As a Rotarian, you are empowered to give one of the most meaningful gifts, an invitation to join Rotary. It's a unique gift given only by Rotarians. Who will you invite?
Club Leadership - Even though we are only 1/3 into the current Rotary year, club nominating committees are working on the list of club leaders to serve in 2011-2012. One of the best ways to serve Rotary and to learn more about the organization is to say "yes" when asked to serve.
RI Convention - Our next international convention will be in New Orleans next May - "Let the Good Times Roll Again." This is the best way to experience the internationality of Rotary and it's relatively close to home, the last convention in North America for several years. So, read about the convention plans at www.rotary.org/convention. Then be sure to register before December 15, when the registration cost goes up. We have a block of rooms for District 6440 at the Embassy Suites - contact Stan Sherman at 847-480-3450 for reservation information.
eYellow Pages - Would you like Rotarians to patronize your business? Then sign-up at www.rot6440yp.org for the District 6440 eYellow Pages BEFORE December 31, for a FREE 12 month listing.

I look forward to seeing you at our Fall Seminar Day on November 13. The details about the day and registration information are at www.rotary6440.org.

Let It Snow ! ... We'll be inside for the"6440 Tailgate Event" (Fall Seminar Day)

It's coming down to the final play and we're hoping you're in the game. Are you registered for the District's Fall Seminar Day?

You still have a few days to register for the November 13^th event. Kick off begins with registration at 8:00 AM, a buffet breakfast starts at 8:30 AM. Pre-game pep talk by Governor Bruce and RI Director-elect Betsy Demaray will set the stage for educational sessions focused on Membership, RI Foundation, ABCs of Rotary, and Public Image/Communication.

Here's your opportunity to set the game plan for your own Club. We have over 30 presenters (including many of your fellow Rotarians!) that will share insights, ideas, and successful strategies that will help you develop your Club into a winning team.

It's easy to sign up: Go to the District's website and register by noon on Monday, November 8. We'll be posting the agendas for each of the breakout sessions soon to help with your last minute planning.

We'll look forward to seeing you at the kickoff of District's Fall Seminar Day - at Medinah Banquets 550 North Shriners Drive Addison.

Rotary Interact Clubs Are On The Move

[ Interact Logo (in color) Interact cluster meetings are being scheduled for those who were unable to attend the Interact gathering in September. Contact Sam Martinez, Interact Advisor, 847-565-9278, smartinezsam@aol.com, to get your updates and/or to schedule in an Interact club visit.]

Interact is Rotary International's service club for young people ages 12 to 18. Interact clubs are sponsored by individual Rotary clubs, which provide support and guidance, but they are self-governing and self-supporting (per RI website ).

A district Interact project is planned for the District Conference. An updated list of Interact clubs and contacts is now available on the district web site. Also, be sure to enter the Interact video contest. For details, see the information at the link: http://www.rotary.org/en/MediaAndNews/News/Pages/100816_news_videocontest.aspx. Send a copy of your Interact Club's video to Sam Martinez, your Interact Advisor!

Each year, Interact clubs complete at least two community service projects, one of which furthers international understanding and goodwill. Through these efforts, Interactors develop a network of friendships with local and overseas clubs and learn the importance of:

Developing leadership skills and personal integrity
Demonstrating helpfulness and respect for others
Understanding the value of individual responsibility and hard work
Advancing international understanding and goodwill

As one of the most significant and fastest-growing programs of Rotary service, with more than 10,700 clubs in 109 countries and geographical areas, Interact has become a worldwide phenomenon. Almost 200,000 young people are involved in Interact.

Work Yet To Do for End Polio Now

The Gates Challenge Campaign to finally eradicate polio has been underway for nearly 3 full years and District #6440 has answered the call with resounding enthusiasm. District 6440's clubs have raised a total amount of $427,944 as of October 25^th (before the on line-giving initiative was tabulated), including $30,000 in DDF funds during last year. Your generosity and selfless support has put us in 5^th place among 58 Rotary districts in the U.S.-a feat for which our district is immensely grateful.

But we're not finished yet - we need 100% participation to finish the job - to raise awareness and enthusiasm in our clubs, among our friends and acquaintances, in our communities and across our entire Rotarian sphere of influence. As Rotarians it is our job to carry the message of hope to parts of the world which don't usually touch our everyday lives. As Rotarians, consider whether it is our duty to respond when a child in Tajikistan, India, Pakistan, Nigeria or Afghanistan gets polio because the vaccine didn't get to them in time? We have a duty as Rotarians to do more than others to address issues of disease, world hunger, clean water, literacy and peace because we've been made aware of these needs - and we have a network of support throughout our Rotarian world. The difference is, we have the financial means, the imagination and the operational knowhow to get things done - when the need exists and persists, as it does now.

Chicago area Rotarians have been working to eradicate Polio since the early 1950's when they provided refrigerated transport to safely move the newly developed Salk vaccine from manufacturing sites to the cities where anxious families awaited a chance to get a protective dose of vaccine for their children. Chicago Rotarians responded again in the mid 1980's when the Polio Plus Campaign was launched to try to eradicate the disease in our lifetimes. We've been challenged again by Bill Gates to finish the job - and we're "This Close" to doing it - by the end of 2012. With $150 million of the $200 million challenge grant raised so far, and a great showing thus far in the campaign, we each need to take a personal interest in this mission, considering how we might have felt in 1952 when the disease was at its height, and empathize with the worried parents overseas as though we were there ourselves.

As Rotarians, isn't it our responsibility to go the extra mile to put the needs of others ahead of ourselves - to mobilize our communities to solve problems and make our neighbors aware of their global responsibilities - to share Rotary's vision of improving the lives of people throughout the world?

Rotarians world-wide realize that "Mankind is our Business" and that now is the time to pull together to finish the job of eradicating Polio.

THERE'S STILL TIME TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE! You and your Club can claim a share of Rotary's legacy to eradicate Polio.

Ellen G. Young

District 6440 Polio Challenge Chair

2010-2011

Know someone who Loves and Serves Rotary? Nominate for Dist. Governor !

If you know someone has served well, who has a vision for Rotary, and can motivate and organize other, consider nominating them for District Governor. It's a great opportunity to use skills to benefit others, here and abroad. It's an honor for both the person and the club. January 3 is the deadline.

As stated on the RI website, "district governors provide leadership, motivation, and guidance to Rotary clubs under the general supervision of the RI Board of Directors. Governors act as officers of RI, fostering achievement in their district at the club level. Under the District Leadership Plan, district governors prepare for and execute their duties over a three-year period.

More...

Identity Theft - some words to the wise.

[From 10/28/10 Lincolnshire Morning Star Rotary meeting notes of presentation by police Cmdr. John Kleffner]

ID theft is so big that gangs have realized that they can make more money via the Internet than from mugging someone. They try to stay under $10,000. An example was the recent food store debit card problem in the news -- card number and "pin" numbers were taken...and the card was used in Germany!

In the last year, Lincolnshire PD has arrested people in six different states. One thief had an off shore bank account which cannot be touched for over a million dollars. Aggravated identity theft is against someone over sixty years old; the PD has a special way of tracking these crimes, and do.

Tips -- Shred everything-even the address page on your magazines! Check your credit cards and your credit score. A fifty dollar charge to 1000 people amounts to a lot of money. If someone is selling magazines, do not write them a check, use cash instead so that they will not get your routing numbers.

Also, guard your credit cards from children giving out your numbers. Report your ID theft even if you have been reimbursed -- this creates helpful a paper trail. If your card has been compromised, do report it because your police department can trace it -- a stolen credit card can sometimes lead to tracing the thief through video cameras.

And for older youth -- Rotaract Group from Northwestern Worked in Peru !

Rotaract Logo (in color) [Editor's note: Rotaract is a Rotary-sponsored service club for young men and women ages 18 to 30. Rotaract clubs are either community or university based, and they're sponsored by a local Rotary club. This makes them true "partners in service" and key members of the family of Rotary.

As one of Rotary's most significant and fastest-growing service programs, with more than 8,200 clubs in about 170 countries and geographical areas, Rotaract has become a worldwide phenomenon.]

On August 15, 2007, central Peru suffered an earthquake that went down in history known as the Pisco Earthquake. Measuring in at a staggering magnitude of 8.0, the earthmover and the following four-meter tsunami caused extensive damage to the city of Pisco and the surrounding area, damaging more than 80% of the homes in Pisco and killing roughly 600 people. Houses fell and families struggled with the aftermath, living in makeshift houses constructed of cardboard, scrap wood and plastic. Government aid left a lot to be desired, and some families did not have access to food and water for four days.

Three years later the city still stands in rubble. Muros de la vergüenza, walls of shame, hide evidence of the earthquake's damage, serving as a temporary fix but also acting as a constant reminder that the city is far from full recovery.

At the end of March, members of the Rotaract Club of Northwestern University decided to go to Peru for their fourth annual international service trip. "Going to Peru opened up my eyes to the pure goodness that resides in many of us," Rotaracter Paris West said. "The experience I had in Peru will forever live with me and I can state without a shadow of a doubt that I will return to Pisco and to finish the job I had initially wanted to achieve: to change the world with the help of like-minded individuals." ...More.

To learn more about our service trip, view Rotary International's short documentary, "Journey to Pisco" on Vimeo.

Needs Assessments Will Be A Help

Needs assessments help clubs make better plans and have a greater impact on their communities, avoid duplication of efforts and,like Sokham's Rotary club, discover new opportunities for service.

When Paphassone Sokham became community service chair of the Rotary Club of Kona Mauka, Hawaii, USA, the first thing she did was try to figure out exactly what kind of service her community needed. "I just asked every community service program that was willing to talk to me, 'What do you need, big or small?'" she says. "I knew it would just open everything up for me if I did a community assessment."

Needs assessments (see a sample survey form by clicking here) such as surveys, asset inventories, and focus groups should look at both a community's strengths and weaknesses in order to identify not only what needs to be done, but what resources are available to help make it happen. Consider looking at things such as residents' skills and challenges, other organizations that can provide resources, existing infrastructure, and club members' skills, talents, and interests.

Over a two-week period, Sokham visited many of the organizations, compiling a list of their needs. Her club narrowed down the list of ideas to come up with one or two community service projects each month, such as donating a table for counselors to use at a child abuse center and helping the hospital where Sokham works recycle its old computers. Sokham says that conducting a needs assessment had another, unforeseen, benefit - increasing Rotary's visibility, even among groups the club didn't end up working with. "The greatest part was going out and talking to people. Some didn't even know what Rotary was. It was like, 'You do this kind of thing?'" she says. "It was really fun."

from Rotary Leader, November, 2010 issue.

Editor,

Bob Paddock

Rotary District 6440

This email was sent to cbartling@comcast.net by infocenter@rotary6440.org.

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