Global Grants – Making Sustainable Change in the World
Rotary clubs in Honduras and Pennsylvania, USA partnered together for a Global Grant to provide eye and vision care to needy residents in Honduras. During a 10-day long mission, Rotarians from both clubs worked to provide a wide variety of vision services through clinics held at local schools and neighborhoods. Over 1,200 individuals were evaluated and 600 received prescription eyeglasses. A local non-governmental organization will continue to provide eyeglasses and medications to those in need.
Improved eyesight can translate into improved educational or occupational opportunities, contributing greatly to improved quality of life for these Honduran residents. Clubs worldwide use these grants to make similar long-term, sustainable improvements in the world.
Every Rotary club has the opportunity to change lives around the world with the help of The Rotary Foundation….one project at a time.
Have you taken a look at our club website lately (d7040passport.org)? It is such a wealth of resources. Here are a few items that you can find without even logging in:
-The date, time and Zoom information of our next meeting (scroll down a bit, and look on the left hand side). Why not use this to invite a guest, such as your partner, a neighbour, or a young person to our next meeting?
-If you scroll down even more, you’ll find the list of upcoming events. Coming next are the Membership Committee meeting (January 12) and our first Online Social of the year (Rotary Q & A) on the 13th. Be ready to answer some questions and discuss them together! A great way to start 2021!
-Not far below that is a link to find out all the information on the next District Conference. Check it out!
-On the right of this list, you’ll find a short video entitled “Top 5 Rotary Membership Myths Exposed.” Enjoy – and share with someone else!
-Go back up to the top of the page, and you will see a new tab: Education Centre. This is where you will be able to find our past recordings, such as the one about One Million Teachers (December 29th).
Thank you especially to Ariane who has created an excellent website, which I consider a tool to help members and guests learn more about us; and to Chris for all the recordings. Go visit it today!
Secretary's Thoughts
Well, the first complete week of the new year turned out to be busy and eventful on several fronts.
Earlier this week, through the good graces of the RC of Troy Michigan and District 6380, we had a chance to hear from RI General Secretary and CEO John Hewko. – John gave a talk about the Future of Rotary from his perspective, noting the impact of the Covid 19 Pandemic which has already had a significant effect on how Rotary Clubs are now operating around the world and how things might change going forward. The talk is well worth viewing and I hope I will have the You Tube link to give you by next week. One of his six Calls to Action for Rotarians everywhere was to “Re-engage with Rotaractors” and in this week’s Bulletin, President-Elect Maddie references a special talk by Past RI President Barry Rassin coming up next week (January 14th) which will speak directly to this challenge.
This past Saturday several Passport Club members took the opportunity to tune in at mid-day for the second Education Centre recordings in as many weeks featuring our very own Past President Chris who spoke about the “Secrets of Storytelling”. I’m unable to tell you any of the secrets since it will spoil the surprises you’re in for when you go online to checkoff yet another makeup, but I will say that he managed to use each of the six secrets in his excellent presentation which was very well received. In addition to the dozen or so Passport Club members who were in attendance for the recording, there were also many members from the RC of Silicon Valley as well as Rotarians from other clubs as far away as Hawaii and Spain, Sweden and Malta (although admittedly both Nick and Guy are Passport Club members as well).
The recording was co-hosted by the Silicon Valley E-Club along with ourselves and was chaired by Rushton Hurley who has become well known to many of us and who has also been the speaker at two of Past President Chris’s Education Centre offerings.
You can link to the Education Centre Recordings here:
And I also want to draw your attention to Ariane’s Membership Matters column this week as she introduces the first in the new series of “Meet the Member” – from ex Rotaractor Nico Verderosa.
Yours in Rotary Service,
Terry
President-Elect Maddie Roy
I hope the first week of 2021 has gotten off to the right start for you all. The month of January can seem so long but we have plenty of Rotary events that will make it fly by!
Former Rotary International President Barry Rassin will be joining Valarie Wafer in a discussion titled "Elevate Rotaract" on January 14 at 7 PM. Be sure to join if you're interested in hearing about the role of Rotaract in shaping the future of Rotary.
The Rotary Club of Westmount is hosting a trivia night on January 28 at 7:30 PM. Send an email to emuler.gulsun@gmail.com if you're interested in participating!
I hope you have all had a relaxing holiday break. I was able to read some books I've had on my shelf for years and do some early spring cleaning :) I'm eager to hear from you all at our next meeting!
Membership Matters
By Ariane Carriere, Membership Chair
Recently I sent out a request for you to check your profile and update any information that needed updating. We've been having trouble with some email addresses, so make sure that yours is correct.
New Features on Our Home Page
We had a recording session with Chris and Hakeem Subair recently. You can now find information about the recordings in our Education Centre, a new tab on the menu at the top.
If you click on Members Only (you need to log in though), you'll see recordings of our meetings, how to pay your dues, and a complete Membership list, with pictures.
Some photos have been moved around in order to be able to find them better. We had over 500 images, all in one file. This may mean that some links are not working. If you find problems, let me know because it can be fixed.
Meet the Member
By Nico Verderosa
Hello everyone! As I always say one should lead by example, and since I will be in charge of this newly created section, let's start meeting the members, shall we?
My name is Nicolás Verderosa (aka Nico), I'm 37 years old, and I live in La Plata, Argentina. I have a beautiful wife called Claudia (she goes by Clau because she hates “Claudia”), who's a dance teacher. I also have a very smart and funny little boy called Lorenzo (aka Lolo, we DO like to shorten people's names here), who's 3 years old and, if the situation allows it, will start kindergarten this year.
My connection to Canada comes from the wonderful Rotary Youth Exchange Program, which took me to Pickering, ON (2001-2002) where I did my last year of high school. As you might guess, it was a life changing experience.
After that, I went back twice (for 3 and 6 months respectively), and my goal was to actually move there, but couldn't. It was fate that didn't allow me to stay there, because right after I came back I reestablished connection with this girl, whom I had shared a rock band together in 1999, that girl was Clau.
Before the pandemic hit, I was working for the Provincial Government as a lawyer. This past year, has led me to get more creative and find a better goal than to just have an 8 hour, underpaid job.
It was by chance (or again, fate) that I met the right people online and started working for a cryptocurrency Australian based broker, to develop the brand in Argentina. And, quite recently, I was actually promoted to Head of Latin American Partnerships, extending my reach of influence to the whole region.
Looking forward to getting to know more about all of you on the next issues!
Coffee with a Rotarian
By Brian Foster
We are ready to go with this initiative for the month of January. You will find the instructions and match-ups in our Document section, just click on this link for Coffee with a Rotarian.
Have you checked your list to find out who you should be contacting this month?
