Charlotte-Shelburne Rotary - Newsletter

John shared a Rotary Foundation Thought – Rescuing the World Costs Less than You Think from the November 2009 Rotarian Magazine. “Everyone remembers the horrifying December 2004 tsunami. But what few people know – because almost no media reported this fact – is that nearly half of total relief donations worldwide, $2,78 billion, came from ordinary U.S. citizens. Celebrities and big corporations got press, but not these individual small donors, most of whom gave less than $50. Wendy Smith describes this unprecedented burst of generosity in Give a Little: How Your Small Donations Can Transform Our World, published this month. Smith, who profiled a bridge-building project funded by The Rotary Foundation, adds that giving a lot of money does not guarantee success. What matters, she says is the outcome.

Rotarians know this firsthand, whether they are among the Foundation’s top donors, bequeathing multimillion-dollar fortunes, or the many club members who steadily contribute smaller amounts every year.

We surveyed the landscape of recent projects funded by the Foundation and came up with these eight ways to change the world on the cheap. All of them fall into at least one of the six areas of focus outlined in the Future Vision Plan. And all have price-to-impact ratios that would delight any executive. For the cost of a candy bar, you can save a child from HIV infection. Give up a couple of lattes, and you can restore someone’s eyesight. And your next dinner at a restaurant? Buy some chickens instead – you could feed a family and provide enough income to send the

children to school.

Rapid HIV test: 70 cents
Mosquito net: $5
Cataract surgery: $25
Concentrated language encounter: $8.56
Vitamin A: 2 cents
Bio-sand filter: $32
Polio vaccine: 60 cents
Flock of chickens: $20

Announcements

Halloween Parade

Sunday, October 25
New this year - the adult clowns will drive the carts in the parade all together (not driving the carts individually throughout the parade.
New this year - the Parade will begin with three presidents of the Charlotte-Shelburne Rotary – Steve Dates will march with his bagpipe, the Rotary banner will be carried by President John Beal and President-elect Linda Gilbert. Good exposure for the club.
Everything is under control.
Steve passed a list of the volunteers, tasks and times.

Car Raffle

Friday, October 30
Per Fritz – all is in control.
Colleen announced that the gift certificates for the raffle prizes need to be delivered to her office by Monday afternoon, October 26.
Colleen announced that Sam has collected six of seven prizes and appreciates his endeavor.
The Pumpkin drawing – winner – Virginia Keiser from Charlotte.

Medical, Dental and Health Equipment Sale

Sam announced that this sale will be held November 6, 9am – 7pm and November 7, 9am – 3pm at Shelburne Town Offices. All proceeds will benefit the Rehab Center in Tela, Honduras (one of the projects of the Hands to Honduras-Tela Program).
Let your medical friends know about this sale – there will be huge discounts on sterile gloves, dental supplies, orthopedic braces, rehab equipment, etc.

Board Meeting

Thursday, October 22
John announced the board meeting will be held at 7:30am.
District 7850 Fall meeting at Randolph Union High School in Randolph, VT – October 24
Steve and Elaine Dates will be attending.

Sergeant at Arms

Don with Kris as assistant.

Fines by Don and Happy fines:

Fritz – passed gliders exam
Eric – hope everyone gets well at the Shelburne Community School.
Dennis Delaney – no bio on the website.
Sue Mc – Fletcher Allen auxiliary event this past weekend
Terry – no snow – this is good because his boat is not covered.
Howard – has two bios listed on the website.
John H. – expecting another grandchild in April.
Don R. – grandson in 1st world cup – in skiing.
Trafton – next week expecting a new grandchild.
Terrell – spent past weekend with grandchild.
Joyce – has three weeks of travel coming up.
John Hammer – snow
Michael and Michelle – article in Better Homes
Robert - his parents 69th anniversary

Drawing: $590 in basket. Kris was the ticket winner but drew the wrong card.

Presentation

Club member, Howard Seaver and his son, David Seaver

Howard has been involved in the Burlington-Yaroslavl Sister City Program for 21 years. Bernie Sanders, picked Yaroslavl as the sister city for Burlington. The program is totally private – not a federal program. Howard is the only one of the original 12 who is still involved.

David also went with Howard to Yaroslavl in 1993. On the 1996 trip, Howard became the chair of the program. In July, 2009 – he traveled again with his son, David who is a commercial and documentary photographer in Burlington.

There has been tremendous change since Howard first visited in 1988. Russia has transformed from a communist country to a market based economy. There is a new class of business people who did not exist when Howard first visited. This new breed of people - own their own businesses, are typically in their 40’s – bright, speak English. They are very interested in renewing the relationship with us. They financially have the means and status to do things on their own, have joined and are creating civic groups. They want knowledge from us as they are somewhat flying by the seat of their pants now running businesses. They want to learn in our country how people successfully develop businesses from the ground up.

In May, 2010, about 20 of these business people will be invited to Vermont. Howard would like each visitor to have an advisor/escort/helper/sponsor. Please let Howard know if you are interested in participating in being a sponsor.

This next year, Yaroslavl will celebrate 1,000 years of existence. Mayor Kiss and other Burlington officials will travel for the festivities. Other interested folks can also go to see Yaroslavl, Russia for a very modest price. People would stay in homes that have an English speaking person. If you are interested in traveling to Yaroslavl to participate in this, let Howard know.

David shared an interesting slide show of Yaroslavl.