Hello Anchorage East members.
November is the time to celebrate the wonderful work of The Rotary Foundation (“TRF”). Go to My Rotary and click the link to The Rotary Foundation to explore the activities of the Foundation. Consider how our club can help!
A funding mechanism for TRF are monies contributed by clubs in a given year and are invested for three (3) years, then a portion of the funds are returned to the club. The returned monies can be used for District Grants, which last one year and are usually used for “shovel ready” smaller dollar projects, or for larger, or much larger Global Grants which involve club(s) from different countries and may extend over years. The uses that these monies can be put to, when combined with further monies from a District or club(s), I think is limited only by the imagination.
A transition from District Grant to Global Grant may look like a project which succeeds on a smaller level and then is scaled to a larger project. Our own members Sandra Wicks and Bruce Phelps, for instance, have long had their own organization for raising monies to fund outstanding projects in Mexico, including water filters and scholarships. From time to time these projects have been funded in part by a District Grant. I think that the water filter project in particular may be a great one to scale up to a Global Grant which might reach many more people, while in the meantime Bruce and Sandra’s organization helps with the immediate and ongoing need.
Our honorary member Jay Jackson likewise has her own organization which gives desperately needed assistance to people in Nepal. A Global Grant to assist folks there on a greater scale is something perhaps several clubs in our area can join together to accomplish.
Global Grants can go the “other way” too. That is, Alaska can be the place where the work is done if the sponsoring club is outside the country. There is plenty of need in our own backyard, and the Rotary model gives the flexibility to tackle these issues.
Our Community Service Committee (Christian Deykes and Rebecca Sentner are co-chairs) and our International Committee (Anne Garrett and Adam Sikorski are co-chairs) mostly deal with these grants. Why don’t you approach them with your ideas and attend their next meeting?