Wow! What a wonderful turnout for last week's Mayoral Debate. Thank you to Trevor Dierdorff, Karen Mooty and all the Rotarians who worked behind the scenes and at check in to drive attendance to the event and to make the event run so smoothly. Thank you!
If you or your neighbors missed the event, here is a link for watching the debate on demand. (194) Rotary Club - Mayor's Runoff Debate - 2023 - YouTube. Please share. Thank you to Rodney Gullatte, Trevor Dierdorff and another member who covered the costs for the livestream and editing for YouTube!
Check out the Community Service Projects section of the bulletin. There are some great updates on projects we have done recently. Also, there are details about Saturday's tree planting and park clean up, as well as the Our Community Serves event.
Speaking of service, we need help with check-in and registration this week. Please follow this link to volunteer.
The social at Wackadoo Brewery was fun for the hardy souls who braved the weather. Congratulations to Trevor and Dwight who won the trivia contest. A great time was had by all. Thanks to George Reed for setting up this social.
Don't miss our next social, which will be in conjunction with all the other local Rotary Clubs on May 25th. We are requesting that you RSVP a week ahead. This is not a requirement it is just so we can get a rough idea of how much appetizers to order. See the information later in this bulletin for the full details.
The fundraising committee met last week and proposed two activities that we will implement this week. All proceeds will go to offset next quarter's dues.
One mini-fundraiser is a weekly opportunity drawing. Some weeks it will be a 50/50 where we split the pot with the winner, other times it will be an item donated by a Rotarian. This week we will have a drawing for an hour massage from a student at the Colorado Institute of Massage Therapy, where I work. Please let me know if you would like to donate an item for the raffle.
The other mini-fundraiser is to have Happy Dollars once a month. This is purely voluntary. Right after the song, as members sit to finish their lunch, I will invite those who want to share something to come forward and line up. We'll take the first 5 to 8 people to share, in 30 seconds to a minute, what they are happy or grateful about. You determine the "fine" you want to pay and slip it quietly in the basket. We'll try it this week and see how it goes. It will also let me know if you are reading the bulletin - or not
Our program this week and next is the Diamond Awards. Please come and hear the stories about these amazing teachers!
Please take time to read the bulletin each week and check out our website that has more information about all our events, activities and upcoming speakers.
An RSVP to Ron Rubin by May 17th is very helpful and is requested. We need to get a rough count into Tara King our Area Director so she can let the restaurant know. The clubs will be chipping in to provide some light appetizers. Each member will purchase their own drinks.
These monthly socials are an opportunity for fellowship among Rotarians and also a great way to introduce potential members to Rotary, so bring a friend!
As our Community Service Fund is considering supporting this event, I thought it would be of interest to you. Please note that the registration deadline is April 23rd.
Our Community Salutes of Colorado Springs will host its Annual High School Enlistee Recognition Ceremony to honor its Class of 2023 high school seniors and two of their parents, guardians, or mentors on May 3, 2023 at 6:30pm at Flying W Ranch at 3330 Chuckwagon Road, Colorado Springs. There is no cost to attend this event. Local businesses and individuals are underwriting the entire cost of the ceremony in honor of our Class of 2023 high school enlistees who have made the selfless decision to serve our country. Suggested dress attire is business or business casual.
The Ukrainian Letter Writing Project has to date delivered more than 3,000 letters, with another batch of 1400 sorted and sealed in envelopes this past weekend and ready to be shipped out next month! We will possibly have 1-2 more volunteer opportunities as the project sunsets in the next few months.
Care & Share “VolunBeer” was a great time for all who could attend, there were about 50 total volunteers so was good to have our logo represented as a sponsor at the event. Talked with a few people in our volunteer area about joining for a Friday meeting. Care & Share will have more throughout the year, likely July and Sept/Oct.
Habitat for Humanity build dates all went really well, we had about 15 volunteers across the 3 days dedicated towards the project and it was a big help to finish one of the houses getting ready for a dedication ceremony for a new family to move in! Plenty of other houses still in the process.
April
April Tree Planting – April 29th at the Milibo Art Theatre. Everything is confirmed and ready to go for the ceremony and a light walkabout in the garden and area around Millibo in honor of Earth Day, when we would have originally held the event if not for the District Assembly. Please join us as we remember those Rotarians we lost this year. This is a special way to celebrate Rotary fellowship and Rotary's environment area of focus.
May
Our Community Salutes event – May 3rd at the Flying W Ranch. We have a sponsored booth for Sam and another Rotarian volunteer to talk with attendees about what Rotary is and does in the community. Other Rotarians are invited to attend the event to honor those graduating from high school and joining military service.
Guardians of Palmer Park & Keep Colorado Springs Beautiful – Planning dates which will coincide with their already planned outings to hopefully talk with some other members of the community while helping clean our parks and rivers.
Watch for further details on this and our May service projects.
3333 Templeton Gap Road, Colorado Springs, CO 80907
PURPOSE
Now in its fourth year, the Craig and Kyle Whitney Memorial Golf Tournament was established to provide community service. To-date, this very fun event has been sponsored by a wide range of local businesses and individuals and has raised more than $50,000 to benefit our community through the programs of the Salvation Army and the Rotary Club of Colorado Springs. Beginning last year and now going forward, the Whitney Tournament also provides “scholarships” for First Tee youth.
“Being able to participate in the Whitney Memorial Golf Tournament gave our participants an experience that they will never forget because it gave them a chance to grow and provided them a safe place to fail. They were pushed outside of their comfort zones and were able to rely on all the active learning experiences that we have been teaching them through our life skills and leadership curriculum.” Emily Ortmeier, LPGA, Director of Golf and Education First Tee – Southern Colorado
PEN (Practical Education Network) in Accra, Ghana (installation of online training facility) $5,000
Science Lab at Masai Mara High School in Kenya, Africa. $2,500 (with $2,500 from the Los Altos, California Rotary Club)
Social Work Scholarships at Hubert Kairuki Memorial University (HKMU) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (Two individual scholarships) $3,000
School bus purchase for Rotary Volcanes School of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico $2,000 (Tri Lakes Rotary Club project; total goal from area clubs and District grant $16,000)
Ukrainian Letter Project (supplies, printing and shipping) $2,600
Ankara Turkey disaster response $3,000
Our Community Salutes (recognition of high school military enlistees) Vendor Booth $500
March is WASH Awareness month, so lets take a look at RCCS engagement with the 6th SDG! Two water purification enterprises were just installed at 2 Maasai communities in Kenya. Once certified and launched this Spring, both will be run by Maasai women and will be supplying purified water to over 20,000 per day, and generating an annual revenue stream of over $300,000 combined each year. This was funded 90% by a Program Related Investment from a Minnesota Rotary Club, and 10% by our own CSF and an anonymous club member.
We are developing some exciting projects going forward. These include:
A Refuge de Higene in Guatemala at Escuintla Regional Hospital. For the past 4 years, the H2OpenDoors project has been adding purification equipment made here in Colorado. This last January, an expedition of 34 installed the final system, bringing total capacity to 100,000 liters each day. Next January we return to cut the ribbon on a new 20 toilet and sink building to provide sanitation and hygiene for the family visitors to the hospital. Their pediatrics unit performs 45,000 births annually.
A rural community in Peru will be receiving a large water system from Global Water First, our social impact investment strategy to fund projects. Our Minnesota Rotary partner will be funding their second PRI for $80,000 to establish a water business. An expedition will be promoted to Rotary members in late Spring once political unrest calms down there.
Ethiopia and Somalia are experiencing extreme drought. Global Water First will be working with Alight Foundation to rehabilitate dozens of boreholes and establish water distribution points to serve over one million people.
At EarthX in Dallas on April 19-23, we'll be displaying 6 water tech configurations made in Rocky Ford to an estimated 200,000 attendees and investors. EarthX is the largest environmental and climate conference in the world, and for the first time we will have our own Rotary Pavilion. Opening day of the Expo features a presentation by Jon Kaufman, followed by Past RI President, Mark Maloney.
Update on the Monument Club's Mexican School Bus project from Khurshid Qureshi: The project has been approved by the District Grant Committee. Inside the bus, there will be a engraved plate for your club name. Outside the bus will be Rotary Logo and District 5470 painted on the back. We will have formal ceremony for handing over the bus keys to the school in Purto Vallarta. Your partnership in this project has helped us to get this grant. It is also a model that how a newly formed small Rotary Club can accomplish big things by leveraging a bigger club. - Khurshid Qureshi
Warmly,
Jon Kaufman
P.S. If you are interested in participating in our International Committee, please email Jon Kaufman jk595@aol.com to be added to the notification list!
1. These trips are only for Rotarians, family members and in some cases friends (assuming they are potential rotarians) to participate.
2. Each trip for 10 days. Visit local attractions, rotary clubs through varies social events, attending cultural events, museums, shows, restaurants and more.
During the trip, we will meet with talented young people in the country (often they are interact and rotaract members), will select group to participate in RCF International Cultural Exchange for the trip to USA as Cultural Ambassadors in 2024.
3. RCF responsible: Arrange Airline tickets to travel as group, ground transpiration in the country, hotels and coordination with in country rotary clubs.
RCF representative will travel with the group, coordinate and manage logistics during each trip (teams ~ 15 people)
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If you have bulletin announcements, please email the EXACT WORDING of your announcement to kay.rendleman@comcast.net by Wednesday at 5 pm. I don't write your announcements, but I do make them nice 'n' fancy!
PEN (Practical Education Network) in Accra, Ghana (installation of online training facility) $5,000
