I hope your new year has started off with equal doses of peace, love, and happiness!
This quote from Paul Harris is so inspiring: "Of all the hundred and one ways in which [people] can make themselves useful to society, undoubtedly the most available and often the most effective are within the spheres of their own occupations."
As you can see, January is Vocational Service Month! "Helping others by spending a few hours a week at your local food pantry, library, place of worship, school, or hospital is incredibly rewarding and can also help you develop competencies for your professional career." Excerpt from ASU.edu. An important point is that you can serve society from within and outside your organization.
Many businesses in our community take active roles in community service and kudos to those employers! I'm sure many of you have stories from your career that have included those experiences. And I would bet that you've learned some life lessons at the same time. Maybe you've had an opportunity to use your conflict resolution skills or learn a new computer program that will grow your digital technology expertise. Perhaps you are placed with an organization that adheres to confidentiality standards which will improve your understanding of professionalism and ethics. I believe every one of us has something to teach others. How rewarding to share your gifts with our community and be open to learning from others!
How do YOU serve society through your occupation? How does your company serve the community? How are you sharing Rotary service withIN your company? If you're retired, what did you do to serve the world through your work? Many of us can benefit from hearing how the others are doing it or have done this so please share these thoughts at your table this week.
On that topic, one great benefit we all have available to us is MyRotary.org, which showcases a host of free self-paced courses. There is a massive section of Professional Development courses that include Leadership Basics, Leading a Team, Leading Effective Committees, Develop a Speech, Collaboration and so many more! Please check it out and if you have trouble signing in the first time, please reach out to me and I'd be happy to help you get in! It's a great resource to sharpen our skills to serve society through our occupations!
This week's Random Awesome Deed suggestion is to look for opportunities within your company where you can express to staff just how much you appreciate them. If you have a small office, look to your clients for those opportunities. I know that after the holiday season, coming back to work can be difficult to get your head in the game. Make that transition back to real life a bit more pleasant by honestly appreciating people!
Now let's go forth, be great stewards of Rotary and Catalysts of Caring in our Community! (And keep looking for those Vocational Service opportunities!)
Please be well, be safe, and be kind. There are a lot of people needing just that.
We see the decision to vaccinate as a civic and humanitarian imperative. Rotary is not a political or religious organization, it is a service organization and this is the lens through which we are advising you of our position.
Global vaccination is the path to ending the pandemic and the emergence of new variants. Rotary endorses and strongly encourages vaccination for all individuals including our members who are currently able to be vaccinated against COVID-19. In areas where COVID-19 is surging, communities are facing extreme challenges, health systems are overwhelmed, and contentious rhetoric is dividing us. It is critical that the virus be contained so that the world may begin to heal. To that end, the purpose of this statement is to reinforce Rotary’s position.
Misinformation has become an “infodemic” that hinders the fight against COVID-19. In line with our Four-Way Test, Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation are committed to providing our members with science-based information.
Rotary International staff at One Rotary Center were required to be vaccinated by 10 October 2021, as a criterion for employment after that date. RI’s employee vaccination rate stands at over 99 percent.
Globally, Rotary is actively engaged in assuring equity in vaccine access to all people. Our efforts have included advocacy with the G-20, and a proof-of-concept program with GAVI/COVAX to leverage our frontline experience with polio eradication to facilitate vaccine delivery in several low- and middle-income countries where Rotarians are active. While we know many clubs are already deeply involved in COVID-19 prevention, we are working on additional strategies to multiply our collective efforts. GAVI/COVAX is a partnership including WHO and UNICEF focused on global access and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines.
Those children for whom vaccines are not currently available are at significant risk. Until vaccines are available for all children, the vaccination of adults is the best way to protect children who cannot be vaccinated. Pediatric admissions for COVID-19 are rising precipitously in areas of low vaccination.
Rotary salutes health care workers everywhere as they continue to provide lifesaving services. Local recognition of these heroes by each of our clubs can help to encourage them to continue their important work. Rotary abhors any harassment and attacks on healthcare workers.
Rotary and Rotaract clubs are encouraged to
set good examples by being exemplary role models;
redouble their efforts to support COVID-19 treatment, prevention, and vaccination efforts.
Vaccines have proven to be one of the greatest advances of modern medicine. The World Health Organization estimates that vaccines save between 2 to 3 million children’s lives each year, and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative estimates the polio vaccine has saved more than 19 million children from paralysis. Vaccines are safe, effective and are responsible for eliminating or controlling many other vaccine-preventable diseases such as smallpox, measles, rubella, and Ebola. And now, there is the opportunity to end the COVID-19 pandemic through vaccines.
The eradication of polio remains a goal of the highest order for Rotary. We can apply the lessons we have learned in fighting polio to the efforts in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Regards,
Shekhar Mehta John Germ President, Rotary International Chair, The Rotary Foundation
If you are interested in participating in our International Committee, please email Jordan Davis at Jordan@sociallyexceptional.biz to be added to the notification list!
If you have bulletin announcements, please email the EXACT WORDING of your announcement to KSaltmarshVoss@yahoo.com by Wednesday at 5 pm. I don't write your announcements but I do make them nice 'n' fancy!
As you're doing your shopping online, did you know that you can support our Rotary Club with every Amazon purchase? Here’s how:
Go to smile.amazon.com (not amazon.com). Amazon Smile is the same company, same account, same password, but the Amazon Smile program gives one half of one percent of every purchase to charity. No, it’s not a lot, but it’s also not nuthin’ (to be exact: about $150 for the Club so far). So again, go to smile.amazon.com
Sign into your Amazon account as you normally would
On the very top left of the page, next to the AmazonSmile logo, are three horizontal bars. Click there for the drop-down menu.
Scroll ALL the way down to “Your AmazonSmile”; it should be the last option right before “Sign Out”; Click on “Your AmazonSmile”
On the right side of the page, click on the “change charity” box under Your current charity (Note: If you are currently supporting another charity, that’s awesome! These instructions are for those who are not doing so. Also, if you have not previously selected a charity, your default option will be St. Judge Children’s Research Hospital.)
Type in Community Service Fund of the Rotary Club of Colorado Springs; click Select
That’s it. You’re all set. Just remember to go to Smile.Amazon.com when you shop from now on.
