It's a quiet week this week, giving us all a much-needed chance to catch our breaths. We've had some amazing and jam-packed meetings the last few weeks so this week will allow us to visit a little longer in fellowship over lunch.
This week we'll be doing Happy Dollars. 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 .
We are hoping our club can be a "Every Rotarian Every Year Club" with the Rotary Foundation. This means that every Rotarian in our club donated at least $25 this year to the Rotary Foundation's Annual Fund. This is the Fund that half the donations from our District are returned to the District to use for future District grants. So please donate if you have not done so already. If you are unsure if you have donated this year, please check with John Buckley, our Foundation Director; Karen Mooty, our Club Administrator; or with me and we can let you know.
Last week's mini-fundraiser of a 50/50 opportunity drawing, did not attract a lot of participants. Therefore, we'll work more on raffling off items or services instead. This doesn't have to be extravagant. Could be a Rotarian washing the winner's car (I know I could use that), could be a Rotarian taking the winner out for coffee, could be some nice swag from your company, or could be a bottle of wine (hint, hint). Have fun and be creative! Please let me know if you would like to donate an item for the raffle next week.
If you or your neighbors missed our club sponsored Mayoral Runoff Debate, 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!
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.
This week our speaker will be President L. Song Richardson of Colorado College. She will be giving an update on Colorado College and also the challenges facing higher education. Next week, our speaker will be Chris Leiber, discussing the Fountain Creek/COS Creek Plan. The COS Creek Plan will establish a comprehensive vision for the future investments and stewardship of Fountain Creek Watershed with a specific focus on segments of the Monument and Fountain creeks adjacent to Downtown Colorado Springs. This promises to be a very interesting program. Don't forget to RSVP - and bring a friend!
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.
The COS Creek Plan will establish a comprehensive vision for the future investments and stewardship of Fountain Creek Watershed with a specific focus on segments of the Monument and Fountain creeks adjacent to Downtown Colorado Springs. The COS Creek Plan establishes an implementable vision, which respects our communities' values, responds to infrastructure needs, and leverages opportunities. The Plan is intended to create excitement, foster collaboration, and identify public and private partnership opportunities.
Bio:
Mr. Lieber’s “results-oriented” approach to problem solving is based upon a foundation of community involvement, collaboration and more than 25 years of experience. With extensive experience managing highly visible, multi-million-dollar projects, Chris has the technical knowledge and practical experience necessary to lead a project team to a solution that is creative, politically acceptable, and fiscally responsible.
Mr. Lieber holds a degree in Landscape Architecture from the College of Architecture and Planning at Ball State University. Having previously served as Manager of the Colorado Springs Parks Trails, Open Space and Parks (TOPS) Program, he has a proven track record of successful collaboration and project implementation involving numerous stakeholders and passionate community advocates in the Pikes Peak Region including over forty park and open space master plan processes, numerous park construction projects, many miles of trail, and the planning and acquisition of thousands of acres of public open space. Mr. Lieber’s focus at N.E.S. Inc is on sustainable projects that provide great spaces for people to enjoy the outdoor Colorado lifestyle and on planning processes that seek to find a delicate balance between natural resource conservation and community recreation.
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!
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 Tree Planting – April 29th at the Milibo Art Theatre. It was a special day as we remembered those Rotarians we lost this year. This is a special way to celebrate Rotary fellowship and Rotary's environment area of focus.
Our Community Salutes event – May 3rd at the Flying W Ranch. We sponsored booth for our Rotarian volunteers to talk with attendees about what Rotary is and does in the community. Other Rotarians attended the event to honor those graduating from high school and joining military service.
MAY
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.
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
Synopsis of the District Assembly by Greg Sund, DGE
The day started for both Assemblies with a welcome from District Governor Elect Greg Sund.
Greg addressed several subjects including encouraging clubs to conduct mental health walks in their communities during May which is Mental Health Month. He also encouraged clubs to consider sponsoring a program called Mental Health First Aid in their communities. The organization that usually conducts Mental Health First Aid in Colorado is found at www.mhfaco.org. He said he has taken Mental Health First Aid and found it well worth attending as a means of raising awareness of mental health issues, especially suicide. He added this this course is first aid, it does not train one to be a counselor. He said he is promoting mental health awareness because this is a primary program of Rotary international President Elect Gordon McInally.
Greg recommended clubs check out justserve.org which is a website they can use to list, describe, and promote all of the programs and projects their club is doing in their community in case non-Rotarians want to check them out.
Greg said starting in July, our District will have its first District Peace Chair. He said this person will be Andy Sweet of Grand Junction. He recommended that Rotarians consider taking the Positive Peace Academy that can be found through the Rotary website. He said this course raises awareness of levels of peace around the world but added that in reality peace begins at home. He said there are many people in your community you have not met. He said by getting to know more people in your community, peace is enhanced.
The goal for membership in the district is to double membership. Greg said he does not expect this to happen in one year but does expect it within the next ten years. He said this goal does not mean each existing club needs to double in size to achieve the goal. It includes promoting retention, growing clubs, establishing new clubs, satellite clubs, and other programs. Finally, he suggested the clubs check out the new satellite club concept called impact clubs. He said impact clubs can be stand-alone clubs, satellite clubs that could become independent at some point, or are satellite clubs that are established to do things in the community with no plan to separate from their sponsoring club.
(This is part one of several parts of the DGE's report on the District Assembly)
We are excited to announce the Rotary Rides the Rails event, a fellowship opportunity for Rotarians in our District, and the surrounding Districts, to come together and celebrate the end of our 2023 RYLA in the Rockies Weekend.
Please meet at the Leadville Train no later than 12:30 PM, Sunday, June the 4th, for a 1 pm departure. The train takes approximately 2 1/2 hours. Adult Tickets are $54, Kids (4-12) are $32, and our RYLA youth tickets are $35. Profits from group tickets sold through our link go to benefit RYLA in the Rockies. MyEventRunner - Event Public Fill (crsadmin.com)
Tickets purchased will be available on the day of the event. All ticket pick-up and train rule information will be sent to participants prior to the event.
We can't wait to see you in Leadville for the first of many upcoming fellowship events across our District!
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!
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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!
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