Born in the city of Ibadan, Nigeria, Olayinka H. Babalola received his engineering degree in 1988. He worked for 25 years in the oil and gas industry, holding senior positions at Shell PLC. He is the founder of two companies: an oil and gas infrastructure delivery company and an executive coaching and organizational performance advisory group. Yinka started his Rotary career by starting a Rotaract Club in Bauchi. He's a long-time member of the Rotary Club of Trans Amadi. His goal for us is to "Create Lasting Impact". See this month's Rotarian Magazine for full details.
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MEET YINKA, NEW R.I. PRESIDENT
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2026-07-12 06:00:00Z |
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Remember Foster Sande, our Shark Pond grantee? He is doing well with his chicken farming! Foster is growing his business, his business skills, and on track to pay off his microloan. What a success! The Rotary e-Club for Global Service is planning a global grant to expand the Shark Pond impact. And Nina Grespan, the Clubs Rotary Exchange Student from Brazil (2024-2025) stays in touch, sending pictures regularly. She recently went to a Guns and Roses concert with her mom. Pictured: Nina with Laura Spencer January 2025. The Rotary Club of Accra Airport-East continues to be a fantastic partner in the Ghana Water Project with routine communications and planning. The teams are planning virtual tours to keep all donors and club members up to date on activities and progress. Pictured: Augustine and Godfred, project leads in Ghana. Pictured: The school location where clean, potable water will be provided when the grant work is completed.
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Updates from the Club
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2026-06-14 06:00:00Z |
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RYLA stands for Rotary Youth Leadership Awards. It’s all about Rotarians working with youth in leadership development. Each year we hold a transformative summer camp for incoming High School juniors to outgoing seniors. Students are mentored and taught by talented young people from communities throughout southern Idaho and eastern Oregon. RYLA provides a memorable opportunity to learn, grow, have fun, and make new friends. Not only is it time to recruit young leaders, it's time to plan the hosting of the annual RYLA BBQ! Save the date and pass on this sign up at https://ryla5400.weebly.com/.
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RYLA Applications are Open
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2026-03-28 06:00:00Z |
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Rotary Club of Meridian donated $5,000 to the Meridian Library District (MLD) for their 2026 Summer Reading Program. This is a meaningful way to support literacy and give books to kids who may not otherwise have access to summer reading. There will be opportunities for YOU to volunteer in the coming months to put book plates on the books and help on May 21st - the big give-away day. The book give-away day is a party in the park to be sure! There are over 50 booths, activities for kids to include games, face painting, chalk art and more. Stay tuned and get ready for a party in the park! As we close out this grant cycle, the District is now accepting applications or next year! Because you donate to the Rotary Foundation Annual Fund-SHARE fund, District 5400 has $60,245 to distribute to clubs in the 2026-27 cycle. The deadline for application is June 1, 2026. The Rotary Foundation amount available to us for 2026-27 district grants is determined by contributions made by our Rotarians to Annual Fund-SHARE in 2023-24, and it is about $7,000 more than we had to distribute last year. This is just one of many ways our donations to the Rotary Foundation SHARE fund is available for doing good in the world. Pictured: Book plating 2025
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District Grant Updates!
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2026-02-16 07:00:00Z |
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D5400 Rotarians engage in supporting peace building efforts every day, it's a core value of Rotary. If you’ve ever asked, ‘How can I impact peace?’ Consider that when Rotarians fight against poverty, we reduce conflict over resources. When you support literacy and education, you support peace and the ability to find peaceful solutions. When clean water solutions are implemented, it creates health and peace. When you engage with people locally and globally in fellowship, friendship, and service – it is peacebuilding in a most joyful way.
These activities can address the root causes of conflict and build the capacity of communities here and abroad to create environments where the building blocks of positive peace develop. To learn more about peace building, join the D5400 Peace Force that meets quarterly. The next meeting is virtual on April 23rd at 4pm. Here is a link to the calendar of events. |
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Join the Peace Force
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2026-01-02 07:00:00Z |
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Peace is possible and Rotary District 5400 is leading peace building activities as a designated Peace District. Global Peacebuilder Districts like ours play an essential role in supporting the work of the Rotary Peace Centers, local and global grassroots efforts in peacebuilding, and connecting peace to the service across all areas of focus. More than 1,800 alumni of the peace centers program - including those from D5400 -are advancing peace in more than 140 countries, from leading local initiatives in communities to guiding policy development at the United Nations and other multilateral organizations.
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Peace is Possible!
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2025-08-24 06:00:00Z |
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There is SO much to celebrate at the Meridian Library, including the annual Summer Reading Program kick-off party. Club members put book plates in over 1,500 books, helped the Meridian Library at the book give-away, and one of the activities was face painting. The club’s face painting experts decorated more than 300 faces at the kick-off party! It was so much fun we will do it again next year!  
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Summer Reading Program Kick-Off Success!
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2025-07-15 06:00:00Z |
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The Zoo Boise event to support the shared Rotary work in Gorongosa was a success! There are many facets to this event, including the paid admission for the event as the main source of revenue. That amount came in at $4,747. Many individuals used the QR code to make donations and that raised just over $1,000. Two individuals made generous pledges of $6,000. The event raised close to $12,000. A reminder that the goal is to raise $40,000 for the school's construction. With this event and prior fundraising, Rotarians have raised $25,000 of the $40,000 needed for the school’s construction. The raffle that will be conducted at the annual Lobsterfest is October 2025 has the potential to raise more funds. A big thanks to the Meridian Rotarians for the ongoing participation in this international service project in Mozambique. The Meridian clubs participated in the support for the medical vehicle which conducts mobile health clinics and is a great success! Approximately 5,000 people a month receive their primary health care from the truck that the global grant funded. Vaccinations, vitamins, malaria and HIV tests, are made possible from the truck that the Meridian club helped fund. Congratulations to everyone involved! Bob Geldof recently reflected on his work on Live Aid 40 years ago and said "Empathy is the glue of humanity."
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Zoo Boise and Gorongosa Updates
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2025-07-15 06:00:00Z |
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Shark Pond is a Rotary global service project in the form of an entrepreneur pitch show, similar to Shark Tank - yet friendly! Budding entrepreneurs receive 6 weeks of business training and then pitch their business ideas to Rotarian guests judges who award the winners with start-up grants to fund their business! The Meridian Rotary Club, in collaboration with the Pocatello Rotary Club, are inviting entrepreneurs from Ghana and Nigeria to pitch their business ideas on February 10, 2025. This is an event not to be missed! Two budding entrepreneurs will receive a start-up grant. On Monday, January 13th the Club will be hosting a raffle during the lunch meeting to raise funds for the first two entrepreneur grant recipients. The competition takes place on February 10th at noon. Please plan to attend both days to fully feel the global impact. Ben Davidson, Rotary Club of Pocatello, talking about Shark Pond October 2023
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Shark Pond Comes to Meridian!
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2025-01-02 07:00:00Z |
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Rotarian David Bishop and his wife Stephanie have been leading medical missions to Honduras since 2012. In 2015 they helped form a non-profit, Faith & Humanity Medical Missions to continue their work in a more organized fashion. As the organization has continued to mature, they have been actively raising funds to build a permanent and dormitory in Chinda, Santa Barbara, Honduras, with the goal of improving the lives of the people in a rural area of Honduras that currently has little resources. They have had land donated by the Chinda Municipality and are starting construction on the site. Over the next two years they expect to complete the project. As part of that work, they are building stronger relationships with government agencies, Rotary Clubs, and other non-profits in Honduras. They are also starting to reach out to service clubs, hospitals, universities, church groups, and other groups in in the United States who may want to use the facility for their own service trips and projects in the area. David and Stephanie will be taking their next medical mission to Honduras April 25 to May 4, 2025. They currently have some openings on their team for both clinical and non-clinical volunteers. The cost of the trip is approximately $2500 and covers airfare, hotel stays, and food (is tax deductible). If you are interested in participating, please contact David at bishopjdavid@outlook.com or 2018-412-0984 and he can provide you with more information. David Bishop at the November 2024 Faith & Humanity Fundraiser hosted at Cinder Winery.
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Faith & Humanity Medical Mission to Honduras
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2025-01-02 07:00:00Z |
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Vino for Honduras Event - WOW! Rotarians showed up for the Vino for Honduras event on Saturday 11/23! David Bishop is instrumental in the global service project, working with Faith & Humanity Medical Missions, along with a great team of service-focused people from across the Treasure Valley. Saturday's fundraiser showed that when good people gather, great things happen. Rotarians from the Meridian, Sunrise, Boise Downtown and other clubs attended. Meridian donated a silent auction basket (pictured below) and (no surprise) it was purchased by a Rotarian! Look for more ways to get involved in this project in the coming year as the team readies to travel to Honduras in late spring 2025.
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Vino for Honduras Event
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David Bishop
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2024-09-09 06:00:00Z |
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Meridian Rotarians were pleased to support the 2024 RYLA Camp in many ways! - Karol Stokes from Meridian teamed up with Joe Levitch from Boise Sunrise to host the Camp Leadership to a pizza party.
- The Meridian Club hosted a BBQ for all campers, camp leaders, and other Rotarians on Friday before they all headed to camp.
- Doug Rutan made arrangements for bussing transportation and even drove the bus to camp - go Doug!
The camp was a great success! Mark your calendars for RYLA camp 2025 and plan to volunteer! 
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RYLA!!
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2024-07-21 06:00:00Z |
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Boise State’s School of Public Service is proud to bring the Mandela Washington Fellowship back to Boise! Over 53,000 individuals applied to be one of 700 applicants in the 2024 class of Mandela Washington Fellows. There are 25 talented fellows who arrived in Boise in June for a 6-week leadership program. Rotarians from across the Treasure Valley - including Meridian - have hosted dinners, engaged in coaching, hosted Fellows at club meetings, and much more! Peace building in Rotary is about engaging locally and globally, and this program gave Rotarians a chance to engage global relations locally!
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Meridian Rotary & Mandela Washington Fellowship
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2024-07-21 06:00:00Z |
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 An estimated 500 million people worldwide became infected. Many cities closed theaters and cinemas, and placed restrictions on public gatherings. Rotary clubs adjusted their activities while also helping the sick.
This is how Rotary responded to the influenza pandemic that began in 1918 and came in three waves, lasting more than a year. The Rotary Club of Berkeley, California, USA, meets in John Hinkel Park during the 1918 flu pandemic.
Photo by Edwin J. McCullagh, 1931-32 club president. Courtesy of the Rotary Club of Berkeley.
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Rotary’s Response to the 1918 Flu Pandemic
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2020-11-05 06:00:00Z |
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 Rotary and the United Nations have a shared history of working toward peace and addressing humanitarian issues around the world.
During World War II, Rotary informed and educated members about the formation of the United Nations and the importance of planning for peace. Materials such as the booklet “From Here On!” and articles in The Rotarian helped members understand the UN before it was formally established and follow its work after its charter. Many countries were fighting the war when the term “United Nations” was first used officially in the 1942 “Declaration by United Nations.” The 26 nations that signed it pledged to uphold the ideals expressed by the United States and the United Kingdom the previous year of the common principles “on which they based their hopes for a better future for the world.”
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Rotary at the Start of the United Nations
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2020-11-05 06:00:00Z |
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Women are active participants in Rotary, serving their communities in increasing numbers and serving in leadership positions in Rotary. The 1989 Council on Legislation vote to admit women into Rotary clubs worldwide remains a watershed moment in the history of Rotary.
“My fellow delegates, I would like to remind you that the world of 1989 is very different to the world of 1905. I sincerely believe that Rotary has to adapt itself to a changing world,” said Frank J. Devlyn, who would go on to become RI president in 2000-01. The vote followed the decades-long efforts of men and women from all over the Rotary world to allow the admission of women into Rotary clubs, and several close votes at previous Council meetings.
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History of Women in Rotary
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2020-11-05 06:00:00Z |
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 Every hero has an origin story. “I was 10 years old when the entire journey started,” explains Binish Desai. It began with a cartoon called Captain Planet, an animated TV series from the 1990s about an environmentalist with superpowers. Desai can still recite the show’s refrain: Captain Planet, he’s our hero / Gonna take pollution down to zero! “That tagline stuck in my mind,” he says. “I wanted to do something to help Captain Planet.”
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Young Inventor Eco-Friendly Bricks Come Full Circle
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2020-11-05 06:00:00Z |
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 In early 1919, Rotarian Roger Pinneo of Seattle, Washington, USA, traveled to the Philippines to try to organize a Rotary club in Manila. Leon J. Lambert, a Manila business leader helped Pinneo establish the club. Several months later, on 1 June 1919, the Rotary Club of Manila was chartered and became the first Rotary club in Asia.
The club would be the only one in the country for more than 12 years. Eventually, Manila club members organized Rotary clubs in the Philippine cities of Cebu (1932) and Iloilo (1933). Iloilo club members then started a club in Bacolod (1937), and Rotary continued to expand across the country.
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First Club in Philippines Opens Door to Rotary in Asia
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2020-11-05 06:00:00Z |
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