16-Feb-23     3^rd Thursday Rotary
Service option: Rochester Public Library, 2^nd Fl. Meeting Room B
Social option: Twigs Restaurant

 

23-Feb-23     4^th Thursday Rotary
Mayo Research Interns from Mexico:
Rotaractor Mariana Gonzalez Trevino & group

 

2-Mar-23        1^st Thursday Rotary
Committee Meetings at Even Hotel

 

 

16-Mar-23     3^rd Thursday Rotary
Service option: Rochester Public Library, 2^nd Fl. Meeting Room B
Social option: Twigs Restaurant

 

23-Mar-23      4^th Thursday Rotary
Lynn Clarey, Tee It Up For The Troops

 

30 Mar-23      5^th Thursday Rotation Day – Rochester Mayor Kim Norton
 

 

 Questions related to the Rotary Community Grant consideration process should be directed to romnrotary@gmail.com

Where Does the Money Go? by Audrey Betcher

 

Paul Baessler, the current President of the Rotary Risers, wrote an article for their newsletter about where their money goes.  Thanks to Paul for allowing me to use his article as a basis for this one.

 

Even though I have been a Rotarian for many years, it really wasn’t until I became a member of both The Rotary Club of Rochester Board (TRCR) and The Rotary Club of Rochester Community Foundation (TRCRCF) Board that I started to understand where the money goes.  I’m assuming there are others who don’t have the full picture either, hence this article.

 

Let’s start with the Club’s income.  By far most of the club’s income comes from dues.    Other income includes money from the Foundation and the Holiday Classic to support the salary of the Club Administrator who assists both the Foundation and the Holiday Classic.  The Holiday Classic also provides $3,000 back to the club if we fill all our volunteer slots at the event. Revenue from the sale of gift cards also goes to the Club. 

 

Then let’s move on to expenses for the club.  Approximately half of all dues go to support the Rotary District and Rotary International administration.  The dollars from dues, The Foundation, and the Holiday Classic support the salary of the Club Administrator.  Dues also cover things such as licenses for Clubrunner, Zoom, and the website, merchant fees for credit card transactions, taxes and insurance, postage, and new member lunches.  (Yes, you can bring a prospective new member, and the club will pick up the cost of their lunch.)  The Rotary Club of Rochester is a 501c4 organization which is a membership organization.

 

The Rotary Club of Rochester Community Foundation is a 501c3 organization which makes donations to the Foundation tax-deductible.  TRCRCF is funded by donations and fundraising.  There is some income coming from interest from an endowment at the Rochester Area Foundation.

 

1) TRCRCF is the fiscal agent for restricted funds.  This includes 3 club projects including district and international grants (e.g. Guatemala Stove Project), World Community Service/Rochester Grants Committee, STRIVE, Holiday Classic, etc.

2) TRCRCF supports local service projects prioritized by TRCR.  This includes Youth Exchange, the Ethics Program, mentoring, STRIVE,  etc. 

3) TRCRCF supports local non-profits that align with the priorities and strategic plan of TRCR.  An example of this is the Impact Grant. 

 

    STRIVE (Students Taking Renewed Interest In the Value of Education) - a mentoring program with scholarship incentives for select high school seniors who desire to improve their academic performance and who meet our program criteria.  Criteria include high school graduation, regular STRIVE meeting attendance, improved GPAs, and completion of a goal setting plan.

    Youth Ethics Day – a daylong program presented to select students from the four Rochester High Schools (public and private) centered on understanding the importance of ethical behavior as future leaders. A college professor from St. Thomas University has led our program for a number of years. This program was suspended for the 2022-23 due to scheduling issues, however it is anticipated to begin again next year.

    Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Event – One no-cost event was held earlier this year. A staff member from the University of Minnesota Library presented a ZOOM program on their Mapping Prejudice Project.  Also the 3-Club Presidents recently signed a Commitment to Racial Justice with the Rochester Nonprofit Consortium.

    Camp RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) - a character-building program focused on leadership, effective communication, trust and cooperation.  We sponsor four junior class students from Rochester High Schools for this weekend long program. Camp RYLA is a two-district program covering nearly all of the state of Minnesota.

    Youth Exchange – provide international opportunities to eager, ambitious, and inquisitive high school students — both to come to our area to experience American life, or to go abroad to one of over 30 countries around the world.

    Mentoring Program – This year we are piloting a program pairing young professionals (mostly in the club) with more seasoned Rotarians.  They meet regularly and the young professionals defines goals for the year.

    World Community Service/Rochester Grants Committee – This is a 3-club effort that allocates funds towards international service projects.

    Jeremiah Program/The Reading Center – The Jeremiah Program and the Reading Center received an Impact Grant this year that allows the Reading Center to provide reading supports at the Jeremiah Program.

    Cradle2Career - a comprehensive, cooperative, evidence-based approach to address education gaps in Rochester. It is based on the work of StriveTogether, a national organization that developed this collaboration model focused on using local data to make smarter decisions. The Rotary Clubs of Rochester helped fund the formation of this organization with additional monies from a grant from District Designated Funds from District 5960.

 

Our Club encourages donations to Rotary International and District 5960 programs like The Rotary Foundation’s PolioPlus and the LIFT program managed by District 5960, formally known as Fast For Hope. Over the last ten years, LIFT has focused on addressing Nicaragua's extreme poverty by building community leadership and capacity.  LIFT has been mainly working in one community, El Corozo, and has had success by bringing children’s reading programs to the community and a community pharmacy. For the last two years, and with the help of District and Global grants, LIFT has been building a community water system in El Corozo.  Recently completed, it provides a sustainability of the water system for this small community of about 120 families. Success will be assured through metering and payments by the community for water usage and overall management of the system by a local water governance committee.

 

I hope this summary has helped explain where the money comes from and where the money goes to support our local Rotarians living out our motto of “Service Above Self”. 

 

It’s February and time to kick-off our 
SHARE THE LOVE campaign 
promoting the importance of giving to
The Rotary Foundation Annual-Share Fund. 
The Share the Love campaign rewards giving in the month of February with matching point incentives for Paul Harris Fellow awards.

 

 

 

 

 

Rochester Rotary Riser April Sutor has highlighted the need for additional volunteers for Rochester’s Meals on Wheels to help deliver food throughout the week.

 

Delivery routes around town take about an hour to an hour and a half from start to finish, with no minimum volunteer requirement, just as much as you can help out.

 

Meals on Wheels provides hot, nutritious home delivered meals. Each meal meets one third of the daily-recommended nutrients containing: protein, starch, fruits and vegetables, salad and dessert.

 

Access to healthy meals can be an important part of helping people to remain living independently in their own homes.

 

Volunteers deliver meals over the noon hour. Meals are prepared under the supervision of a licensed dietitian and special diets are available. Meals on Wheels are available to greater Rochester area residents who are not able to prepare or easily access a healthy meal. Often recipients are frail, convalescing or have disabilities. Through Meals on Wheels recipients are able to improve or maintain health and remain living independently in their own homes.

 

Meals are delivered seven days a week in Rochester and if you’d like to sign up and become a volunteer you can find more information here.