I was checking out the on-line Rotary magazine and was drawn to a story based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The president of the Rotary Metro club there moved to Cambodia from Sweden. The day the author of the article visited the club meeting, there was a visiting Rotarian from Croatia and a representative of an NGO that helps Cambodian schools. A Rotarian from Japan also stopped by to leave a banner and express interest in working with the club on a project. The club was chartered in 2004. Since its beginnings, it has hosted 34 Rotary Foundation grants with a total budget of $1.2 million. From what the article said, many Rotary clubs from around the world reach out to them to help with projects in Cambodia. Most of the projects are aimed at helping Cambodia recover from years of civil war and the brutal dictatorship regime of Khmer Rouge.
The article goes on to say that the majority of the club’s members are expatriates (moved to Cambodia from another country). Several, including the current president and president-elect, are first-time Rotarians. After moving to Cambodia, they felt the call to service and discovered Rotary was a great mechanism. The current president’s goal is to increase Cambodian members. To achieve that goal, they have made two changes: 1) dues are on a sliding scale based on the member’s ability to pay and 2) moved meetings from weekly lunches to biweekly evening meetings at a boutique hotel that is a short walk from the city’s central market.
ZOOM meeting was conducted on May 28th (11:30 AM), with 10 members participating, plus guest Larry Johansen
President Judy reviewed the Agenda and topics of discussion for the day.
Opening Prayer was provided by Dave Rosacker and Tod led the Pledge of Allegiance
Treasurer's Report: Regular account balance is unchanged ($4,576.34). Grants account balance is $1,424.00
Membership: Yearly dues ($220) are to be sent to the club's mailbox: WDC Rotary, P.O. Box 265, Elkhorn NE 68022. Jim T will assist Rita by mailing / emailing an invoice to each member. Dues are payable during the month of June
Scholarship Breakfast: No change - further discussion will occur when Common Ground opens up our meeting room
COPE Beef Grant: The next DC West food distribution event will be June 10th
Bike Grant: Jim has formally submitted the grant request for $1,000 matching funds ... decision should be received after June 1st. WDC Rotary will need to raise the matching $1,000 as soon as the grant is approved.
Golf Outing: Mike will contact The Pines about moving our golf outing to July 13th or 20th. It appears that we can probably field 10 or 12 teams. Jim indicated that he had received two checks from Bob Reade ($100 for a hole sponsorship and $600 for scholarship sponsorship ... thanks Bob!). Members need to contact Mike and get teams and hole sponsors ($100) committed as soon as possible.
Tod reported briefly on the District's President-Elect Zoom meeting, emphasizing our community projects (Flood Relief, COPE Beef Project and our new Bike Project).
RI's International Conference will be June 20-26. Rotary's National Conference will be July 25th. Citation Award info needs to be gathered throughout the year so that we qualify next year.
Next ZOOM meeting will be Thursday, June 4th at 11:30 AM. ZOOM invitation will be sent via email.
