At today's meeting at the Redwood, we were greeted by Carrie and our exchange student, Hikaru from Japan!

There were 23 Naples Rotarians plus guests Hikaru, Lyra Inda and our speaker, Deacon Ray Defendorf from Corning Rotary Club.

 

President Jack brought us to order with the bell. We recited the Pledge and sang our National Anthem in honor of the Olympics in Italy. Jack's inspiration came from President Eisenhower - "Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done, because he(she) wants to do it." Jack accurately added the "she"!

 

Announcements: Jo Anne gave a "Fish Tale" update on the Trout Derby plans for April 1st! The sign up sheet was circulated. The registration and leaderboard will be online thanks to John, Micah and Jon Betrus. The trophies have been ordered and donations are coming in. * Lyra was a Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) student last year to Thailand. She is now a member of Rotex, a Rotary group for RYE alumni. They are sponsoring a fundraising Polar Plunge on April 12 at noon at the Beachcomber on Conesus Lake. Funds go to Rotary Youth Exchange, 5 Rotary Camps and the top three donating Clubs. Individuals and teams can sign up, payments can be made on Zeffy. *  The District Learning Assembly is April 11 at Waterloo HS. * Hikaru updated us on his activities. He was recognized at Senior night for the bowling team. He's going on a ski trip. His favorite sports are basketball, soccer and rugby. * Bill's birthday was yesterday - Sunday.

 

The speaker today was Deacon Ray Defendorf, a member of the Rotary Club of Corning since 1980. He was also in the Bath Rotary Club for a time. He spoke to us about the SOYODI Global Grant project in Uganda. SOYODI stands for Soroti Youth Development Initiative.

Based in Soroti, Uganda, it provides training and resources to youth in three communities. The area has high poverty and unemployment for young people. Many of the girls have children in their teens and never finish schooling. The Rotary Global Grant is a three year effort to provide sewing machines and training to the youth, helping them to support their families and community. Naples Rotary Club and several individuals contributed to this project in a previous year. Ray is the coordinator in Corning, a city with many worldwide connections due to Corning Inc. Ray met Dennis (and his wife) who is a youth minister in Soyoti Central and took on this valuable project with them. In 2019, 49 girls graduated from the program but the pandemic closed many businesses. In 2023, the Grant was funded to teach 150 students and provide a free treadle sewing machine to each student. One of the first students, Mary, became the face of the grant. She has now become a teacher and organizer for the program. In addition to creating sanitary products and basic clothing, the students put on a fashion show of their own dress designs! They made basic skirts that were sold at the camel market, which enabled them to buy fabrics for colorful beautiful dresses. Naples raised $1670 in the first year for sewing machine purchases (more than Canandaigua and Rochester!). Funds for 109 machines are already pledged. Ray hopes to fund 150 this year and provided pledge forms to us. Of 600 applicants, 241 students were interviewed and 149 were selected. There were 3 men in the class and all students graduated. Thread, fabric and stools are also provided and several students learned machine repair. Students were really proud of having their own scissors and measuring tape. For more information, contact Ray Defendorf, International Chair at Rotary Club of Corning. 

 

The Ace of Hearts today was $81. Ticket #9532 was picked. Liz Bailey chose the Ace of Clubs. So close!!!

Many Happy Bills were given for Ray's presentation and the global grant program. Ray thanked us for our past support. It really makes a difference to those communities. Ray shared his gratitude for his Keytruda treatment for cancer and asked for prayers for his daughter Annie in her fight against cancer. Ray will be asked back to do a program for Naples Interact. Jo Anne was thankful for her granddaughter's honeymoon in Cancun and everyone was happy to have sunshine today!

 

Jack led us in the Four Way Test and rang the bell to adjourn. See you next Monday!