Rotary Foundation explained in great detail by Rotary District Foundation Chair and SAG Paul Platek......
 
Paul's guest is Father Felix from Nigeria who took us through his personal story of growing up in Nigeria and what he had to do each day in order to get water for his family. He thanked Rotary for the funding that built a well and water tank for his village and this was accomplished through a Rotary global grant.  

Rotary Club of Englewood 

Presiding: Jennie Katsaros

Recorder: Carol Schults

Visiting Rotarians and Guests:

-      Paul Platek, District Rotary Foundation

-      Felix Ugwuozor – Trans Elcula Club, Nigeria

 

Announcements:

-      On 9/14 there will be a dinner at Marchi’s Restaurant at 251 East 31st Street, NYC at 6:30.  Checks are payable to Englewood Rotary Charities for $80 per person to attend. Please RSVP - ASAP to Jennie or Janet.

-       Harvey Disaster Relief funds have been established.  You can either make checks to Englewood Rotary and give to Susan or Vivian or donate through the Walter D. Head Foundation or reach out to Carl Hassett at secretary7490@gmail.com or www.rotary.org/en/rotary-districts-collect-emergency-funds-hurricane-harvey-victims

-      Andy Topp from the Ridgewood AM Club is flying the International Humanitarian Aid Foundation Mission plane with supplies.  Supplies listed in the email. 

-      Beth Green (Michael Prigoff's wife) will be showcasing her photographs at the Sandy Bennett Art Gallery at 30 North Van Brunt Street from 9/6 through 10/1.  There will be a reception on 9/14 from 6 to 8 and another one 9/16 from 3 to 5.

-      Aleta announced that our DGE Nikki Mederos is being installed in two weeks as the new President of the Lion’s Club.

-      The International Committee will be having their event on 10/17 at Flat Rock Brook

-      SESCIL’s event is on 10/11 at Stony Hill Inn in Hackensack, NJ

-      First Presbyterian Gala will be on 10/25 at Seasons

Happy Dollars:

-      Happy dollars were for the safety of the victims of Harvey

-      There were Happy dollars for our guests

Program:

-      Paul Platek spoke on behalf District Rotary International and how money is collected and how it is distributed. The Rotary International Foundation is currently over $1 billion. When someone donates the funds are available three years later, via a grant application.  There are two types of grants; District Grants and Global Grants.  Our club has donated $6000 to the Foundation. The District Grants are a one-page application and the applications for this year are due on 9/30.

-      You can also easily set up a monthly payment arrangement by going to rotary.org and find auto donate.  Remember the more we give the more we can give back. 

-      An example of Global Grants is the clean water project in Nigeria.  Father Felix Ugwuozor was directly involved in getting this project to happen.  When he was younger he was a beneficiary of scholarships. He had received support that enabled him to get his BA, MA and PhD.  He was a teacher at FDU and at Montclair but his primary job is at the University of Nigeria.  He has created a 501(3)(c) to help the next generation of students.

-      His other project that received money from Rotary International was money for a water pump in his hometown.  They drilled a 750 foot hole to reach the water and then installed a pump house.  His hope in drilling this well was to give possibilities to the current children in his town so they could enrich themselves rather than walking 7.5 miles to the nearest water source.  This pump does not only allow the children to enrich themselves by having the time to study but also eliminates water borne diseases.  His next step is to install a generator to help pump the water.  A new one would cost $20,000 but a used one would cost $10,000.

Upcoming Programs:

-      Lenny Agrusti on CPR  9/12

-      Amy Sokal, Exec Director of Art Works 9/19

-      Dr. Michael Passow, Earth2class Workshops for Teachers. 9/26