We got an early start on the March Rotary theme of Water & Sanitation with Rick Lawrence of the Manchester, CT Rotary Club returning last week to get us charged up on the progress of the Guatemala clean water project that our club has supported. The first Global Grant was fully funded and under way with the villagers remarking it was the best Christmas present they could receive in 2020.
Clean water is something we take for granted, but for many places around the globe that is not the case. Rick gave us some background on the ill effects of contaminated water and how the 25 sustainable clean water and sanitation projects done there since 2007 have lifted the standard of living in the rural communities. A video he shared captured our hearts and imagination on finding springs, using a solar powered pump to move the water to a reservoir, and from there it is gravity fed to each household, providing clean-easily accessed water. And being solar powered eliminates diesel pumps which would add greater costs besides pollution. A very simple solution in these Mayan communities.
The project in San Vicente saw Rotary provide a $100K Global Grant to enable the project that helped 100 households with spigots placed at each house. A recurring nominal fee of $1 is charged to repair and maintain the system. The benefit: less sickness and malnutrition with more time to complete other tasks. Look for more information and an announcement concerning the project on March 22-World Water Day.
Keep in mind that programs like this are a great way to introduce potential members to Rotary. I know several of you have said you have candidates in mind. PLEASE invite them to a future meeting to see how we effect change worldwide. Our District 7430 Simply Talk About Rotary Today (S.T.A.R.T.) campaign is under way through April 30th with incentives for us to add members to support future projects. S.T.A.R.T. will give potential members a chance to join us and accomplish the many tremendous projects we do. Will you help?
Thank you to Paul Ricciardi for hosting our virtual Happy Hour last Thursday. It's great to "kick" back and join the fun and conversation-mark your calendar for the next Happy Hour March 25. Paul also plans to follow the same format in the Breakfast Coffee meetings that will debut soon. Stay tuned for details.
Dates to remember:
- Saturday March 6 10:00AM is the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Intro workshop.
- Training Tuesday March 9 at 7:00PM is about International Service-Global grants & Projects.
- Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) is Saturday March 13th from 9:00AM to 2:00PM. This is a tremendous opportunity to build your Rotary knowledge & skills.
The Virtual Tri-District Conference is April 30, May 1-2. Registration is now open and is easily done from our Club's website. Plan to join for the guest speakers, Four Way Test Speech Contest, Foundation fundraiser, and virtually interact with fellow Rotarians from three areas. And don't forget that our District's Camp Neidig occurs on May 1 during the conference. Please contact Dale Kochard if you know of a student looking to build leadership skills.
This week our speaker will be Attorney Avery Smith of the Bethlehem firm of King Spry Herman Freund presenting a program on Estate Planning during a pandemic. Just as every business has had to change the way they do business, Avery will give insight of new challenges and things we may not even have thought about in the process. Plan to join us
