Following today’s March board meeting, this week’s Mardi Gras meeting was called to order at 12 Noon by President Patrick. He led the members in the Pledge of Allegiance & the 4-way test and a moment of silence and reflection followed.
Visiting Rotarians: Bruce showed up but he wasn’t visiting!
No Guests Today.
March is– “Literacy Month”.
There were no pin or name tag buck fines today.
Announcements/Sad-Happy-Brag Bucks:
Michael’s glad to be back in the USA. There was great Rotary fellowship in Accra. He even brought back three trading banners.
Bruce put in a buck for Vivien as Club President-Elect. Also, it’s good to be here today!
Emily – Says thanks to Vivien for the link to the NM History Museum. There’s a seminar this Thursday & exhibits on the adverse effects of Meth ($8 at 9:30AM). She has presented the DMWU program to 50 students and 43 teachers last month.
Mollie needed a favor: What restaurant that has a room for about 30 people for luncheon? Many answers were forthcoming; some that even served booze, too!
Our Quiz Questions for the day from Sgt-at-Arms Mollie:
Which New York island was known as “Gilbert” ? Yup, it’s Ellis Island. That’s where fort Gibson stood.
The island had many names over time: Kioshk, Gull, Oyster, Dyre, Bucking and Anderson’s.
Which was the only State of the union that was an independent republic? It was TEXAS!
Club, District & R.I. News and Business:
Today, our RI Foundation Chair, Dave Fontaine, distributed the yearly District 5520 Cruise raffle tickets. This year there are many prizes to be had at our District Conference drawing. District Rotarians are asked to buy or sell all 10 tickets (or more) OR, buy at least one, for $10. The income will benefit both the District and R.I. through the Annual Fund. Checks should be made out to The Rotary Club of Albuquerque Sandia, so that we can send one Club check to R.I. Note “Annual Fund” and “ Cruise Raffle” on your check. Please return checks and ticket stubs to Dave by 16 April. Yup, each member does receive credit towards their Paul Harris Fellowship by contributing to this raffle.
On 10 April, PB&J will hold a fundraising luncheon at the ABQ Marriott. $100 to get in.
Bruce announced the resumption of the Rotary Leadership Institute. The next one will take place on 16 March at French Funeral home, 10500 Lomas, NE starting at 7:30 AM. Signup on the District website for $35 per session. All three sessions will be offered. There’ll be some changes to these courses in the 2019-2020 RY.
Tomorrow, 6 March, at 4:30 PM, Club members will once again be providing dinner to the folks at Casa Esperanza. It’ll be Italian. A signup sheet was passed around. We’ll be feeding 50+ persons.
Grants Management Training: Two Club members must attend a 2 hour training course. The training via “Zoom” takes place on: March 12, 14, 18, 20, 26, 28, April 1, 3. AND at the District Conference.
District grants applications must happen between 15 April and 15 June.
RYLA scholarship applications deadline(from our Club to District): 1 May, 2019. Gail is our club’s RYLA contact person. HS juniors are eligible to apply. Boys’ camp 14 to 20 July. Girls’ 20 to 26 July.
Some of our Interact Club members have expressed interest & they have applications.
Request for RFE host club from Donna Pedace and Regina Guest, RFE Co-Chairs:
The first Rotary Friendship Exchange will be with Fredericksburg, Texas. They’ll visit our district on July 8-16, 2019. We need one more volunteer hosting club for our Texas guests. If our club has been thinking about hosting, this could be the opportunity to ease into the program. If our club is interested in hosting, someone in our club must be the local coordinator & work with the hosting families to plan the visit. If you are interested in hosting this RFE group, contact Donna Pedaceabq@aol.com or, call 505-349-8850.
The Egyptian Rotary Friendship Exchange will visit us from April 29th to May 2nd. They’ll need host homes. It’s a large group and more hosts than usual are needed. If you’re interested, please volunteer. As usual, hosts provide a private bedroom, hopefully a private bath, and breakfast each morning. There’ll be a meeting at which the hosts will schedule activities and determine if they’ll cover additional meals and some sightseeing. Hosts drive their guests to activities, or arrange for another club member to assist with driving. Let Donna know if you’re willing to host.
The Rotary District 5520 8th grade four-way essay contest entry deadline is 19 March, 2019. If one of our members is interested in heading up our Club entrant contest, we’ll form a committee which will evaluate their essays. Our Club’s winner will receive a cash award from us. Applications & instructions are on the District website.
Club members provide program speakers for our meetings. Here’s a list for each remaining month of the 2018-2019 Rotary Year: March-Gail April–Allan May-Fofo June-Maggie
There are NO member birthdays to celebrate This Month (March).
Monthly B.D. “Treats” to be provided by: March- Bash April-Judy May-Mollie June-Cheryl
Today’s Program: Focus on The Rotary International Foundation (TRF)
Vivien Introduced member & Club Foundation Chair, Dave Fontaine, who spoke about celebrating Rotary in our lives. Today, Dave narrated his journey in Rotary beginning with his first exposure to Rotary.
Yes, R.I. has to change in order to meet the challenges of today’s world.
The mission of The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty.
At the 1917 convention, Rotary president Arch Klumph proposed setting up an endowment “for the purpose of doing good in the world.” That idea, and an initial contribution of $26.50, set in motion a force that has transformed millions of lives around the globe. Thanks to his vision and advocacy and the generosity of Rotary members worldwide, this fund has become one of the world’s leading humanitarian foundations.
During the past 100 years, the Foundation has spent $3 billion on life-changing, sustainable projects.
One donation can save a life. A child can be protected from polio with as little as 60 cents. Our partners make a donation go even further. For every $1 Rotary commits to polio eradication, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed $2.
TRF Promotes peace, Provides clean water, Saves mothers and children, Supports education, Helps grow local economies and Fights disease.
The Rotary Foundation is organized as a public charity operated exclusively for charitable purposes and governed by a Board of Trustees. The operations of Rotary International (a member organization) are overseen by its Board of Directors.
The headquarters of Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation are in Evanston, Illinois, USA. We have associate foundations in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
Investments are critical to the sustainability of Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation (TRF).
The Office of Investment manages Rotary’s investments according to policies set by The Rotary Foundation’s Trustees and Rotary International’s Board of Directors.
The Annual Fund is the primary source of funds that support TRF’s programs and areas of
focus. Contributions to the Annual Fund are invested for three years to generate earnings to meet the Foundation’s operating expenses. To achieve the objective of the Annual Fund, the portfolio is invested conservatively with an emphasis on liquidity and income over capital appreciation.
The objective of the Endowment is to provide a permanent and sustainable source of funding.
Contributions to the Endowment are invested in perpetuity and investment earnings are used to provide a permanent source of income to support Foundation programs. The long-term nature of the Endowment dictates a bias toward equity investments because of the higher return potential in comparison to fixed income investments.
The PolioPlus Fund has always been invested only in fixed-income securities (i.e., bonds) because of the need to protect and preserve the funds. In the past, when the time horizon for both investment and grant-making was longer, the investment portfolio held longer-term bonds that generated higher yields. The Fund portfolio benefited from the long cycle of declining interest rates. Today, the investments are limited to short-term fixed-income securities because the Foundation is raising and disbursing funds within a short time frame as we get closer to reaching our goal.
We’ve surpassed the $300 million goal set to mark the Foundation’s historic year. Donations to the Annual, Endowment, and PolioPlus funds empower members to continue fighting disease, reducing poverty, providing clean water, promoting peace, and advancing economic development in communities all over the world.
Bruce also mentioned that the easiest way of contributing to The Rotary Foundation, is by the way of “ROTARY DIRECT” on the RI website.
One of the world's most widely printed and quoted statements of business ethics is The Four-Way Test, which was created in 1932 by Herbert J. Taylor (who later served as RI president) when he was asked to take charge of a company that was facing bankruptcy. We discussed the principles of the 4 way test and the placement of each.
There being no additional Rotary business, our meeting concluded at 1:00 PM.
Programs, Happenings and Stuff & Such:
6 Mar We provide dinner at Casa Esperanza at 4:30 PM… It’s Italian!
10 Mar Daylight Savings Time Begins
12 Mar Regular Meeting- Canine companions for independence.
14 Mar Veteran’s Day
16 Mar Rotary Leadership Institute- 7:30A-1:15P- @ FRENCH, 10500 Lomas, NE
17 Mar Saint Patrick’s Day
19 Mar Regular Meeting- Karen Bash Legislative experiences
20 Mar Spring Begins !!!
26 Mar Regular Meeting- Cloud Dancers Therapeutic horsemanship
2 April Board Meeting at 10:30AM
2 April Regular Meeting-
4-6 April PETS – Santa Fe
9 April Regular Meeting-
16 April Regular Meeting-
21 April Easter
23 April Regular Meeting-
27 April Governors’ Ball
30 April Regular Meeting-
2-5 May, 2019 District Conference- El Paso, TX
3-4 May The New Mexico MOM takes place in Las Cruces this year
5 May Ramadan begins at sundown
12 May Mother’s Day
27 May Memorial Day
11 June King Kamehameha Day
16 June Father’s Day
Thanks to our members for assisting in setting up & striking Club equipment used to run our meeting.