April 30, 2008

            The April 23 meeting of the Deposit Rotary Club included some fantastic news from Rotarian Sue Elinsky with regard to the national Feinstein Hunger challenge.  With this challenge, the Feinstein Foundation in Rhode Island will give one million dollars to hunger-relief organizations across the country.  The funds will be distributed depending on how much local Rotary clubs raise in their communities during the months of March and April.  The more funds raised by each club for a hunger agency, the larger their share of the nation-wide million dollar giveaway.  Our club here in Deposit supports the local Food Pantry.  Sue was very excited to share that she had an initial goal of raising $11,000, which we were able to reach quite early in the efforts.  Sue was able to set a higher goal, hoping to reach $14,000.  As of the meeting on Wednesday, that goal was exceeded by $7.  She has thus established a new goal of $15,000 by the end of April.  I will keep you informed of the ultimate outcome of the Feinstein Challenge!

            In other news, May marks the beginning of Flamingo season!  Rotarians can pay to have someone's yard "flamingoed," which means that in the middle of the night, a covert operation is executed, resulting in the homeowner finding their yard inhabited by a flock of bright pink plastic flamingos.  Flamingo insurance is also offered, whereby one can hope to avoid becoming a victim of one of the clandestine flocking missions, however, such security is limited as another person can pay to override the insurance.  This will be a very amusing fundraising project and really demonstrates Rotary's goals:  public service and enjoyable friendship!  You can check back in future weeks for flamingo stories and photos!

April 23, 2008

            The Deposit Rotary Club is always excited to welcome a new Rotarian to our club.  At our lunch meeting on Wednesday, April 9, Dick Marko was inducted as a member.  Dick joins us as a former member of a Rotary Club in Binghamton and we are happy to have him as a member of the Deposit club.

            Also on April 9, President Harry Dilello was pleased to announce to the club that the Senior Citizen Lunch held at Wendy's and co-sponsored by our club was a huge success, with nearly 200 seniors attending.  It was also particularly rewarding to hear the positive feedback and thank-you's from those who were able to attend the lunch.

            At our meeting on April 16, we were treated to a program by Paula Mazepa, our exchange student.  Paula hails from the city of Torun in the north of Poland.  She provided us with an overview of Poland's geographic situation and history and then presented a promotional video about her city, highlighting its history, extraordinary architecture, and cultural and social highlights.  Paula also passed around beautiful books of full-color pictures of Poland and her native city.  We also enjoyed checking out the Polish money that Paula brought with her.  Thank you, Paula, for an interesting and informative program! 

            Speaking of exchange students, I'm happy to announce the student who will be visiting us in Deposit for the 2008-2009 school year.  Shelly Ward, who is responsible for organizing our youth exchange program, told me over lunch at the April 16 meeting that she has been in contact through e-mail with 17-year-old Ivan Holly of Slovakia, who will be the inbound exchange student sponsored by our club here in Deposit next year.  The club is very excited and looking forward to meeting Ivan.

            Stay tuned next week for more news from the world of Rotary!

April 9, 2008

At the Deposit Rotary Club lunch meeting on Wednesday, April 2, Sue Elinsky was able to provide an update on the Feinstein Challenge.  Like I explained in my last column, Rhode Island philanthropist and Rotarian Alan Shawn Feinstein is offering one million dollars that will be distributed to hunger-fighting agencies throughout the country, based upon how much local Rotary clubs are able to raise on behalf of each agency during March and April.  The Deposit Rotary Club is committed to raising at least $11,000 for our local Food Pantry.  As part of the challenge, Sue wrote to dozens of businesses in the area, asking for donations of cash and food, and asked each Rotarian to not only give what they can, but to ask two other people to also donate.  Sue also explained that money and food items received this time of year are especially important because the Food Pantry experiences its most difficult season during the summer.  Because potential donors are busy with activities and vacations during the summer, they don't often think about those who are less fortunate and with kids staying home from school, families don't benefit from free and reduced breakfasts and lunches offered by the school.  Therefore, what amounts is a strain on the Food Pantry's resources, compounded by a considerable slow-down in donations.  Hopefully, the energy and enthusiasm generated by Rotary's Feinstein Challenge will remind the community of the need to consider our neighbors who might otherwise go hungry.

 

Also at the meeting, we were joined by guest speaker Mike O'Brien of the Hancock Rotary Club, who is also a Rotary Past District Governor.  He spoke to us about an international project he was involved in with Rotary clubs in California and in Monterrey, Mexico.  What began as a project to give wheelchairs to disabled people who could not otherwise afford them quickly grew into a larger project and partnership between Californian and Mexican Rotary Clubs.  The point of Mike's presentation was to highlight the benefits and rewards of working with other Rotary Clubs in international projects, citing the joys of traveling and meeting Rotarians and other individuals through these projects.  He also shared with us information on matching grant programs available to clubs through the Rotary Foundation, which offers one dollar to fund international projects for every two dollars raised by the participating clubs.  It seemed to be an excellent way to encourage Rotarians to develop a more global perspective in working to assist others through service.  Stay tuned next week for more local, regional, and international Rotary news!

April 2, 2008

The theme of the Deposit Rotary Club meeting on March 26 seemed to be thanking various Rotarians for their service and initiative in organizing club projects on behalf of our club and the community at large. Sue Elinsky informed everyone about the status of the Feinstein Hunger Challenge, in which all Rotary clubs who raise funds for local hunger relief organizations will receive a portion of one million dollars being given by philanthropist Alan Shawn Feinstein of Rhode Island. Our local club is happy to work on behalf of the Deposit Food Pantry, which will benefit from both the initial funds and food given and the money offered by Mr. Feinstein. Sue was happy to report that donors have been quite generous in giving to the local food pantry and that we are well on our way to reaching our goal of raising $11,000 during the months of March and April. The club is asking anyone in the community who would like to help hungry people right here to donate money or nonperishable food items—such as canned soups, spaghetti sauce, and cereal—to the local food pantry. Donations can be sent to the Deposit Food Pantry at 91 Second St, Deposit, NY 13754 or given to any Rotarian. Not only will your donation help feed a hungry family, but you will also help the food pantry receive even more of the money generously given by Mr. Feinstein. After making her announcement, President Harry Dilello led the club in thanking Sue for all the work she has done on behalf of the hunger challenge and the Rotarians expressed their gratitude. Thank you, Sue, for your energy and dedication!

The club was also thankful for the efforts of Tina Strong, who organized the annual Rotary Easter Egg Hunt held at Firemen's Park the day before Easter. Tina stated that more kids participated this year than any other with at least 80 kids scurrying to locate eggs stuffed with festive treats. Tina also reminded all the Rotarians that now is the time of year when hollow plastic Easter eggs are on sale at clearance prices, so if we spot them, we should buy as many as possible so that we can continue this tradition and keep it growing. If you find such eggs, feel free to give them to Tina or any other Rotarian. Thanks, Tina for giving such a fun activity to local children!

Another Rotarian who was thanked by the club was Brenda Lee, who represented Deposit at the Rotary Presidents-Elect Training Session, held in Syracuse. Brenda attended the weekend-long conference to learn about the upcoming Rotary year and how to run our local club next year. Brenda was elected our club Vice President for 2008-09 and shared some of the many things she learned that weekend with our club. She announced that Rotary International's theme for next year will be "Make Dreams Real." Brenda thanked the club for sending her to the conference and the club members thanked her for making the most of the opportunity and for well-representing our club and community.

Stay tuned next week for more news from the world of Rotary!