February 2022 Bulletin (Feb 10, 2022)

Greetings from District Governor Billy Roberts

The Rotary theme for February is Peace and Conflict Resolution. With more than 25 different global conflict zones identified by The Council on Foreign Relations, there’s never been a greater need for organizations like Rotary that are dedicated to building bridges around the world. Having traveled myself to scores of countries, I’ve been struck, repeatedly, by the similarities I find among people. There may be great differences in wealth, resources, and ideology, but at heart, the people I’ve met in around the world have had the same basic hopes and dreams as the Americans I’ve known for decades. I feel strongly that the more we get to know each other, the more common ground we will find—here and abroad.

Rotary is an expert at this. Through our signature Peace Fellows program, Rotary Peace Centers have trained more than 1,300 to become effective catalysts for peace through careers in government, education, and international organizations. And through support of Youth Exchange programs in more than 100 countries, Rotary promotes understanding and creates ties between cultures.

While our Peace Fellows and Exchange Students work to build bridges around the world, Rotarians in our District are taking action every day through service projects that address the underlying causes of conflict, including poverty, discrimination, ethnic tension, lack of access to education, and unequal distribution of resources.

I encourage you to learn more about what Rotary is doing in this area. You can learn more about our Peace and Conflict Resolution initiatives at https://www.rotary.org/en/our-causes/promoting-peace .

Heping! Mir! Salam! Santi! Paz! Peace!

Meet Me Video

What You and Your Club Can Do for Peace

Join District Rotarians via Zoom on February 28, 7:00-8:15 pm.

You’ll hear from other Rotarians about how their Clubs are engaged with Global Grants, Open World Program (now called COIL), International Cities of Peace, Peace Poles, local DEI initiatives, International Day of Peace celebrations and Rotary Peace Fellows Program.

Each presenter will provide links for additional information on each topic. You can access the event at https://bridgew.zoom.us/j/97571613240?pwd=TFV2OEFKZnQrTEM5bWthU1FyTjR6dz09

Meeting ID: 975 7161 3240

Passcode: 470116

Save the Date: District Conference May 5-7

Our Annual District Conference will be held at the Sea Crest Beach Hotel, 350 Quaker Road, North Falmouth MA 02556. Information on registration will be sent out shortly.

New Generations Update

District 7950 now has 35 InterAct Clubs—a great accomplishment for our District! To learn more about what our InterAct and EarlyAct clubs are doing, read their newsletter here.

District membership holds steady.

Missy Garlisi, our District Membership Chair, reports that as of January 31^st, we had 2,038 members, a loss of just 14, or 0.68% over the past six months. This is good news, as many U.S. Districts have shown significant losses, especially during the COVID pandemic.

Among the 66 clubs reporting membership in our District, 46 stayed the same, 9 lost members, while 11 grew. The largest increases were in the Duxbury, Warwick, and Westerly clubs.

Need more money for your project? District funds available for 2^nd grants.

With a significant portion of this year’s District Foundation’s allotted funds still available, Foundation Chair Steve Certa announced that the Foundation Committee will consider 2^nd applications from clubs that were awarded grants in the first half of this year. For more information, email Steve Certa

Milton Club uses art contest to promote food insecurity and support its local food bank.

To raise awareness of food insecurity, the Milton Rotary Club came up with a novel idea: they held an art contest among school age children in Milton, asking participating kids to create a design for them to use in promotional materials.

When the contest was finished, the children’s art was displayed in the library, and the winning design was used on canvas tote bags, along with the club’s name. The bags were distributed at the farmers’ market and the Milton public library, with a suggested donation of $10 per bag to help raise money for the Milton Foodbank.