[D9640general] [eFlash_Rotary] Digest Number 740

Tue Dec 4 08:41:23 EST 2007

 Messages In This Digest (2 Messages) 
  1. 1415: Louis Piconi online on What the Gates Foundation Gift Means to From: Sunil K Zachariah 

  2. 1416: RI President's December Message From: Sunil K Zachariah 
Messages 
  1. 1415: Louis Piconi online on What the Gates Foundation Gift Means to 
 Sun Dec 2, 2007 5:32 am (PST) 
What the Gates Foundation Gift Means to Rotary

Participate in an on-line discussion with 
Rotary Foundation Trustee and PolioPlus Partners Co-Chair Louis Piconi

What wonderful news we got this week about the $100 million challenge 
gift to Our Rotary Foundation from the Bill and Melinda Gates 
Foundation. What a proud moment for all of us when we read the RI 
press release, or saw it in the newspaper, or heard it on TV or on 
the radio, or read it on the Internet. It was wonderful to share the 
news at our Rotary meetings and listen to the collective expressions 
of joy from the members.

But now that the warm glow is starting to fade, many Rotarians are 
starting to ask Rotary leaders"What does the Gates gift really mean 
for Rotary?", "Do we have to raise more money?", "How will this 
affect annual fund giving?", "Will PolioPlus Partners donations 
count toward the challenge?" I suspect most of us cannot really 
answer the many, many questions being asked. We need information.

To help sort this out, and to help answer some of the questions 
floating around Rotary meetings, Rotary Foundation Trustee (and co-
chair of the PolioPlus Partners Task Force) Lou Piconi has agreed to 
participate in an on-line discussion on this and other Foundation 
subjects. The International Computer Users Fellowship of Rotarians 
(ICUFR) has generously agreed to once again make its "Community 
Forums" Internet site available so that Rotarians around the world 
can discuss the Gates Foundation gift, its impact on Rotary and our 
clubs, and other Foundation subjects with one of the most 
knowledgeable Rotarians.

The on-line discussion with Trustee Piconi will take place over a 51 
hour period beginning at 900 A..M., EST, on Monday, December 10th and 
ending at Noon EST on Wednesday, December 12, 2007. This informative, 
and perhaps provocative, discussion with Trustee Piconi will take 
place at the web site http: //www2.icufr.org

To ask Trustee Piconi questions and to participate in the discussion, 
Rotarians must register in the Forum. To do that, go to the website 
and click on 'Register' at the top section of the opening page of the 
Community Forums http //www2.icufr.org . A 'Terms' page will next 
appear and, once you accept the terms, you will automatically go to 
the 'Registration' page. Please complete all 'required' information. 
When you register, please make sure you make a personal, private 
record of the 'User Name' and 'Password' you decide to use when 
registering in the Community Forums. It will be necessary to add your 
club name and district, and additional information in the profile, if 
you wish.

After you "register", you will receive a confirming email from an 
ICUFR volunteer confirming your registration. After receiving the 
confirming email, you must post messages and participate in other 
services on the web site. Registering for the Community Forums 
carries no obligation, and you will not be placed on an email list as 
a result of registering.

You also may enter the Forum as a 'guest' and read the discussion in 
the Community Forum but you will not be able to 'post' without 
registering.

We suggest you go to the ICUFR's Community Forums now, register and 
then look around for a while to get a 'feel' for the Community 
Forums. Post a message or two in any of the sections and topics, make 
some friends, and be ready for the discussion with Trustee Lou 
Piconi. On Monday, December 10th, on or after 900 A.M. EST, you can 
log into the ICUFR's Community Forums, and be ready to go. Scroll 
down to 'HOT TOPICS', click on 'The Rotary Foundation' and then click 
on 'Discussion with Trustee Louis Piconi". Then fire away with your 
questions about the impact of the Gates Foundation gift and any other 
questions about The Rotary Foundation.

We sincerely will appreciate you passing this message along to other 
Rotarians. Please post it on your district or club web site, publish 
it in your district and club newsletter, and forward it to all 
Rotarians in your email address book. In the meantime, if you have 
any questions, you can ask them in the ICUFR's COMMUNITY FORUMS in 
the 'Computer Help and Ideas' section under the topic of 'Help Using 
this Forum', or, alternatively, write to me at dwm @mooers-law.com 
and I'll help with your questions.

See you on-line on Monday, December 10th.

Source: Dan Mooers, PRID,Zone 31 Coordinator,PolioPlus Partners Task 
Force, Director, ICUFR 
Courtesy: eFlash_Rotary

2. 1416: RI President's December Message 
 Sun Dec 2, 2007 5:43 am (PST) 
RI President's December Message

December is family month, a time when we pay special attention to our 
emphasis on the family of Rotary. When I speak about this, I'm often 
asked to explain just what the family of Rotary means and why it's 
included as an emphasis.

When you put the family of Rotary idea next to such enormous needs as 
nutritious food and clean water, it might seem much less important. 
After all, as Rotarians, we're here to help everyone and look out for 
all those who need us. We don't just look after our own - that's not 
what Rotary is about. 

As Rotarians, we do have a great responsibility to make sure Rotary's 
good work doesn't end with us. Rotary does so much that is so 
important in so many ways: providing water to the thirsty, food to 
the hungry, medical care to the poor and sick, education to the 
illiterate. It's been doing that for more than 100 years now.

But if we focused all our attention on nothing but that lifesaving 
and life-altering work, then that work would eventually come to an 
end. Rotary would die out in a generation if we did not also pay 
attention to the health of our own organization - our members, our 
clubs, and those who will join our clubs in the years to come.

One reason I've always felt so at home in Rotary and with the idea of 
the family of Rotary could be that I come from a large family myself. 
I'm one of 10 children - six girls and four boys. But as big as my 
family is, it's nothing compared with Rotary. We're not just 1.2 
million Rotarians in 32,000 clubs. We're 250,000 Interactors, 170,000 
Rotaractors, 150,000 Rotary Community Corps members and, in the last 
year alone, about 8,000 young people in Rotary Youth Exchange. And, 
of course, we also include the spouses, widows and widowers, and 
children of Rotarians. Altogether, the family of Rotary is well over 
two million strong.

Our family is strong because it's close, and because it's always 
forming new ties. We need to ensure that Rotary keeps growing - in 
all the branches of our family. We should always be looking for and 
inviting qualified men and women to join our clubs.

Wilfrid J. (Wilf) Wilkinson
President, Rotary International 

Courtesy: eFlash_Rotary
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