In case you missed the District Conference (You missed a fantastic one by the way) I thought I would let you know the District had a fantastic year in Foundation giving thanks to your generous support that went to the Annual Fund, Polio Plus and the Rotary Disaster Relief funds.
First, we had $171,975 donated to Share (Annual) fund of which half will come back to the district in 2025 for District ($42,994) and Global ($42,994) grants. The other half ($85,988) will go to the World Fund to match our Global grants. Thank you for another good year in supporting the Annual Fund.
Secondly, we raised $71,608 in funds donated to Polio Plus! This is the most our clubs have donated in the past 5 years and was 172% of our goal. Special thanks go out to Gretchen Bren, District Foundation Polio Chair for another fantastic year. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention PDG Gary Bren, PDG Tom Cardwell and Rotarian Pat Grewe who rode in Rotary’s “Tour de Tucson” bicycle ride. These three raised a total of $22,000 and a lot of sore muscles in helping to eliminate Polio.
Third, our members contributed $100,167 to Rotary’s Disaster Relief fund with the majority of donations going to support relief efforts in Ukraine. Special thanks go out to Alan Stanek for his generous donation. We also collected three pallets of medical supplies and received a $25,000 disaster grant from the RI Foundation that was sent to Poland for to support relief efforts to refugees
Finally, due to your generosity we raised a total of $392,452 in contributions to the Rotary Foundation! which I believe is a record. A big shout out goes to Omaha Suburban who raised a total of $103,038 in total contributions for the year! Congratulations, You folks Rock! All of this wouldn’t have happened without the hard work and dedication of PDG Carol Horner and District Rotary Foundation Chair (DRFC) Bill Harvey, District Grants Chair Nicki Klein and Global Grants Chair Ed Walsh who put in many hours of time visiting clubs, doing Foundation presentations to educate our members, reviewing and helping submit grant applications, answering a multitude of questions and helping our clubs administer their grants.
I personally want to thank Bill Harvey for his leadership the past three years as DRFC. He has successfully led our Foundation efforts and increased our support to the foundation each year. Thank you Bill for all you have done and best wishes for your continued success as our Region 36 Endowment /Major Gifts Advisor.
2022-2023 is another Rotary year. I look forward to working with DG Barbara and all of you as DRFC. I’ve got some big shoes to fill but with your help we’ll continue to keep the Rotary Foundation, the greatest Foundation in the World
Mick McKinley - DRFC 2022-2025