Happy New Year! And welcome 2023. We are now halfway through our Rotary year, and I want to give a huge thank you to everyone who has contributed to the Rotary Foundation this Rotary year. Here is an update on where we are as a District in giving to the annual fund and Polio.
 
Annual Fund – Our goal for giving the Annual Fund –Share is $172,950 and I’m pleased to say as of December 31, 2022, we stand at $111,600 in donations. That is 64.5% of our total goal halfway through our year.
 
Polio Plus – Our goal for giving to the Polio Plus Fund is $57,330 and once again I am pleased to say we have contributed $39,486 towards the eradication of Polio. This translates to reaching 68.9% of our annual goal!
 
So far this year we have 88 Paul Harris Fellows, 1 Benefactor and Bequest Society member, 4 major donors and 1 Major Gift year to date.
 
Thank you for your continued support of the greatest Foundation in the World. Where else can you do so much good around the world and in our communities? Where else can you know that 92% of every dollar you give goes directly into grants? Where else does your money come back to our District to do good in our communities and around the world in matching Global Grants? No other Foundation has a funding model that matches what Rotary is doing to reduce administrative costs and utilize our members with boots on the ground volunteers.
 
Once again, I want to say thank you for getting us off to a great start in reaching our goals and I want to encourage every Rotarian to do what you can to become an EREY Rotarian! ($25-$50), A Sustaining Rotarian ($100 or more), a Paul Harris Fellow ($1,000) or a Paul Harris Society Member (commit to $1,000 every year). 
 
Thank you for everything you do and for supporting the Rotary Foundation, the engine that makes everything possible.
 
Mick McKinley, Rotary District 5650 Foundation Chair