November is Foundation month! This is the month Rotary emphasizes giving to the Rotary Foundation Annual fund. We all have places we choose to donate to, so why should we contribute to the Foundation Annual Fund?
As a Rotarian and member of the largest service organization in the world, I believe it is our obligation to do good things in our communities and around the world. We do that by providing our time, talent and treasure to service projects in our communities, but without money to sustain these projects, we cannot make a significant impact.
When you donate to the Annual Fund-SHARE, half of your donation comes back to our district after three years and our district can use this money to match club, and district projects. The other half goes into the Foundations World fund that is used to match Global grants. One thing I love about the Rotary Foundation is Rotarians decide where the money is needed, and which projects should be funded. 95 cents of every dollar you donate goes directly into projects. You won’t find that kind of fiscal efficiency anywhere else.
This year our District received $50,000 in District designated funds (DDF) that is providing 1.5x match funding for 21 District grants within our District. This translates to $84,730 for community projects. This would not have been possible without your generous support of the Annual Fund 3 years ago.
In addition, our clubs and the district have 8 active global grants and are sponsoring a global scholar to attend the Sciences Po university in Bordeaux France. Another exciting global grant opportunity we are currently working on is a grant to provide emergency preparedness training conducted through UNMC to young professionals in Ukraine D2232. This is a $300,000 project funded by contributions from the Omaha Suburban Rotary Club, matched by District 5650 and other US Rotary Districts, and then matched again by the Rotary World Fund. These funds are finally matched by USAID at 1.5x. The cooperation of all these organizations will provide for life saving training in war torn Ukraine. Thanks go out to UNMC, Barbara Bartle, Ed Walsh and our partnering Districts in the US and District 2232 for all their hard work to make this grant possible.
As you can see, your donations are making a big difference here in District 5650 and around the world. Please donate to Rotary’s Annual fund during Rotary’s Foundation Month so we can continue to and make a difference in our world now and 3 years from now.
Mick McKinley
Rotary District 5650 District Rotary Foundation Chair
402-499-0389