Archive for the ‘Rotary’ Category
Lawrence Central has been working to raise $1000 to endow a ShelterBox, currently we're 3/4 the way there! There's been some new great developments we'd like to share.
There was an interesting story on the national Rotary site.
By Ryan Hyland Rotary International News – 30 March 2012
Top: Tom Henderson, CEO of ShelterBox, and John Hewko, RI general secretary, during the signing of a project partner agreement this month. Bottom: ShelterBox teams distributed more than 550 tents to Madagascar for families left homeless by a powerful cyclone. Photo by Angela Spencer-Smith/ShelterBox
Rotary International and ShelterBox, a grassroots disaster relief organization, signed a project partner agreement this month, allowing the two organizations to collaborate more closely to provide relief and temporary shelter to survivors of natural disasters.
“Project partner” is a special status RI gives to groups started or managed by Rotary clubs. The agreement will build on the strengths of both organizations in responding to disasters all over the world.
“Our Rotary friends have always been there ready to assist – from generous donations to direct operational support on the ground Rotary has always been part of our DNA,” said Tom Henderson, ShelterBox CEO. “I feel like we have 34,000 ShelterBox offices around the world working together to help those who have lost everything when they need us the most.”
Saving lives
RI General Secretary John Hewko said the agreement will enable Rotary club members to have an immediate, lifesaving impact in communities hit by natural disasters. “ShelterBox will be able to ensure that local Rotarians are provided an opportunity to participate in the distribution of ShelterBox containers,” he said.
Each ShelterBox typically provides a bespoke tent designed to withstand extreme weather conditions, stove, water purification kit, blankets, tools, and other necessities to help a family survive for six months or more after a disaster.
Henderson, a civil engineer and former search-and-rescue diver for the British Royal Naval, founded ShelterBox in 2000. Its response teams of trained volunteers have brought lifesaving supplies to victims of more than 175 disasters in nearly 80 countries.
Mutual goals
“For more than 10 years, ShelterBox has given light to over one hundred thousand families worldwide in their darkest hour,” said Hewko. “This project partner agreement represents our mutual goal of helping those in need. It gives RI a forward-facing approach to immediate disaster relief.”
Noted Henderson: “This partnership with Rotary International is a formal recognition of our good work over the past 12 years. It will help Rotarians get a better understanding of what we do. I hope Rotarians worldwide will see us as a coherent and able disaster relief organization.”
Earlier this month, a ShelterBox team distributed more than 550 tents to communities in Madagascar where powerful cyclones left more than 250,000 people homeless.
For more information:
- Learn more about Shelterbox
- Learn more about who Rotary works with
After 25 years of hard work, Rotary and its partners are on the brink of eradicating this tenacious disease, but a strong push is needed now to 
root it out once and for all. It is a window of opportunity of historic proportions.
Reaching the ultimate goal of a polio-free world presents ongoing challenges, not the least of which is a US$535 million funding gap through 2012. Of course, Rotary alone can’t fill this gap, but continued Rotarian advocacy for government support can help enormously.
As long as polio threatens even one child anywhere in the world, children everywhere remain at risk. The stakes are that high.
In an effort to raise funds for Polio Plus and the non-profit foundations of The Rotary Club of Lee’s Summit, the Blue Springs Rotary Club and the Raytown Rotary Club, the three clubs have combined to create Rotary Ride: Pedaling Against Polio. We look forward to your involvement and support in helping raise money and raise awareness.
For more info check out http://kcrotaryride.com/
At the February 15th meeting club member Lynn O'Neal had a copy of a story from February of 2003 announcing his intention to create a new Rotary Club in Lawrence. A link to the original story by Chad Lawhorn is here, but we've also re-posted it below.
Area business professionals interested in joining a Rotary club should have a third choice by May, according to the
leader of a group interested in starting a new Lawrence chapter of the international organization.
Ed Samp, president of Lawrence's CornerBank, is leading a group of area residents who hope to form the Lawrence Central Rotary Club.
It would be Lawrence's third chapter of Rotary International, which is a service organization comprised primarily of business owners, managers and professionals who meet weekly to support charitable causes.
Samp and several other area residents began talking in November about the idea of forming another chapter. They had heard of several people who were interested in joining a Rotary club but the meeting time, location or size of the existing two chapters wasn't appealing to them.
Both clubs meet each week at the Hereford House at Sixth Street and Wakarusa Drive. The Lawrence Rotary Club meets at noon Mondays. The Jayhawk Breakfast Rotary Club meets at 7 a.m. Thursdays.
"I had talked to several people who were a little reluctant to come all the way out to the west side of Lawrence for lunch," Samp said. "That's why we thought a club that met somewhere more centrally located might be popular, hence our name."
Samp said the group, which has grown to 17 people, meets at noon each Wednesday. The group hasn't selected a permanent meeting place, but it is considering the Lawrence Holidome, 200 McDonald Drive; the Eldridge Hotel, 701 Mass.; and the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 N.H., Samp said.
According to Rotary International rules, the new group needs at least 20 charter members before it can become an official chapter. Samp said he expected the group to get its 20th member within the next week, allowing it to file the formal paperwork this spring.
He said the chapter hoped to be officially chartered by Rotary International in May.
The presidents of Lawrence's two existing Rotary clubs said they didn't have any objections to the new chapter.
"Rotary is always interested in increasing its membership, so my thinking is the more the merrier," said Vickie Randel, president of the Lawrence Rotary Club. "We understand that a lot of why a person decides to join Rotary has to do with the when and the where of the meetings."
Ron Hurst, president of the Jayhawk Breakfast Rotary Club, said he also understood that some people were interested in belonging to a smaller club. The Jayhawk Club has about 90 members and the Lawrence Rotary Club has slightly more than 200 members.
"When we started our club about nine years ago, the thinking was that the original club had grown pretty large and it was difficult to get to know everyone," Hurst said.
Samp said the new group hadn't decided what membership fee to charge, but he said it likely would be $100 a year or less, in addition to a weekly meal fee of about $10.
Originally published at: http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2003/feb/04/cornerbank_leader_forming/
Lawrence Central Rotary has our 2012 kick-off meeting at the Eldridge Hotel Wednesday
1/4 and we discussed all the exciting events we are working on for 2012. Just a few of them include:
- Expanding the RideLawrence.com
- The Lawrence Community Bike Ride scheduled for this summer
- A new bike rack design competition and installation for VanGo's facility
- Our Shelterbox fundraising drive
It's exciting to help people both locally and globally and we'd like you to be a part of it!
We meet Wednesday's at noon at the Eldridge hotel in downtown Lawrence.
For more info on our club Download our two page brochure, just click on the picture in the right margin.
You can also go to our "Reasons to Join Rotary" Page.
Spearheaded by club member Lynn O'Neal, Lawrence Central is now half 
way to our $1000 goal to purchase our first ShelterBox. ShelterBox is an international disaster relief charity that delivers emergency shelter, warmth and dignity to people affected by disaster worldwide.
ShelterBox is a global Rotary Club Project for disaster response that is as simple as it is effective. When disaster strikes these green boxes are shipped that contain the essentials a family needs to survive in the immediate aftermath of the event. Each large, green ShelterBox is tailored to a disaster but typically contains a disaster relief tent for an extended family, blankets, water storage and purification equipment, cooking utensils, a stove, a basic tool kit, a children’s activity pack and other vital items.
Lawrence Central has a weekly card drawing where the proceeds go to the fund. Individuals have also contributed to the fund. The goal is to have our first box paid for by the end of the year.
What's interesting about the project is that once we've made the donation to purchase the box we can track to see where it went. ShelterBox aims to connect donors directly with the people we are helping. By giving each box a unique number, and carefully recording where each one goes, donors can track their box to its final destination.
If you would like to help us toward this goal feel free to attend one of our Wednesday weekly lunch meetings or email Lynn O'Neal for more information about how to make a donation.
Here's a little more info on ShelterBox and where they are made.
