The club learned about the wide reach and impact of the Rotary Foundation from longtime Rotarian and major gift donor Kristi Halvorson.
Rotary Meeting Jan. 10, 2023
The meeting was convened by Laura at 7:05 a.m. with a social time of ten minutes. The meeting was held hybrid with six Zoom participants. During the social time Peter was virtual in his Tucson workshop, Andy was participating from Banamichi, Sonora, Andrea from Tucson, Bob from Virginia, and Cindy D. was online alone as John was preparing for a procedure and couldn’t attend from the throne! Carol joined remotely as well and asked Cindy about the foreign exchange students’ interview status.
Announcements:
Laura discussed two big upcoming dates:
March 11, Tour de Cookie where she reminded that we needed volunteers on the upcoming Saturdays and Sundays at Rillito Park to solicit participation. We expect 300 riders who, at $20 profit per rider, could generate $6,000 in addition to maybe $3,000 from sponsors. We have three sponsors so far and hope for more. Registration is open on the website. Dan has sent Facebook notices to local bike shops with great responses!
April 15 is the forum on Human Trafficking. Randy and Mary will further give updates at next week’s meetings.
Happy Bucks:
- Cindy was happy for awesome sunrises and sunsets, have to be in the top ten in the nation.
- Peter was happy to back from great holidays in Great Britain, except they lost his luggage. Upon final return the wine bottles were smashed making laundry a challenge. Enjoyed some fireworks in London.
- Andy was thankful for the great sunsets in Sonora where he is hanging out at a gold mine site.
- Carol had enjoyed a friend’s set of triplets, always giving her a smile.
- Andrea had celebrated her birthday this past weekend and was happy to be in her last three months of planning her wedding
- Bob, coincidentally, attended a bridal expo in Virginia as his niece will soon marry! A first for Bob (the expo, that is). There were more than 200 vendors, and Bob reported that he learned a lot.
- Harold was happy to report that the weather had retuned to such temperatures where he didn’t have to wear sweatpants. Harold also reminded that dues and happy bucks can be paid online and mentioned that, because we were Zooming so much, Happy Bucks are way behind last year’s levels.
- Dan happily reported that last Thursday he witnessed a gorgeous sunset from Tumamoc Hill.
- Mark moved out of his apartment into his new home, and now feels like he actually resides in Marana.
- Cathy was happy that the latest board meeting went well.
- Kristi, or guest speaker, was happy to have been invited and to be here today.
- Laura was happy that the Arizona Wildcats women’s basketball team who beat both Oregon and Oregon State this past weekend.
Guest Speaker
Kristi Halvorson, currently District 5500 Grant Chair and previous holder of numerous positions within Rotary, gave an excellent presentation on the history and workings of the Rotary International Foundation. Kristi started with the beginnings of the Foundation in 1917, followed by it’s first grant to the Easter Seal in 1930, its association with the United Nations and UNESCO, and many other fascinating details. Kristi described the three different program models for grants and its seven areas of focus. She described the three options for involvement in the Rotary Peace Centers. The Rotary Foundation consistently ranks in the top tier by Charity Navigator and our club ranks fifth in District 5500 in giving.
Kristi’s presentation was rich in details and provided an outstanding overview of the Rotary Foundation.