Noel DeSousa, Pres. Christy Manning and RYLA Chair A.J. Sheridan Veteran Rotary leader Noel DeSousa was asked by our Program Committee to come and present to our club an explanation of how Rotary Foundation District Grants work. Noel, who is a member of the Prescott Frontier Rotary Club, has served as the "point man" for applying each year, on behalf of our 3 Rotary clubs in Prescott, for District Grants to help finance our joint project of sponsoring the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program for western Yavapai County. This proven succssful literacy program provides each month an age-appropriate book for every enrolled child from 0-5 years of age. Together, utlizing District Grants each year, our clubs managed to launch the program in this part of Arizone, and we have continued to suppport it each year as it has phenomenally grown. Noel also gave us an update on its growth. Noel explained to us that our Rotary Foundation has 2 types of grants: Global and District. The Global are for $30,000+ size projects, and require dual sponsorship by clubs/districts in two different countries. The District Grants work off the roughly half of the returned funds our disrict Rotarians contributed to the Annual Share Fund 3 years ago (after being invested during those 3 years to produce funds to cover Foundation administration cost). These returned funds, known as District Designated Funds (DDF), are usually divided in half, with one part used to match club funds for their Global Grant Projects, and the other half matching Club funds (up to $2,000) for their District Projects. Clubs must apply for District Grants by April 30 for. The grants are funded at the beginning of the next Rotary Year (on July 1). Final Reports on the expenditures for those District Grant Projects must be filed by May 31 of that year. In most cases, a club will only be awarded one District Grant per year — unless there is a surplus of DDF, for which clubs have not applied. To qualify for a District Grant, a key criteria, as Noel explained, is that a Rotary club must have had per capita Rotary Foundation Annual Fund (for SHARE) of at least $100 per member for the previous Rotary Year. This is where our club's annual "Let's Make A Deal" fundraiser for The Rotary Foundation becomes so very important. Noel noted that our club's per capital Annual Fund giving has been consistently increasing each year. Here are our club's per capital giving numbers for the past 5 years: - 2019-2020: $ 97.50
- 2020-2021: $ 134.03
- 2021-2022: $ 145.40
- 2022-2023: $ 162.32
- 2023-2024: $ 183.93
Rotary's Disaster Response Fund With the havoc wrought by the recent hurricans which hav hit the east coast of this country, along with other natural disasters which have occurred around the world, you may be wondering if Rotary receives and distributes funds to assist with these disasters. The Rotary Foundation supports disaster relief and recovery efforts through grants from the Rotary Disaster Response Fund. The Trustees of The Rotary Foundation may establish individual funds in the wake of specific disasters. These funds provide support for immediate relief efforts through disaster response grants. TRF also offers funding to support long-term disaster recovery efforts through Global Grants. Districts that have been affected by natural disasters can use Rotary disaster response grants to launch their own projects or work with established relief organizations to help their communities recover. Grant funds can be used to provide basic items such as water, food, medicine, and clothing. Districts should work closely with local officials and groups to ensure that the funding will meet a specific community need. Once qualified for Rotary grants, districts in an affected area or country may apply for a maximum grant of $25,000, based on the availability of funds. A district may apply for subsequent grants after it successfully reports outcomes from previous grants. Reports are due within six months of the grant payment. Contributions to Rotary's General Disaster Response Fund cannot be directed to a specific disaster. However, most of the Rotary Districts which have been hit by natural disasters also setup their own district disaster funds, to which Rotarians anywhere in the world can contribute directly. CLUB SERVICE We helped Dr. Whitney James and Club Treasurer John Scholl celebrate their birthdays last week. Joe Brown receives from the Chamber a certificate at the Ribbon Cutting for Touchmark's expansion. Sarah Van Bourgondien, Tracy Fournier, Marsha Teller and Jane Anne Shimizu were among the Sunupians helping Joe to celebrate Touchmark's expansion. Sunupians also there in support of Joe's Touchmark Ribbon Cutting included Tiffany and Emmett Jones. COMMUNITY SERVICE DEADLINE THIS WEDNESDAY: Community Service Director Marsha Teller will be leading our second annual Make A Project club meeting next Wednesday, Oct. 23. This is an opportunity for any club member to make a presentation about a proposed service project they would like to propose the club adopt. Marsha reminds everyone that Project Proposals must be to her by this Wednesday, Oct. 16, in order to be included in next week's Make A Project presentations to the club members. If you have questions, email Marsha at marsha.byrne@gmail.com. INTERNATIONAL SERVICE The Mexico-US Friendship Conference and Global Grants Exchange, which is now in its 24th year, is being held Oct. 31 thru Nov. 4 in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. Our International Service Director, Todd Clancy, will be representing our Prescott Sunup Rotary Club at the conference this year. Todd notes that our club is serving as the International Partner on a Global Grant Rainwater Harvesting project located in the area where this conference will be held. Todd is planning on personally visiing the project site whule he is down there. These large projects take time to put together, and to secure firm financial commitments from all of the potential Rotary partners. Todd says it appears that all of those funding commitments are now in place, so the project can finally move forward.  I woke up this morning determined to drink less, eat right, and exercise. But that was four hours ago, when I was younger and full of Hope. __ Mother-in-law comes for dinner, and says, “Why does the dog keep looking at me?” I said, “Because you’re using his plate.” __ I was struck by a bottle of Omega 3 pills. Luckily, my wounds were only super fish oil. __ Before the Crowbar was invented Crows had to drink at home. __ One day I will start behaving myself. Maybe tomorrow. __ A grandfather was delivering his grandchildren to their home when a fire truck zoomed past. Sitting in the front seat of the fire truck was a Dalmatian. The children started discussing the dog's duties. "They use him to keep crowds back," said one child. "No," said another. "He's just for good luck." A third child brought the argument to a close. “They use them to locate the fire hydrants.” __ |