Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change –
across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves
Click or tap play on the video above, or click 'read more' if you'd like to see the full transcript and get links to all of the goodies Ben shared in his message
Please consider joining the District 6250 Polio Plus Society! This is a new program to recognize your gifts and pledges to support Polio Plus at a minimum of $100 per year. If you can’t give that amount, your contribution is still important to eradicate polio around the world. For the rest of this year and all of next year your contribution will be matched twice by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
As World Polio Day approaches, we’re getting ready to amplify our message about eradicating polio to protect the world’s children from this devastating disease.
We’ve made tremendous progress so far, and now’s the time to intensify our fight to make polio the second human disease ever to be eradicated. In 2020, the World Health Organization’s African region was certified free of wild poliovirus, showing that eradication is possible even in very difficult circumstances.
The wild poliovirus remains endemic in just two countries — Afghanistan and Pakistan— but as long as polio exists anywhere, it remains a threat everywhere. So let’s use World Polio Day to advocate for the support we need to end polio in countries where children are still as risk.
Get involved Take action this World Polio Day by hosting virtual and community events, creating fundraisers, and sharing posts about the importance of polio eradication on social media.
Use the World Polio Day Toolkit to find resources and tips for planning activities and promoting a polio-free world. Download the World Polio Day Toolkit
Register your club’s participation in World Polio Day to show how your club is taking action to eradicate polio. If you register your events, fundraisers, and promotions by 13 October, you’ll get early access to Rotary’s World Polio Day Global Update, one week before the program airs on 24 October on Rotary’s Facebook page and endpolio.org. Register your club's participation
Use Raise for Rotary to start a World Polio Day online fundraiser. All contributions will go to the PolioPlus Fund. The top Raise for Rotary World Polio Day 2022 fundraisers will be featured on My Rotary. Start a fundraiser
The Open World Program is available only to Rotary clubs in the United States and provides an opportunity to build fellowship and friendship to strengthen international understanding by hosting emerging Eurasian leaders from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Mongolia, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan in your community. Rotary clubs are needed to host six-participant delegations for eight days and nights and prepare a professional program related to business, community, and civic life in the United States. You can view our 2023 hosting themes here.
Fall means that Youth Exchange is back, and youth programs keep Rotarians young!
As I’ve scrolled through my social media over the last few weeks, I get a feeling or a sense of normalcy that occurs each fall. Back to school shopping, fantasy football leagues forming, people counting down to pumpkin spice being on menus again and most importantly for Rotary, Youth programs gearing up in full force. Interact Clubs reconnecting after summer break and exchange students being so warmly welcomed into District 6250.
After taking a break for the last couple of years due to the Pandemic, we are back and ready to host a plethora of students across our district. I know I’m ready to see more of those blue blazers at our events and can’t wait to get to know these students. If your club is hosting, thank you for helping to keep the Exchange program active and running in our district. It is such an impactful way to grow your club and connect with your community. If your club isn’t hosting, be sure to connect with the students if they’re present at any of the events that occur throughout the year.
In addition to Exchange, with school starting, our Interact clubs will be starting to meet more regularly again. Our district has some very amazing Interact clubs with some fantastic oversight from Rotarians in our local clubs. A great way to get involved in these clubs is to participate in the events that they put on and extend an invitation to the Interact members to participate in your events.
I recently had the opportunity to speak to the La Crescent Rotary Club, with the assistance of Scott Ryan to talk about how youth programs are related. We talked about how RYLA shares information about Interact, and we’ve chartered many Interact clubs after with RYLA students. Those Interact clubs tend to get more information about Rotary, and thus learn more about the Exchange program. Those students make excellent OB students, and their families can make excellent host parents. When thinking about Youth, the Rotary wheel starts to spin and just keeps going and going.
I look forward to seeing all the photos of the Youth events that we host throughout the district and sharing the stories with each of you so you can see and hear about the impact that these programs make across Rotary.
You’re invited to take the next step toward your club membership goals with the support of a District Membership Grant! District 6250 has allocated $10,000 in New Member Project and Membership Growth Grants for the 2022-2023 Rotary year. This support comes through two grant types. One that is for new Rotary club members to use towards a service project of their choice, helping them jumpstart their involvement with their clubs. The other is all about Membership Growth to help with membership retention, recruitment, starting a new club, promotion, etc. Get started today!
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