The Pagosa Springs Rotary Club is a diverse group of engaged individuals participating through friendship and camaraderie in opportunities to serve our community and other communities around the world.
WOW! Only FOUR DAYS LEFT TO PUT YOUR GUESSES IN! Is it going to stay cold? Is it going to warm up? How deep is the ice??? Don't you wish you knew. You can put in your guess as to when the barrel will drop through the ice up until 11:59 PM, MARCH 17th. Your GUESS has to be received by then to count. After that, it will be too late to have a chance to WIN. Remember, you can still pick dates that the barrel will go down later in March or even in April!
Support the Pagosa Springs graduating seniors in their college and vocational school ambitions! Scan the QR code in the poster - or go to pagosaspringsrotary.org and click on the Hatcher Ice Melt Contest in the blue area at the top of the page!! Have FUN and GOOD LUCK! Our Seniors win!
With your assistance we were able to continue to help the youth and most vulnerable of this community. One of our largest endeavors are scholarships for graduating High School Seniors. Since 1982, the Club has awarded $498,125, to 186 graduates for college and vocational school scholarships.
It is with great joy that we are following 14 Pagosa Springs college students, monitoring their class loads and grade levels to assure that we are being good stewards of the funds you have donated and that they are successful in their college careers. This year, we will applaud as two of our 2018 scholarship recipients graduate their selected program of study.
Most of the Global Grants managed by Rotary Clubs in our district were initiated by one, highly energized person who was personally interested in a specific project in a specific country. Although this approach is often successful, it is fraught with a major obstacle: How to find a Host Club Partner that will be a reliable partner?
Of the approximately 46,000 Rotary Clubs in the world, only a small number have the will or the ability to host a Global Grant. Finding a Rotary Club in a particular community to manage a particular project is usually a major challenge.
Partnering with Rotary Clubs that have already identified projects they would like to do is more likely to lead to success with less effort. I recently received an email from Linus Okezie Eze, who chairs District 9142 Grants Subcommittee for The Rotary Foundation. This district is located in SE Nigeria.
Linus has identified 6 Global Grant projects that clubs in his district would like to do. These projects are directed towards improving toilet facilities in schools, upgrading instruction in girls schools, and training to insure a safe blood supply. All fit within one or more of The Foundation’s Areas of Focus.
The Host Clubs are not only willing and able to partner on these projects, they are hyper excited. They just need an International Partner, which could be your club.
Every dollar that clubs in our district contribute to a Global Grant is matched by an additional $2.25 from District and TRF matches. Most Global Grants have a total budget of $40,000 to $80,000, which is enough money to do a lot of good. Although developing a Global Grant may appear difficult, the process is quite doable when you have a reliable Host Club partner. For more information on these projects, contact: Linus Okezie EZE leo_okiizaa@yahoo.com For information on how to prepare a Global Grant application, contact Melanie Phelps melaniephe@aol.com, or myself dsmith7@unl.edu.
The Rotary Foundation creates channel for direct humanitarian support in Ukraine
In response to the deepening humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, The Rotary Foundation has created an official channel for donors around the world to contribute funds to support the relief efforts underway by Rotary districts and has designated its Disaster Response Fund as the main avenue for contributions.
To this end, The Rotary Foundation has approved:
Now through 30 June 2022, designated Rotary districts that border Ukraine and the Rotary district in Ukraine may apply for grants of up to $50,000 each from the Disaster Response Fund. These expedited disaster response grants can be used to provide relief to refugees or other victims of the crisis including items such as water, food, shelter, medicine and clothing.
During this same period, other impacted Rotary districts that wish to offer support to refugees or other victims of the crisis in their district can apply for $25,000 grants from the Disaster Response Fund.
Now through 30 April 2022, Rotary districts can transfer unallocated District Designated Funds (DDF) to support the Disaster Response Fund, directly supporting these Ukraine-specific humanitarian grants.
Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund in support of Ukraine can be made here. All funds need to be received into the Disaster Response Fund by 30 April 2022 in order to qualify for use in support of the Ukrainian relief efforts.
Although the Disaster Response Fund will be the main avenue for Rotary Foundation support, Rotary and Rotaract clubs are also encouraged to create their own responses to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.
In addition to support provided through the Disaster Response Fund, the Foundation is coordinating with partners and regional leaders, exploring effective solutions to the increased humanitarian needs.
We are in contact with the United Nations High Commission on Refugees – USA to prepare for and respond to the needs of those being displaced in Ukraine and to neighboring countries.
ShelterBox, our project partner for disaster response, is in communication with Rotary members in Eastern Europe to explore how it may offer support with temporary transitional housing and other essential supplies.
The Rotary Action Group for Refugees, Forced Displacement, and Migration is also mobilizing its resources to assist in this crisis.
More than 2 million people have fled Ukraine and are in dire need of emergency aid. The United Nations estimates that number could grow to as many as 5 million people displaced. Rotary clubs in Europe and around the world have stepped up their relief work, some working on the ground to help displaced families.
We will continue to monitor the situation in Ukraine and neighboring countries. Visit My Rotary and follow Rotary on social media to stay updated on how clubs can get involved and what actions Rotary members have taken and the impact it has had for people in the region.
For all other questions and to obtain more information, please contact the Rotary Support Center at rotarysupportcenter@rotary.org.
The Pagosa Springs Rotary Club Teacher Mini Grant program is a long-standing annual program for our club and this year was no different.
Twelve applications were received from seven different schools and ten teachers were selected. We are so fortunate to have such innovative creative teachers with the desire to inspire and expand the learning opportunities for our children.
Some of the educational and fun projects we were able to fund include robots for programming and coding; cardio drum storage; assistive technology for special needs students to enable better communication; a Cricut maker and supplies for students to design, produce and sell items for the school spirit; reusable gelli plates for printmaking projects now and in the future; materials to construct terrariums for small critters as part of learning science; and materials to construct costumes for a school production. To make our available funds go to as many teachers as possible, we chose to partially fund some requests and suggest other community resources to others.
The mini grant program awards a limited number of grants with a maximum award of $400 for special classroom projects to individual teachers in kindergarten through twelfth grade in Archuleta County. The mini grant provides working capital to innovative teachers who want to develop new ideas to enrich the student classroom experience. The mini grants also provide funds to teachers for materials or projects that would not otherwise be available through the school district or for teachers that would have to use their own money to fund them.
The teacher mini grants are just one of the many community service projects that are funded through the Pagosa Rotary Community Assistance Fund, which is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The majority of the funds come through business partnerships. It also provides for the scholarships to graduating seniors.
The Rotary Club of Pagosa Springs is proud to support our wonderful teachers who have worked so hard to excite and educate our children, especially the past two years.
Clean water is a basic need for human beings. When people, especially children, have access to clean water, they live healthier and more productive lives. However, at least 3,000 children die each day from diseases caused by unsafe water, which is what motivates our members to build wells, install rainwater harvesting systems, and teach community members how to maintain new infrastructure.
While very few people die of thirst, millions die from preventable waterborne diseases, providing the impetus for our members to also improve sanitation facilities in undeveloped countries. Members start by providing toilets and latrines that flush into a sewer or safe enclosure and then add education programs to promote hand-washing and other good hygiene habits
From the various water projects in which Rotary has participated, we have come to know the obstacles that many people across the globe face when it comes to some of the basic necessities of life. We tend to take for granted the clean and generally safe and plentiful water sources to which we have access.
Rotary International, through the combined actions of individual Rotarians and Rotary Clubs, seeks to assure that all people have adequate access to clean and safe water. The Rotary theme for March, Water and Sanitation, asks us to focus on the life changing improvements that we can make through these international projects to provide a more readily available and healthy supply of water to all people.
The problem is not that the world will run out of water (that amount is fixed through evaporation and re-condensation). The problem is the unequal distribution of water and the lack of universal proper sanitary practices to assure safe water for drinking. While some regions and peoples are certainly at greater risk than others and deserving of greater attention, we have seen recently that no population is free from concern. Consider the lead problems in Flint, Michigan and the approaching Day Zero for Cape Town, South Africa (which fortunately has been moved further out and may never happen). Water and sanitation issues will certainly continue to be an area of focus for RI and deserving of our attention as Rotarians.
Rotary is dedicated to six areas of focus to build international relationships, improve lives, and create a better world to support our peace efforts and end polio forever. Water and Sanitation is one of those six areas of focus.
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