March is Water, Sanitation and Hygiene month. Clean water, sanitation, and hygiene education are necessities for a healthy environment and a productive life. When people have access to clean water and sanitation, waterborne diseases decrease, children stay healthier and attend school more regularly, and mothers can spend less time carrying water and more time helping their families. Through water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programs, Rotary’s people of action mobilize resources, form partnerships, and invest in infrastructure and training that yield long-term change.
Is your club thinking about doing a service project next year? Now is the time to get your grant request into the grants committee. Deadline is March 31. For more information, please follow the link to the Grants page on our website. Grants of The Rotary Foundation | District 7430 (rotarydistrict7430.org)
The District Conference, Casino Royal is just 67 days away. Don’t procrastinate, REGISTER TODAY. If you have never been to a District Conference, this is the one you don’t want to miss! If you are a seasoned conference attendee, we hope to see you there. Get to know your fellow Rotarians from around the district, participate in a program with the local Atlantic City Rotary Club, be overwhelmed by the terrific 4-Way Speech contestants, get to know the Inbound and Outbound Exchange Students, interact with our panels in the Plenary sessions, and be mesmerized by our guest speakers. All this and FUN, FUN, FUN. 2021 pricing in effect, so the deal couldn’t be any better.
During the first week in March, if you register by Friday, March 10, you will be automatically entered into a $500 cash raffle. There will be two winning tickets of $250 pulled during the conference.
Did I mention shopping, night life, gambling, and yes, Hospitality Suites? We have three luxury hospitality suites for you to visit. My home club of Pottstown, DGE Diane Donaher of Bethlehem, and DGN Katie Farrell of Warminster, as well as the clubs in Area 6 will all be hosting hospitality suites.
By the time this letter comes out, our District President Elects for next year will have completed the Mid Atlantic Presidents-Elect Training Seminar (MAPETS). They will be energized with new ideas and plans for the upcoming year as club President. All club members, please work with your PE’s and help them get ready for the next year so that come July 1, they are off and running for success.
So much is going on in the district in the next couple of months, not only at the club level but at the district level. Don’t be left out; check out the announcements in this newsletter and the district Calendar | District 7430 (rotarydistrict7430.org). Reminder to all clubs: if you want to promote your event on the district calendar and are not sure how to do it, please contact me and we can make it happen.
If you register by Friday, March 10, you will be automatically entered into a $500 cash raffle. There will be two winning tickets of $250 each pulled during the conference.
Continue to IMAGINE and promote Rotary in your communities through your service projects and remember to have FUN!
Great news! After a hiatus due to the pandemic, Rotaplast is hustling to line up two-week missions for the balance of 2023 and 2024. We are back in business! After this gap of service, Rotaplast is welcoming our District’s much needed participation. We are currently determining which mission location we would like to support for 2024. But first we must fund all the expenses associated with those surgeries for scores of children.
How can we accomplish continuing to fund our 2024 mission? After a terrific fundraising success last fall, we are planning on our second Annual District 7430 Fundraiser at the Pennsylvania Playhouse in Bethlehem. Mark your calendars now for a great evening on Saturday, October 21, 2023, which includes a performance of Sweeney Todd, food, drink, raffle baskets, and talk back with the actors and director. We seek Club Sponsors to support this fundraising event.
Hope you saw us at PETS! Learn more about the impact of Rotaplast and how our District stands out for our years of service. To book us as speakers for your club meetings, please reach out to Judy Bucko (twobuckos3@gmail.com).
Questions? Comments? Please contact Susan Burnett (burnetts@rcn.com).
You can help promote peace in the world by encouraging peace and development leaders in your community to apply for the Rotary Peace Fellowship.
Each year, Rotary awards fully funded fellowships for peacebuilders from diverse backgrounds to study at one of our peace centers located at premier universities around the world. This year, we’ll select 50 peace fellows to study in our master’s degree programs and 40 fellows to earn a professional development certificate.
Rotary Peace Fellows use their training to amplify their work at the local, regional, or global level. Clubs and districts can partner with them on peacebuilding initiatives before, during, and after their fellowships.
Candidates have until 15 May to submit applicationsto The Rotary Foundation.
Thanks to generous support from donors and the dedicated participation of Rotary members, the peace fellowship program has more than 1,600 alumni working to make positive change in more than 140 countries.
To learn more about how you can recruit the next generation of peace fellows, and represent Rotary District 7430, contact District Rotary Peace Fellowship Subcommittee Chair Bill Hunter at wdh3@lehigh.edu or Cindy Hornaman Rotary District 7430 Foundation Chair at hornamca@ptd.net.
The 2023 Annual Big Ticket Reverse Raffle will be held on April 15, at Brookside Country Club, Pottstown, from 5:30 - 10:00 p.m.
Your ticket helps to fund the operational costs of the STEM YEA program for middle schoolers, especially under-resourced students, to make it affordable for all clubs to sponsor students.
When you purchase a BTRR event ticket, you are entitled to a fun-filled night that includes hors d'oeuvres, drinks, dinner, and dancing, as well as a lottery ticket with a chance to win one of numerous prizes totaling $7500 when all 150 tickets are sold. Organize your group and act now to purchase your tickets.
District 7430 has a committee tasked to widen Rotary’s reach within our communities. The goal of this DEI committee is to ensure that each club considers Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as part of its membership activities and initiatives. “The Welcome Mat” is our attempt to provide each club in our district with monthly help to develop discussion around how your club may improve, expand, or even alter, your club’s approach to all in your community.
Examples of these discussions might be:
• How does a new member of your club feel attending their first meeting?
• What if that person is from a different race or ethnic group from the majority of your club membership?
• What if that person has a physical disability? Can they enter the facility, sit at the same table as others, and use the facilities? Might they need some help to be a contributing member of the club?
• What if this new member identifies as part of the LGTBQ community?
• What if, due to their culture, they don’t wear the same type of clothing as your other club members?
• What if English is their second language?
• What if their faith or religion is different from the majority of your club’s membership?
These are not all easy topics to discuss, but each is important if your club is committed to expanding Rotary’s reach within your community to any who might want to be included. Thank you for reading our first installment of the Welcome Mat.
Our intent is to send a unique Welcome Mat each month highlighting a topic, raising awareness, and perhaps sharing any success stories you may have. We will need your help. If you have ideas, questions, or comments as to how “The Welcome Mat” or the DEI committee might better serve your club, please reach out to Peter Jones, our co-chair, at peter.jones@bluebellrotary.org
Clubs across our five-county District are embracing Rotary’s seventh and newest area of focus. “Supporting the Environment” has now been integrated into many clubs’ community service initiatives. They are making it a regular part of what they do. We have found that clubs eagerly come up with environmental projects to do throughout the year, but particularly in the spring.
Last April, the District Environmental Sustainability Team introduced a Rotary Day of Service with a focus on the environment. Over 40 clubs participated by working on an environmental project. Rotarians did some amazing work, from the cleanup of parks and trails to highways and streams. A few clubs partnered with their municipal governments to clean up the towns. We had tree planting projects, wildflower pollination gardens and the building of bee boxes. There were Rotary environmental education displays at community Earth Day celebrations. A few clubs worked on community gardens and there were several projects focused on the planting of native plant species. And a couple of clubs developed a close working relationship with local nature centers and environmental groups.
This year our Rotary Day of Service will be held on Saturday, April 29. At this writing, over half of our clubs have already committed to working on an environmental project either on the Rotary Day of Service or sometime during April.
We hope that all of our clubs will do an environmental project this spring. Invite your Interactors to help out. Get the community involved. Partner with an environmental organization. I can’t wait to hear your success stories in supporting our natural environment.
You also won’t want to miss the Environmental Sustainability Team’s breakout session at this year’s District Assembly on Saturday, April 22. We’ll be doing an interactive measurement of personal carbon footprints using a phone app. And, we’ll be discussing ways that you can reduce your impact on the environment.
And lastly, the District team developed a comprehensive list of potential environmental speakers for club meetings. The list includes organizations and individuals who can speak to your club on many different environmental topics and they’re from all parts of our District. The list was sent to club presidents in January. If you need a copy, let me know.
Terry Reed
Chair, District 7430 Environmental Sustainability Team
How do you make it easy to support the Rotary Foundation and not have to “remember” about giving each year? Then Rotary Direct is for you—and it is so easy!
Enroll in Rotary’s recurring giving program, Rotary Direct, which makes giving easy, fast, and secure. You can schedule a monthly, quarterly, or annual donation that empowers Rotarians to change lives in communities around the world.
The International Convention for 2023 is in Melbourne, Australia, is an amazing place “down under.”
The time to register is now. Our district may be doing a separate group travel tour before or after the convention as well—for more fun, exploring, and fellowship.
location we would like to support for 2024. But first we must fund all the expenses associated with those surgeries for scores of children.
Clubs across our five-county District are embracing Rotary’s seventh and newest area of focus. “Supporting the Environment” has now been integrated into many clubs’ community service initiatives. They are making it a regular part of what they do. We have found that clubs eagerly come up with environmental projects to do throughout the year, but particularly in the spring.
u make it easy to support the Rotary Foundation and not have to “remember” about giving each year? Then Rotary Direct is for you—and it is so easy!
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