Communique: World Community Service Committee Update

Monday, March 25th, 2024

Bainbridge Island Rowing or ZOOM

6pm Dinner / 6:30pm Meeting

What in the World is the World Community Service Committee Doing?

with Michael Camp & Phil Toohey

Come see our International Director, Phil Toohey and WCS Chair Michael Camp talk about projects our club has been doing the last year or so.

With stunning graphics and new photos of people impacted, you'll learn how:

Our long-term wells project in Uganda continues to expand
The Uganda Village Savings & Loan project triples revenue for villagers
We partnered with a consortium of Rotary Clubs to provide relief in Ukraine
We partnered with the Bainbridge Ometepe Sister Islands Association to help the deaf community in Nicaragua
Three Nepal projects have provided clean water, children's education, and improved nutrition in impoverished communities
What other projects we do in solar panel training, health clinics, and girls education

Testimonials from beneficiaries will make you proud to be a Rotarian.

Don't miss this one which will also include a fun pop quiz and prizes.

Order food here by 5pm Friday

ZOOM

UPCOMING MEETINGS

04/01/2024: No Meeting and No Communiqué

04/08/2024: Midday: George Senosha, Challenges facing South African children

04/15/2024: Midday: Governor Jay Inslee

Our Club Calendar is HERE.

CLUB NEWS

Youth Meal Bags

Helpline House, in partnership with Rotary, is offering Youth Meal Bags during Spring Break on April 1st-5th.

These bags are for youth in need of additional food during school breaks. They can be picked up at Helpline House between 10am and 4pm April 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th.

Contact Mary Callan with questions. Website HERE.

NEWS AROUND TOWN

Japanese American Exclusion Memorial

The Commemoration of the 82nd Anniversary of Forced Removal will be held on March 30th, 11:00am at the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial.

The theme of this year’s program is “Teach the Children,” addressing the need for a new generation to share the stories of incarceration survivors.

Website HERE for more information.

AUCTION UPDATES

Auction Managers Wanted Now!

Find out how fun it is to manage a department. There are resources available to train and help you succeed. We need managers for:

Music
Children's Clothes & Toys
Beds
Tents
Better Clothing is looking for a Co-Manager

Please contact Joe Earnest now if interested and decide where and how you want to volunteer. This is part of your Rotary service above self pledge. We hope to hear from you soon.

THE CURB!

The Auction is always great fun and it is exceptionally enjoyable when working outdoors at THE CURB where all the action begins.

Please join Allen, Vince & Scott at THE CURB to help receive donations by using the link HERE to sign up.

DISTRICT 5020

Rotary District 5020 Conference

Join your fellow club members and meet other Rotarians at the Annual District 5020 Conference on May 2-4 in Semiahmoo.

There will be speakers focusing on the question of "can one person make a difference…”, several breakout training sessions, the house of friendship, and lots of fun activities. You'll learn about the latest advances in the Rotary world, best club practices, and think about the future directions we can all take to increase our impact.

And did you know that the club will reimburse you for your conference ticket? Just fill out reimbursement form from DACdb and send it with your receipt to Treasurer Tom Hogan.

Registration closes April 1st.

Fred Hoffer will have a small group reception Saturday at 5pm.

PRESIDENT'S CORNER

Rotary International and our Club

Our club meeting on Monday will give our membership an overview of the wonderful work and how our WCS team has been progressing in Uganda, Tanzania, Nepal, Ukraine, Nicaragua and elsewhere in the world. All members are welcome to join this effort.

In 1981, as deputy director (and a very young doc) of a large WHO/USAID project to establish the first immunization zones in Gambia, Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon, part of my job was to shepherd shipments of vaccine from tarmac to cold storage. Some crates had Rotary emblazoned on them. I wondered what is this Rotary, and how does it work? Rotary International (RI) boasts 32,000 clubs in more than 100 countries. Polio has been the central global program. Club to club projects are the majority of international work. Over the last decades Rotary has been innovating on this basic model i.e., Rotary Action Groups (RAGs), that are independent non profit organizations. Some RAGs have attracted

grants such as the HIV/Family health group https://www.rfha.org/country working in nine sub-Saharan African countries.

Three years ago RI launched their Grants of Scale effort funding malaria eradication in Zambia with clubs in our area. A second grant of scale is gearing up in Nigeria for Maternal health.

This year RI is executing an exciting new model in four countries. Using the District and Club infrastructure in the countries, the Gates Foundation is funding “Rotary Healthy Communities Challenge”.

This is innovative, relying on the community, national club organization to assure planning and execution of work locally. As a reviewer I am excited to see this work unfold. One of the key issues in Global Health is assuring true partnership between communities in need and well intended assistance. This could well be a blueprint.

Yours in Rotary,

Ann Marie Kimball

PHOTO GALLERY (Photos by Cindy McGregor)

Fred introduces John Vezina, Director of Planning, Customer and Government Relations for the WA State Ferry System

John spoke about the issues with vessel availability and crew availability. The crew staffing must meet Coast Guard minimum requirements to run. With such a small labor pool, this has contributed to 1,069 trip cancellations between July and Sept 2023.

There is a world wide shortage of licensed deck and engine employees. Locally, we have a “silver tsunami” referring to nearly 50% retiring within a 5 year period and the system was already short hundreds of people after Covid. The 2024 Supplemental Budget passed by the WA Legislature provides $10,000,000 to add crew. John predicts that the crewing problem will be resolved in 12 to 18 months.

He also discussed the electrification of WA ferries starting with the Wenatchee, the electrification of terminals, and changes in legislation such that out-of-state shipyards can be used. The Bainbridge route will get electrification in 2026.

Lots of friendly, interested questions for John. We are thankful for your excellent presentation and good service to our beloved ferry system.

Mathew Liddle gave his Classification Talk with an Aussie-Chicago accent. We learned about his five children, his career in technology cloud computing , his international work, and his motivation to join Rotary.

This is the guy who is the new manager of Supplies at the Auction.