The 40th annual el Tour de Tucson bike ride was 18 Nov and Rotary Club of Lee’s Summit Rotarian Dan Gabbert joined over 9,000 other cyclists, many of who were raising money for charity. Dan completed the 102 mile ride (seen here with RI General Secretary and CEO John Hewko) raising over $5000 and, with the Gates Foundation Match, almost $18,000 for PolioPlus.
Tucson’s District 5500 Rotarians hosted a dinner the night before the ride with over 80 riders and their family members in attendance. Kirk Reed, PDG of 5500 and chair of the Ride to End Polio, announced this year’s total raised was over $5M bringing the 14 year total of Rotary’s involvement in el Tour to $68 million dollars towards PolioPlus.
“It’s an amazing event and the Rotary fellowship is second to none,” Dan said. “I met Rotarians from Boston to Los Angeles, made new friends and have invitations to visit all across the country.”
Dan’s challenge to District 6040 - have the largest group of Rotarians from one district in the ride next year - there are 32, 62 and 102 mile options - making it approachable for riders of all levels.
The digital interactive classrooms in Panama was a finalist for Programs of Scale grant, a US $2Million award from the Rotary Foundation. The Plaza Club was a partner on this project. The program aims to improve the quality of education in selected public primary schools by introducing technology in 230 classrooms and training teachers to use it to improve instruction.
Meet Your 2024-2025 District Governor: Erik McGuire
Erik joined the Rotary Club of Burlington, Kan., in 2008. After moving to St. Joseph, Mo., he joined the Rotary Club of St. Joseph East in 2012. Being a part of this great club inspired Erik to get involved with a variety of service projects, and to complete the Rotary Leadership Institute.
Erik had the opportunity to serve as the club’s president in 2016-2017. Other roles he has served in at the club level include Meals on Wheels coordinator, sergeant-at-arms, spaghetti fundraiser chair, leading the 2015-2016 district grant to install a play-path at Northeast Park in St. Joseph, and Shoes for Orphan Souls cheerleader. Erik currently serves as St. Joseph East Rotary’s newsletter editor and Rotary Foundation chair.
After graduating from Truman State University in 2007, Erik began what continues to be a rewarding career with the Boy Scouts of America, where he currently serves as District Director for the Pony Express Council. Erik enjoys running, and has completed nine marathons, although he now gets more enjoyment from shorter races.
Erik married Christy in 2016 and together they raise Jackson (16) and Maggie (14). Erik and Christy enjoy travelling, good Indian food, and volunteering to lead Cub Scout Pack 30 and Scouts BSA Troop 30, where Maggie and several of her friends are members. Erik and Christy are Paul Harris Society members and Major Donors to The Rotary Foundation.
The District Foundation HOOP-la was a success raising almost $65,000, which will be available for future District and Global grant projects. Randy Steinman, District Governor, and Frances Reddis, HOOP-la Committee Chair, want to thank the Rotarians of District 6040 who helped plan and participated in the annual District Foundation fundraiser, HOOP-la, at the College Basketball Experience on November 4, 2023.
The following clubs contributed $39,000 by attending and sponsoring tables at the event: Kansas City Plaza (four tables x $2,500 = $10,000), Kansas City (two tables x $2,500 = $5,000), Lee’s Summit ($2,500), Liberty ($2,500), Lee’s Summit Sunrise/Sunset ($2,500), Lexington ($2,500), St. Joseph East Side ($2,500), Lawson ($2,500), Waldo/Brookside ($2,500), and Trenton ($2,500). The Independence and Kirksville/Kirksville Thousand Hills Clubs each sponsored four reserved seats for $1,500 each. Kansas City South and Parkville each sponsored two reserved seats for $500 each. There were 73 other individual Rotarians and guests that purchased tickets for the event, totaling $9,125.
If you haven’t yet heard the news, we are tremendously excited to share that Show Me Rotary President-elect and President-nominee training (PETS) will be held Friday, March 22 and Saturday, March 23 at the University Plaza Hotel in Springfield. This is a different location than in prior years. In addition to the new location, there are many other reasons why every Rotary club will want to send 2 representatives, ideally the club’s President-elect (2024-2025) and President-nominee (2025-2026), to PETS.
As part of each club’s district dues that District 6040 directly passes on to fund the PETS training event, each club is assessed for 2 people to attend. Realizing that this can be a challenge for some clubs, for 2024-2025 only, District 6040 will offer a “free” district grant, that doesn’t require a club match (of course the match is still recommended and will result in a larger project) of $2,500 for every club that sends their 2 representatives PETS in 2024. There are a few other training requirements and deadlines that must be met to qualify, the details of which will be shared at PETS.
District grants give Rotarians freedom in determining how to best spend funds donated to The Rotary Foundation in their district. Each Rotary year, districts may apply for one district grant, which can be used to support one or more projects, based on that district’s interests and needs.
The Rotary Foundation funds district grants with District Designated Funds (DDF). Each year,
your district may request up to half of your available DDF, which in turn represents half of your district's Annual Fund donations from three years earlier. This system, known as SHARE, enables Rotarians to benefit from the short-term investment of their donation dollars.
In part 2 of our 3 part series we will look at grants around Rotary District 6040 from the 2022-2023 grant cycle. We hope this series will give clubs ideas for future grant projects.
Independence
The Independence Rotary Club worked with PeacePathways to furnish the nursery and toddler rooms at the newly renovated Peace Pavillion.
The Rotary Club of Kansas City helped to build beds for children with Sleep in Heavenly Peace. This was a project that combined the work of Blue Springs and Independence Rotary Clubs.
The Kirksville Thousand Hills Rotary Club collected items and assembled backpacks of clothes, books, gifts, etc for children in foster care in Adair County.
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