A short six months ago none of us had heard of Coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19. We had not sheltered in place or maintained social distancing.
Instead we were gathering once a week to share stories, hear programs, have some camaraderie with our friends and to plan projects to better our communities and the world. Since early March we have been unable to meet physically and instead have adopted virtual ways to stay in touch, communicate and plan.
Rotary may “Connect the World” but where we can have the greatest impact and where the need is greatest is in our own communities. We are putting out this special newsletter to make you aware of the efforts being made in your District; by clubs of all sizes, and in many ways to help their communities deal with the effects of this horrible pandemic. And a few ways we our helping other Rotarians around the world in this time of crisis. Please enjoy this newsletter in the hope that it will give you some ideas about ways your club can help your community in their time of need.
Yours in Rotary Service.
Marc Horner
District Governor
What are Clubs doing with Membership during Covid19?
Meetings-Zoom is the name of the game. Many clubs are meeting during their regular meet times. Zoom can be free or purchased at a nominal cost. Kudos to The Kansas City International Rotary Club (KCI) for hosting Deepak Menon, president of Toastmasters International, from India as a featured speaker. What’s next? I’m hearing talk of virtual Happy Hours! And, I would like an invitation!
Service-Many things are happening even when we are sheltering in place and social distancing. St. Joe South Side is still ordering food from their caterer and donating the meals to local charities. Kirksville North Star is encouraging members to give blood. Many clubs are still pushing for a big Shoes for Orphan Soul event with buying online as an option. Kirksville noon discovered students from overseas were having difficulty getting food and purchased grocery cards for them. Lee’s Summit and Cameron Rotary are helping to deliver meals on wheels who have lost older and at-risk volunteers due to the virus. Club 13 is continuing Rotary Youth Camp clean up. Cameron Rotary is also continuing Roadside cleanup in their local area. Kirksville Rotaract made blankets and delivered them to 60 people in the area. This virus is not stopping District 6040 Rotarians from service…what will your club do?
What will your club do for your membership?Waldo Brookside is discontinuing their dues for the next quarter and using their reserves to fund their operations. Let’s help our own when we emerge from Covin19. Can you sponsor a member who may not be able to pay their dues? Can you give a member a “pass” for a few months? Let’s keep Rotary and District 6040 Strong!
Rotary Club 13 has been helping with monatary donations during the pandemic. The club's foundation donated $5,000 to Harvesters and The club (along with D6040) donated $2,000 to Truman Medical Center for their Healthy Harvest, which is providing $10 bags of fruit and veggies to 100 employees each week. The club has written thank you notes to go in each bag.
The Liberty Rotary Club has been busy helping in their community during this pandemic. They have been donating fabric for the construction of face masks, funds to The Liberty Hospital Foundation’s frontline fundraiser and to their requested needs of sani-wipes, brown paper lunch bags, toilet paper, snacks & sanitizer just to mention a few. Members have been supporting local businesses & non profits with E-Cards for Hair Therapy and providing egg cartons to Mimi’s Pantry.
With funds primarily raised through their signature event “Independence Uncorked”, the Eastern Independence Club made available up to 10 emergency relief grants of $500.00 each to local non-profit and social service agencies to aid them in dealing with their Covid 19 challenges.
In addition to their weekly virtual meetings, the KCI Rotary Club held a bingo night on zoom in May to raise money for Chinnery Challenge – Polio Plus.
The Lee's Summit Rotary Club held their 5th meeting of the month as a Virtual Happy Hour!
Thank You Rotarians
At the executive committee meeting this week we approved our participation in three different COVID related efforts. Both projects involve contributions that our district made to the Rotary Foundation and come from District Designated Funds. In addition to these the District donated $2,000.00 to Truman Medical Center last month to help with providing fresh food to the Medical first responders at the hospital.
Contributed $ 25,000.00 to the Rotary Foundation Disaster Recovery Fund specifically to fund COVID-19 recovery efforts.
Contributed $ 11,500.00 to D4060 in the Dominican Republic to help them purchase ventilators for hospitals. We also connected them with a manufacturer of ventilators in Missouri that can provide them ventilators at less cost than they had been quoted so they can purchase more equipment.
Contributed $10,000.00 to D9210 in Africa to support COVID-19 Personal Protective Equipment purchases for health care workers in Malawi.
All of this capability was brought about by the generous donations of Rotarians in District 6040.
Going Virtual
The COVID-19 pandemic has provided a number of opportunities for virtual meetings, learning, and even family gatherings. As you may have heard, Rotary International is excited to announce that while the International Convention is not taking place in person, there will be virtual options for learning and growing in Rotary.
The first ever Virtual Convention is taking place June 20-26, 2020.
Below is a list of dates and times for Virtual Convention programming. As you can see, the convention does not run the entire day, but instead will be broadcast at a few set times each day. Additionally, if you miss the live broadcasts, they will be readily available on the convention website, providing some flexibility for you and your event attendees to participate at your own convenience. The Virtual Convention is free to all attendees, however, there will be a sign in process in order to access the programming. Detailed Instructions for this process will be provided before the event.
Saturday 20 June
8:00 – 9:15 a.m. – Together We Connect – Virtual Convention General Session 1
Sunday 21 June
8:00 – 9:15 a.m.– Together We Learn – Virtual Convention General Session 2
Monday 22 June – Friday 26 June – Featured Breakouts (more details coming soon)
Daily, one breakout will be offered at each of the following times*:
8:00 – 9:00 a.m.
12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Lee's Summit Rotarians in Action: Amy & Daniel, Rob & Debbie keep their distance while preparing to deliver meals for One Good Meal!
Breaking News
The Rotary District 6040 Conference is moving forward - and will take place August 21-23, 2020. Look for more information in our June newsletter.
