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May 1
"UCLA Basketball"
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May 13
"Art In Flowers
and in Paint"
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Next Week...
May 1
"UCLA Basketball" - Ben Howland
UCLA's basketball coach
Upcoming Meetings...
May 8
"The Once and Future Griffith Observatory"
Melissa Devor
Director of Development, Friends of the Observatory
Upcoming Events...
May 1, 7:00 am
District Breakfast - Westin LAX Hotel
Patricia Murray gives an eyewittness account of the conditions in the Middle East.
May 13
Rotary Auxiliary: Art In Flowers and in Paint
Shirley More demonstrates floral arrangements with lilies and other blossoms while Pat Anderson paints her impressions of the flowers in watercolor. The two-woman show follows lunch at the meeting in the home of Peter and Shirley More. Call Marjorie Downie for reservations.
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This Week...
OUR FOUNDATIONS at WVRC, on 24 April
TONY MARRONE led the Pledge. Both LENNY and JACK came forward for the song, which was The Battle Hymn of the Republic. Turns out that JACK knew the words, so he sang on the PA, and LENNY led the rest of us. KEVIN BADKOUBEHI, this time, accepted the role of Invocator, and even brought his notes along. It consisted of a series of short admonitions, all of which were worthwhile. The beginning, for example, was “May you trust your highest power that you are exactly where you are meant to be”.
KEVIN, your preparation showed – well done.
As usual, we had several guests. Two who have been with us before are Svetlana Chernobrovina, who belongs to a Rotary Club in Siberia, and her friend, Lauren Alves. SUNNY was of course there with LENNY, and son David was seated at the Yearling table. KATIA VAISBERG, our Rotaract President, brought another member. President-Elect SEAN reminded us that the District Assembly on May 17 is designed to educate Rotarians moving into Club Administration. He has had a good response from those planning to attend, but you might check to see if YOU are on the list. The last District Breakfast of this year is on May 1, and one seat is still open. (see DON NELSON)
PP STEVE SCHERER had a big day yesterday - but it cost him five hundred bucks! He got a Hole-in-one at LACC! And just as a comparison, during this same fining period ELLIOTT TURNER and LENNY FRIEDMAN got nicked for either five or ten bucks. See, if depends on the severity of the crime!
ELLIOTT TURNER came forward with KATIA VAISBERG to report on last Saturday’s Assembly of WAPI’s. It was a big success – we made 520 of these water purification tools, and were helped by about 10 Rotaractors, 10 Rotarians and spouses, and another 10 from DEBBIE SCHERER’S students at Mary Mount HS. I was particularly impressed to see some new members there – DWIGHT HEIKKILA, and his wife, SOOK, STEVE PATRICE, LORIN RUTTENBURG, and ALY SHOJI and her husband. It should also be noted that Auxiliary members included MARGIE DOWNIE, and ROZ NELSON. We are planning to do this every year, so join us next time, please.
While he was up front, ELLIOTT had a story for us. Seems that this young boy asked his father” How did the human race begin?” His father answered, “God made Adam and Eve, they had children, and so was all mankind made”. A few days later, the boy asked his mother the same question. “Many years ago, there were monkeys, from which the human race developed”. The confused boy returned to his father, “A few days ago you told me the human race was created by God, but Mom says the human race was developed from monkeys” The father quickly answered, “It’s very simple. I told you about MY side of the family”.
ANN SAMSON had some interesting news. University HS will soon be tearing down their gym. After some discussion the Y has signed an agreement with LAUSD, which will allow the Westside YMCA to build a new facility on the southwest corner of University High’s property, allowing an acre and a half to be used. This facility would be used by University High School during school hours, and then completely revert to the Y from that time on, each day. The school district would continue to own the land, and the Y would own the building. The present Y building on Sawtelle Blvd would be rented out after the new facility is completed. It is expected that the new facility will cost perhaps thirty million dollars. There are certainly advantages to both parties in this arrangement, and it is exciting to contemplate how it will develop.
Our Speaker today was Igor – no, pardon me, I meant PP STEVE DAY, and he was delivering his annual report on our two Rotary Foundations. PP STEVE pointed out that he had taken over this job some ten years from PP DOUG DESCH – and YOE speaking, I would say they are in good hands. Igor did a similar report two years ago, but the information is updated, so those of us who saw the last report have no excuse about staying awake. This will cover both our own Foundation and the Foundation of R.I.
KEVIN BADKOUBEHI operated the slide presentation. The first picture included a photo of an American Rotary Volunteer administering our Polio Eradication Inoculation program in India. A brief history of the R.I. Foundation starts with its establishment in 1917 by Arch D.Klump, International President at that time, and his initial contribution of $26.50. In 1919 the first grant was made to the International Society for Crippled Children, for $500. It was renamed the R.I. Foundation in 1947, the same year our Founder, Paul Harris, died. That was the year the Endowment Fund started, and as an example, just in 2003, $70 million was donated.
Programs: Polio Plus started in 1985, resulting in over two billion children being inoculated. And a side note here – WVRC conducted a major campaign at that time, exceeding our goal of $1,000 per member – PP HOWIE HENKES was the Chairman!
I should confess that this is the single most important thing we do that I mention to others, trying to overcome PP BOB WESSLING true analysis that we are the world’s best kept secret. The Humanitarian Grant Program is another major effort, focused on Natural Disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, or the major Tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004. Our third leg is Educational Grants. WVRC has been involved in asking for and participating in these grants – one example being when CHRIS GAYNOR was President, STEVE DAY was his International Chair, and they arranged for the funding of a number of deep-water wells in the Philippines. Our Ambassadorial Scholar Program is well known at WVRC – the Committee has just finished interviewing a number of student applicants.
These scholarships, by the way, are better than a Fullbright – and thus, greatly in demand. The Group Study Exchange is designed for young adults in their twenties and thirties to spend a month in some foreign country, visiting businesspeople there in similar professions, and that same country sends their own group here to reciprocate.
There are also Rotary Grants for University Teaching, where a U.S. Rotarian will teach in a foreign country for a period of time. Conflict Resolution is a new program, which can lead to a Masters Degree in that field. Peace Scholarships involve attending one of six designated Universities around the world, again leading to a Masters Degree. Overall, there are three major Fund groupings – the Polio Fund, The Annual Fund which covers the worldwide outreach of Rotary, and the Endowment Fund, which is used for all the Funds.
Each and every new member in WVRC is made a Sustaining Member of the Paul Harris Society, Year by year, their donations – often centered on our support for the Auction at the Annual Paul Harris Dinner – are added to their account, and once the $1,000 total is reached, they automatically become Paul Harris Fellows. This process can be shortened by paying the difference of whatever is in your fund and the needed total – and this amount, in turn can be met halfway by money we already hold in reserve. You can ask STEVE for your status here, of course. Our total credits here, by the way, are over $90,000! This means we could anoint 90 others to be Paul Harris Fellows. The Permanent Fund, started in 1947, has over $200 million in hand, with the goal by 2025 of reaching one billion dollars. Each year, the interest gained is turned over to the Program Fund, amounting to at least 4.5 million dollars annually.
Polio Plus has spent over $620 million dollars since it began in 1985, the annual outgo being about $33 million. Clark McQuay asked how close we were to our goal of totally eradicating Polio. One number that comes to mind is that when we started in 1985, 600,000 children were being stricken with polio annually. The figure for 2006 was just over l,000 new cases. But the difficulty to close it out is two-fold. First it is highly contagious, and until you inoculate every child in the still-infected areas, it can spring up again. Second, in the rural areas of parts of Africa and Asia, the local Imams are holding people back, since they tell them that the inoculation can cause sterility or even infant death! In other words, until there are NO MORE new cases, it can still erupt.
Our team of experts is doing their best with this almost intractable problem. I asked if we were still participating in the Polio Surgery Program. (This is my favorite). Yes, this is a District 5280 Program, which takes place annually. All surgery and labor is donated – the only cost to allow someone who is now crawling on their knees to become upright and be able to walk is $147, which is the cost of the prosthesis they require. Now I challenge you – tell me of any way you can spend $147 and get a better, permanent, result? To repeat myself, this is the example I use when talking to those who ask, what does Rotary do?
STEVE, your update report is a real inspiration, proving once again that Rotary is Service Above Self, in spades. Thank you for all your efforts.
