"If life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavor."
-Eleanor Roosevelt
I have to admire Eleanor Roosevelt’s very rosy and positive outlook on unpredictable events. All of us have been dealing with unforeseeable events during this pandemic. Sometimes it is hard to keep your spirits up during the fight. But we dust ourselves off and forge on. So here is an update for our membership on what is happening in our club and what is planned for the future.
Executive Meeting Update. On Tuesday of this week, the Executive Committee of the Rotary Board of Directors met via ZOOM videoconferencing. In all, there were 10 people in attendance. A lot of time was spent discussing the operational and financial impacts of social distancing on our club. We addressed some very challenging issues head on, the Rotary way, with honest discussion and problem-solving. A summary of what we decided follows.
Weekly Rotary Meetings Cancelled for April. After discussion with the Krassas center, we have determined that it will be necessary to cancel all Rotary luncheon meetings through the end of April. Two factors led to this decision: Governor DeWine has closed all eating establishments from dine-in eating and the diocese of the Greek Orthodox church has closed St. Haralambos Church to social gatherings. So for the time being, we are locked out of meetings.
We will monitor this situation closely and keep our membership updated on plans for May. To those of you who have paid for your meals in advance, I will be sending you a letter within a week or so to update you on your options for your pre-paid expenses. Look for that information in the mail.
Rotary Office Schedule during State Mandate. In accordance with the order from the Ohio Department of Health, effective this week our Rotary Office will be closed to the public. Lauri Coy will be working off-site for the next few weeks or until we receive an “all clear” notice. We are fortunate to have the capability to access important files remotely and check for incoming phone messages. We will do our best to respond to your inquiries as soon as possible, but on-site visits will not be held.
Rotary Office Staffing. Unfortunately, the financial impact of recent events on our organization have been quite negative and dramatic, putting our financial stability at risk. This has led us to examine our office staffing and organization. As a result, the executive committee decided to eliminate the part-time secretarial position in the office which was held by our very own, Barb Schrade. This decision was a very painful one to make.
Barb has been an extremely valuable employee of the club, working in her role for over 10 years. All of us have come to know her efforts to make all our club functions great. And we have come to appreciate her bright personality, sense of humor, intelligence, and contributions to Rotary. The executive committee has extended our support for Barb during this difficult transition. We hope to maintain the friendship many of us have built with her, now and in the years to come.
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I am personally thankful to all members of the leadership team for their contributions and support during this difficult time. I pledge to do my best to keep you informed during this forced hiatus. Keep your eyes on the Rotogram, email, and Facebook for important updates. And above all… stay well.
From the very start of our Journey together this year I have emphasized that there is nothing more important than each one of you. We must prioritize our life along the lines of our religion, our family, our occupations, and then Rotary. Almost everything in our lives has been impacted by the COVID 19 virus. It might appear that even Rotary has shut down. Yes, we have canceled many events and service projects and most physical meetings. This pandemic moved so fast that we only had time to react instead of plan.
As leaders, I am so proud of how you remained calm and acted so responsibly. We are not down and out, we are still communicating, exchanging ideas and taking action. Think of all the Past District Governors in our District, all the current and past Assistant District Governors, current and past Presidents and your District’s current leadership team. You are all Ambassadors for the Rotarians in D6650. I am asking each of you and each Rotarian to set up a contact program in each of your Clubs. Remember Rotary Connects the World? Whenever hard times come, Rotarians unite, take action and extend kindness. I know we will have Rotarians who have lost their jobs and as a result may feel they have to drop out of Rotary. Now is the time to take care of our family. Possibly collect funds to help our fellow Rotarians. By staying in contact, we will know who needs our help. How rewarding it is to help someone in our own Rotary family.
April is Maternal and Child Health month. This is one of our areas of focus. Our goal is to save Mothers and Children. We provide education, immunizations, birth kits and mobile health clinics. Approximately 5.9 million children under the age of 5 die each year due to malnutrition poor sanitation and health care. When we think about the struggles, we are having with this pandemic with good health care, you can only imagine the outcome in underdeveloped regions.
Please connect virtually, using email, using your phone, using cards or any handwritten note, using your computer, using Tweeter, using Facebook or using Linked-in. PLEASE just stay in touch with those you care about.
I spend a lot of time thinking of family, not just my own or the extended family of Rotary, but also the families we are helping in the communities we serve. In many parts of the world, mothers and children face challenges to survive that most of us will never comprehend. According to the World Health Organization, the risk of a woman in a low-income country dying during pregnancy or childbirth, or from related causes, is about 120 times higher than that of a woman living in a high-income country. It is encouraging that infant mortality rates are declining globally, yet 4 million babies annually still die within the first year of life.
In April, Rotary turns its attention to maternal and child health. And when we think of what we can do to help, we can look to clubs like the Rotaract Club of Calabar South-CB, Nigeria, for inspiration. It teamed up with the Rotaract Club of Canaan City (CB) in a program focused on educating mothers on best practices to prevent infant mortality and promote postnatal health for themselves and their babies. In Bangladesh, the Rotary Club of Dhaka North provides free surgeries and medicine to pregnant women who cannot afford the hospital costs associated with giving birth. I encourage you and your club to go to ideas.rotary.org to find projects like these that are helping to save mothers and children.
We also have witnessed how millions of people — families and entire communities — have been ripped away from their homes because of conflict, poverty, and disasters during the past decade. But Rotary has not stood idly by during the global refugee crisis.
During Rotary Day at the United Nations last November, we honored a Rotary Peace Fellow and five Rotarians who are taking action to help refugee communities. Among them was Ilge Karancak-Splane of the Rotary Club of Monterey Cannery Row, California. After visiting several tent camps in Turkey, she led a Rotary project that collected 1,000 pairs of children's shoes and socks for families in the camps and, later, led a global grant project to help educate refugee children. In March, Gay and I had the privilege of visiting a tent camp in Torbalı and seeing firsthand the good work that Rotarians from Turkey and California were accomplishing with Syrian refugees.
The challenges faced by mothers, their children, and refugee communities around the world are daunting. But when we remember our greatest strength — how Rotary Connects the World — we can begin to find solutions. Through our creativity, our resources, our dedication, and our networks, Rotary can and will open opportunities to face these challenges.
The upcoming Rotary Club of Canton's Semi-Annual Health Screen & Wellness Fair scheduled for May 2, 2020 has been CANCELLED! The event will be rescheduled sometime in OCTOBER, 2020 and will be held at the Mercy Hall Auditorium located at 1320 Mercy Drive, Canton.
March 27, 2020
NICK PERINI - April 4th
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