March 6, 2024 Breakfast Meeting Notes

 

Our guest today was Erica LaBella, who has applied for membership!

 

We will vote on next year’s officers for our club at the next club forum. 

 

50/50 was won by Mike, who donated it to Tom.

 

Bill won the chance to draw for the ace of spades but pulled the ace of clubs. The game goes on.

 

Tony opened with his NH Trivia: Sin, Lust, and Pleasure in New Hampshire. (Secretary’s note: there was a lot of it!)

 

There was no formal program today. Beth gave us a reminder about programming: Sharon sends out an email listing who is responsible for speakers on which dates.There is a calendar on our web site that will tell you when your date is if you have lost this email. If you can’t make your date, you can switch with someone else. Steve suggested having someone keep a list of available speakers that can be called by members who are having difficulty locating one.

 

Today we will remove the decorations from the Common. Please bring ladders and wire cutters, if you have them. We will also need the roller to roll up the lights into neat coils.

Lights will need to be removed from the fences and laid out in a line so that they can be rolled easily. Meet at Peggy’s at noon and downtown 12:15-12:30. Steve and Bill could use some help with the lights at 11.  

 

Rabies Clinic: We have flyers to distribute now. The ads will appear in Pennysaver and on our Facebook page. You can also tag people on Facebook. Please take some flyers to post around town. Steve suggested that we should figure out the high-priority places that must have posters and then we could just divide the jobs up. This way we know where the posters are going and are sure that they go up. 

 

Beth has received two thank you notes. The first was from the Chamber of Commerce thanking us for our participation in the joint after-hours event. We also got a thank you from the Wentworth Historical Society for our gift of $200. 

 

Ken Evans spoke about the admin committee’s meeting with Sue Caigle from Coop Extension about our grant process and how to develop our project. The committee is making good progress on our planned project. Sue can help us identify community needs and help us go forward to developing a project. We will develop a script and identify specific people in the community that we will need to talk to about the one issue that they feel would really help to respond to community needs. The next meeting of that committee is March 18 and anyone who wants to participate is welcome. Once we’ve had that meeting, we will meet with representatives from Holderness School, PSU, the select board, the Conservation Commission and other community representatives to come up with a project, hopefully one that can be expanded. In future years. We will need 2 interviewers per community member, so the committee of 7 may need some help. We hope to build some momentum and enthusiasm in the community for Rotary. Whatever project we start now could also potentially be continued to our 100th anniversary project. Once we have identified a project, we can do a more major community fundraiser. 

 

Ken also spoke about the Paul Harris foundation. It is at the end of the Feb. 7 meeting notes. Several years ago we made a push to get the entire club to be Paul Harris fellows (ie they have given $1000 to the Foundation over their lifetimes). Every time you give a dollar to the Foundation, our club gets a recognition point. These points are saved in a database and can be given to other Rotarians (or non-Rotarians) to credit towards that $1000. Our club right now has about 20,000 recognition points that we can give to other Rotarians. If any of our members would like to give $250 as a donation, the club can donate 750 points so that that member can become a Paul Harris fellow. Currently we have 14 Paul Harris fellows. Once you become a Paul Harris fellow, you are encouraged to contribute more in order to become a Paul Harris +1, Paul Harris +2, and so on.  Ken has kept track of how much money everyone has contributed. If we can let Ken know by May 1, all of those who wish to become Paul Harris fellows can do so at once. The check should be made out to the Rotary Foundation (NOT our own Plymouth Rotary foundation). Please see the end of this meeting summary for a full text of Ken’s notes on the Paul Harris program. 

 

Denise announced that the 3rd round of speech contest will be on the 16th in Lyndonville and they would welcome anyone who wants to attend. Let Denise know if you want to go. Denise also noted that on the Rotary International donation page, you now have a button so that you can customize the amount of your donation. 

 

Mike is leaving for PETS today and Beth, Alicia, and Denise are leaving tomorrow. Steve will be there talking about the Common Man for Ukraine. The new president of Rotary International will also be there. Club presidents-elect will be asked to vote on the district budget, which they have just reviewed. Ken can also show the district budget to the club at our next forum. Club dues will probably need to go up as Rotary International dues are increasing.

 

Happy dollars were shared by Tony, Beth, Lora, and Mike. 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Lora Miller, secretary

 

Rotary International Foundation’s Paul Harris Fellows

 

The Rotary International Foundation’s mission is to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace.  RI Foundation Grants promote peace, fight disease, provide clean water and sanitation, sustain mothers and children, improve education, and strengthen local economies.  Since 1988, Rotary and its partners  have reduced the incidence of polio by 99.9%.  It is now evident in only two countries in the world. The Foundation also funds training of peacemakers as well as Disaster Relief Grants.

Last year, the Foundation spent about $330 million as follows:

$150 for Polio Plus

$73 for Global Grants

$27 for District Grants

$23 for Other Grants

$21 for Program Operations

$21 for Fund Development 

$15 for General Administration

Charity Navigator gives Rotary International Foundation a score of 100%, earning a four-star rating which it has held for the last 12 consecutive years.  

The Rotary Foundation has established a program whereby each person who donates $1,000 over any time-period is recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow.  Paul Harris founded Rotary in the early 1900s.  There are additional award levels for each additional $1,000 donated.  And, for each dollar donated, individuals are awarded one recognition point.  These recognition points can be accumulated and given to other individuals to help them reach the $1,000 level.  Six years ago, Plymouth Rotary Club created a program to become a 100% Paul Harris Club, which means that each Club member became a Paul Harris Fellow. We did this by having members contribute about $250 in cash and using 750 Recognition points from the District and other Plymouth Club members.  We raised about $6,000 for the Foundation and were recognized by Rotary International as a 100% Paul Harris Club. 

Counting Recognition Points earned at that time and with donations since that time, our Club members now have 20,000 points that can be transferred to other individuals for Paul Harris recognition.  So, the Board proposes to create another program wherein each member who would like to become a Paul Harris Fellow can contribute $250 in cash and our members will transfer 750 Recognition Points to become a Paul Harris Fellow.  Or, to become a Paul Harris +1, +2, etc.  The transfer paperwork is a little complicated so this should be done together for all participants in the program.  The Transfer documents and the cash donations should be submitted at the same time.  Currently, we have 14 Paul Harris Fellows and 10 members who are not yet there.  

Our goal is not necessarily to again become a 100% Club although that would be impressive.  Our goal is to generate donations to the Foundation and to make it much easier to become a Paul Harris Fellow.  Please consider this program, ask questions, research the RI Foundation and if the idea appeals to you, let Mike, Beth or Ken know by April 1 that you will participate.  This program was approved by the Administration Committee and by the Board at their last meetings