We have two successful and impactful youth programs in our District—Youth Exchange and Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA). Both programs have a group of Rotarians that are dedicated to the young people who participate in these programs. I cannot say enough to express my sincere appreciation to these Rotarians for what they do. Their work changes lives.
RYLA is leadership camp for teens that have not completed their senior year in high school. The goal is for this young person to go back to high school and use their skills. The campers start on Thursday afternoon and finish on Sunday morning. I had the great pleasure of speaking to these young people on Thursday after dinner. What an exciting event it was for Carla and I. The feedback from our RYLA graduates is outstanding. In my opinion, RYLA is the best youth leadership event on the planet.
Rotary Youth Exchange is one of the most important things Rotary does. It is one of the best ways to move toward world understanding and peace. This coming year, District 5400 will send 19 students to another country with a difference language and culture. In return, District 5400 will host 19 students to live and learn about our country. They will spend 9-10 months on the exchange. This exchange is all about personal experiences and relationships that help these young people grow and understand the world from a very different perspective.
Please join me at District Conference on May 20, to heard the stories of our RYLA and Youth Exchange students. It will certainly motivate you to support this wonderful Rotary program and hopefully to get involved.
On Sunday morning of District Conference, at Ketchum Rotary Park, we will have a Service of Remembrance to honor our Rotary friends who have left us this year. A tree will be planted in memory of Rusty Broughton. If there are names you would like to remember, please contact Dennis Robinson.
This coming Thursday, May 4th, Boise Rotary clubs Southwest, Sunrise, East and Metro will team up with Zoo Boise to host the second Rotary Night at the Zoo from 5:30 to 9:00 PM. Last year's event raised $7,000 for the Gorongosa grant which when matched by District 5400 and the Rotary Fund made up 50% of the money needed to purchase a transport vehicle for medical staff at Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique which was delivered last month.
This year the proceeds stay local to benefit Zoo Boise’s ZooTeen program, a summer internship program which teaches high school students conservation practices while at the same time provides experience in leadership, education and public speaking . Event attendees will be able to contribute towards a recently established fund to help the Zoo replace long time zoo resident, giraffe Julius Longfello, who during his 9 years at ZooBoise helped raise over $200,000 for ZooBoise conservation initiatives through the Giraffe Encounter program.
Tickets will be available at the door for $20 for adults and $10 for under 14 making the Zoo Night a very affordable and eminently enjoyable way to spend a wonderful First Thursday in Boise and raise money for the local community at the same time. Bring a friend, neighbor or coworker to share the event and to show them the grant work Rotary does in the Treasure Valley, the State of Idaho and beyond.
This year's Rotary District Conference features FCS Urban Ministries Founder Dr. Robert Lupton, author of Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help (and How to Reverse It).
Bob has invested 46 years in inner-city Atlanta. He left a budding business career to work with delinquent urban youth. He and his family sold their suburban home and moved into the inner-city where they have lived and served as neighbors among those in need, dedicating his life to rebuilding urban neighborhoods where families can flourish and children can grow into healthy adults.
Bob is a community developer, an entrepreneur who brings together communities of resource with communities of need. Through a non-profit organization he founded, he has developed three mixed-income subdivisions, organized two multi-racial congregations, started a number of businesses, created housing for hundreds of families, and initiated a wide range of human services in his community. He is the author of six books, including the best-selling Toxic Charity. Bob has a PhD in psychology from the University of Georgia.
Learn how to make the most of your convention experience during this live online event. Join us for the convention orientation webinar on Thursday, 11 May, at 11:00 Chicago time (UTC-5). If you miss the live event, you can view it online later.
After two years of groundwork, three Boise clubs kicked off the "Rotary Park on the Greenbelt" on April 1st. This is a collaborative effort the Boise Metro, Boise Centennial and Eagle/Garden City clubs. The park will be built on the new section of Boise River Greenbelt, which is the last section within the city limits for this Greenbelt project that has been underway for 50 years. The main feature of the Park will be the "Lugenbeel Monument", one of the few surviving historic monuments placed around Idaho in the 1930s by the Sons and Daughters of the Idaho Pioneers. In addition to funds provided by foundations and sponsors, the clubs will be selling commemorative bricks. A special Rotary brick is available! For more information, and the brick order form, visit the Metro website here. Click here to go directly to the brick order form.
Watch the video! Order your brick now, while supplies last!
The Nampa Rotary Club renovated a playground and fixed up the Salvation Army Nampa Community Shelter recently. And in pouring rain, no less! I was a bit amazed at this. I mean, there’s service, and then there’s service when the conditions are against you. This one took a bit more sacrifice than normal, I’d say.
The club members and their families spread bark (purchased by WP Insurance), built two picnic tables and a bench, repaired an existing bench, painted a bit and cleaned up the grounds.
Marie Baker gets kudos for coordinating the project, and the other volunteers included Kenyon Lee, Dave Lewis, Paul Raymond, Chris Jensen, Rhea Allen, Alan Jones, JB Miesegaes, Lynn Caba, David Nejely and Joe O’Neill.
The club also served lunch, prepared and donated by Albertsons, at the family shelter.
The Rotary Club of Nampa seeks your help to support a worldwide humanitarian project that has been founded by a member of our local Rotary Club here in Nampa Idaho!! The Rotarian's name is Kenton Lee and his amazing project is called "The Shoe That Grows."
After college, Kenton lived at an orphanage in Kenya, Africa, where he saw children with no shoes or shoes that were way too small, many with toes protruding over the front of cut off shoes. That's when he got the idea of inventing a shoe that could adjust and expand with the growth of children's feet!!
It took six years to go from that idea to the reality of a shoe that expands five sizes and lasts five years!! The shoes are currently being produced in Asia, with new orders from a factory in Ethiopia and soon in Haiti, which is the number one area of need for shoe distribution. In the past 18 months over 65,000 shoes have been distributed in over 80 countries on every continent except Antarctica! Distributions are done by over 700 humanitarian organizations, churches, and even concerned individuals.
Kenton receives no governmental aid; financial support is generated by organizations like Rotary and from individuals like you and businesses like yours from all over the world! Kenton's project has received recognition in the Rotary International magazine, the Today Show, CBS evening news, others and he recently received "The Idaho Innovator of the Year" by the Idaho Technology Council.
The funds raised at “Wine, Dine, Be Kind” on May 13th will be used to send Kenton to the next Rotary International Convention in Atlanta Georgia, along with his booth that will display his Shoe That Grows to over 30,000 Rotarians from all over the world!! Depending on the total dollars raised, additional funding will benefit the Nampa Boys & Girls Club, Salvation Army-Nampa and other local organizations.
"Wine, Dine, Be Kind" is a benefit dinner with a no-host bar on Friday, May 13, starting at 5:30 p.m. at the Ford Idaho Center Rodeo Club, 16200 N Idaho Center Blvd, Nampa, ID 83687!! Some lucky ticket holders will be winning $1000.00 in cash, or a week's stay at a Sun Valley three-bedroom condo, or a two night's stay at a Bogus Basin condo!!!
Ten months down, two to go…to the end of the Rotary year! How are we progressing toward our achievements in Rotary Foundation giving and grant participation with so little time to go?
--Annual Fund-SHARE: 10 of 42 clubs have reached their goals.
--PolioPlus: 18 clubs have reached the benchmark $20/capita.
--District grant deadline for 2017-18 is June 1: only 2 clubs have started an application.
--100% Paul Harris Fellow clubs: Boise Sunrise & Emmett have joined the ranks of six clubs.
--I have 250 foundation recognition points to give to any non-Paul Harris Fellow who enrolls in recurring giving on Rotary Direct ($100/yr minimum to AF-SHARE). I’m looking for 36 more enrollees!
--D5400 received $270K in TRF grants in 2016-17 for its work to make the world a better place!
--Only 5 cases of polio caused by the wild virus since Jan. 1.
--My goal of 100 new Bequest Society, Major Donor, Paul Harris Society members: 74 to go – I need you!
--PolioPlus contributions matched 2:1 by the Gates Foundation!
The citizens of Fremont County have been the beneficiaries of service by the St. Anthony Rotary Club for the past five years. The Club, with 30 active members, decided to beautify the historic Fremont County Courthouse with public art. The courthouse was constructed in 1909 and its features include a dome, stained glass ceilings and beautiful woodwork. The structure serves approximately 13,000 residents of the County. The Idaho Supreme Court has held court sessions in this county landmark.
The Club raised funds and commissioned some of the best artists in southeastern Idaho for the years 2013, 2014 and 2015 to paint large oil paintings depicting the scenery and history of Fremont County. In 2016 a sculpture was placed in the foyer of the courthouse. “The Ties That Bind”, a bronze by artist Dustin Payne, portrays a grandfather teaching his grandson to tie flies on a fishing line.
Another large oil painting has been commissioned for project year 2017. This painting, by Fremont County Artist Albin Veselka, will illustrate a 1930 era potato harvest. Local community and Rotary members were dressed in period clothing to reenact an old fashioned potato harvest, complete with a team of horses, wagon, wire baskets and potato sacks providing reference material for the upcoming painting.
The RYLA application is online and available for students to sign up for Rotary’s premiere youth leadership camp. Students need to be high school incoming juniors to outgoing seniors. There is no cost to the student as each student is sponsored by a Rotary club. Please encourage students to search for RYLA Idaho and fill out the online application. Applications should be submitted by May 15th or until the camp is full. Be sure to have the students include your club name in the application. Click here for more.
Student quote: “There are two most important days of your life. The first is the day you are born, and the second is the day you figure out why. What I’ve learned from RYLA is my ‘why’.”
Posted by Terry Ziegler, District 5890 on Apr 30, 2017
No new Polio cases reported this week.
This week marks the World Immunization Week, aimed at raising global awareness of the need to ensure all children are vaccinated against polio and all vaccine-preventable diseases. The Final Three Endemic Countries:
Pakistan - No new Polio cases reported this week. Two cases reported in 2017 -the most recent from the Diamir district, Gilgit Baltistan province with an onset on 2/13/17. Twenty Polio cases were reported in 2016. No new Polio-positive environmental samples were collected from this week in Pakistan.
Afghanistan - No new Polio cases reported this week. Three cases reported in 2017 - the most recent in the Kunduz province with the onset of paralysis on 2/21/17, Thirteen Polio cases were reported in 2016. Two new Polio-positive environmental samples were collected this week in Afghanistan.
Nigeria - No new Polio cases reported this week. Four Polio cases reported in 2016 - with no cases reported in 2015. The most recent case was reported on 8/2016 on Borno State.
Applications for Rotary Foundation district grants are being accepted now for the 2017-2018 grant year. The amount available to us next year is $45,077. Applications are to be submitted online at http://www.matchinggrants.org. The deadline for submission of a completed application is June 1, 2017. Each club is encouraged to develop a qualifying project. Instructions to apply for a Rotary Foundation district grant are at the District 5400 website ( www.rotary5400.org -> Grants -> TRF District Grants -> District Block Grant Instructions 2017-2018 ). If you have questions about proposed projects or working through the application, please contact Jedd Thomas at (208) 339-1185 or at jedd.thomas@bankofcommerce.org. Clubs with overdue reports from previous years' grants are not eligible for a 2017-18 grant. The deadline for progress or final reports is May 15, 2017.
By now you should have received your District Conference Raffle Tickets! The winner gets a $4500 AAA Travel Credit. There are also some lesser prizes. Coolest thing? Whomever sells the winning tickets also wins the AAA Trip!!
This is a major fundraiser for the District. Proceeds are divided as follows:
1. Support Youth Exchange2. Support Club Attendance at District Conference (Clubs that sell tickets and send Rotarians to the Conference receive funds)3. Provides matching funds for Rotarians starting a new Paul Harris.
Sign up now for the Rotary100 events and merchandise celebrating the founding of our club and the Rotary Movement in Idaho! Follow the "order now" button to purchase tickets for the Picnic on June 22 and the Centennial Gala event on June 24. You can also purchase commemorative banners to be hung downtown during that month and a Rotary Club of Boise 100 History book.
Posted by Gene DeLaveaga, Eagle/Garden City on Apr 30, 2017
On Thursday, April 20, the E-GC Club honored seven students for their success in graduating this year. This is one of the Club's favorite events, giving Rotarians the opportunity to celebrate success with young adults who often have never been selected for a special commendation of any kind before. Many of these students go on to two- or four-year schools with the determination to reach for their dreams to live a meaningful life after overcoming serious obstacles in their past. Students receiving the Persistence Award are nominated by the faculty and selected by the school’s Principal and Counselor for an award in the fall, with a second award to deserving students in the spring. Family and friends are invited to the award ceremony, where the faculty commendation is read aloud before the student is given the certificate. A plaque with current honorees is displayed in school for students to see.
Rotary Club of Western Treasure Valley
PO Box 734
Ontario, OR 97914 14th Annual Chuck Smith Rotary Golf Tournament
Come and join us for a great day on the Country View Golf Course
Any day on the golf course is better than a great day at work…
June 9, 2017
Country View Golf Course
Tee time 9:00 a.m. (check in starting at 8:15 a.m.)
Proceeds benefit the Laxson Rotary Park in Ontario.
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Bob has invested 46 years in inner-city Atlanta. He left a budding business career to work with delinquent urban youth. He and his family sold their suburban home and moved into the inner-city where they have lived and served as neighbors among those in need, dedicating his life to rebuilding urban neighborhoods where families can flourish and children can grow into healthy adults.
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The Nampa Rotary Club renovated a playground and fixed up the Salvation Army Nampa Community Shelter recently. And in pouring rain, no less! I was a bit amazed at this. I mean, there’s service, and then there’s service when the conditions are against you. This one took a bit more sacrifice than normal, I’d say.
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Tee time 9:00 a.m. (check in starting at 8:15 a.m.) 
