Posted on Nov 17, 2021

Last week, our Rotary Foundation Chair, Andrew Stewart, led the annual Rotary Foundation update.  November is Rotary Foundation month.  This year’s goals include adding 5 new Paul Harris Fellows and 5 more member donations.  The financial goal of $10,000 has already been met, currently at $15,000.

Robin Steele (from her cross-country RV trip - currently in Napa) gave the International Projects & Grants Committee (IP & G) update.  She stated the purpose of the IP & G committee is “to bring Rotarian’s service ideas to life”.  The focus areas of the committee are Basic Education and Literacy, Maternal and Child Health, Peace and Conflict Resolution, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, Disease Prevention, Economic Community Development, and (the newest) Supporting the Environment.  The 3-year financials show that more than 2.5 million has been generated by our club’s efforts and that member donations are amplified as much as 20x!  Furthermore, the total for projects driven by, or assisted by the Rotary Club of Fort Collins is $6,588,199 for the period 1991-2020.
 
Our major focus has been water & sanitation (over 50% of funds) with health, economic development and education dividing up the remaining 40% equally.  Three such projects are 1) handwashing stations in Luque, Paraguay serving 20,000 people and credited with a dramatic decrease in childhood diarrhea (a leading cause of pediatric deaths in the developing world),  2) the El Potrero (Guatemala) water system, a $39,000 project partnering with three other Rotary Clubs, our District and one other Rotary District and  3) a project providing a sustainable water collection system to members of the Mayan culture.
 
Other projects include Africa Pads allowing rural girls to attend school all month long and the Bhopal vocational training project headed by Rajiv Mehta which is now underway. The Phase 3 Burundi Peace Building Project is currently focused on medical care providers as educators for peace. The newest Rotary International area of focus is Supporting the Environment. The IP & G is looking for ideas in this area.
 
The last part of the presentation consisted of testimonials or interviews.  A representative of the Ngozi Rotary Club spoke of their efforts in peace education, clean water projects and measures to fight COVID. The Africa Pads Project in Malawi was highlighted. This project has supplied 60,000 reusable pads allowing girls to stay in school.  Locally, the Nappie Project has been endorsed by UC Health.  Distribution of diapers is located at the Food Pantry providing a one-stop shop for diapers, food, and medical care.  This project was started by an initial Rotary Club of Fort Collins grant purchasing 50,000 diapers.  Kerrie Luginbill described Rotary’s contributions - $2000 from our club and a $4000 match from our Rotary District to Project Self-sufficiency. Like so many, the needs of single moms increased during the pandemic.
 
The last interview was with Rotarian Kirvin Knox as he described his long-term donation experience through Rotary and its benefits to others and its benefits to the giver.
 
In other words, “Beneficial to All”.