Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results (2018) by the popular self-improvement guru and motivational speaker James Clear is on my Kindle. As we count down to the New Year- yeah ! 2021!, I have been re-reading it. This will not be a book report, I promise!
You may be familiar with James Clear from one of his YouTube videos. He often starts them with the story of the British cycling team which had an embarrassingly bad record until they hired Dave Brailsford. He practiced the “aggregation of marginal gains” and led the team to a Tour de France victory and Olympic domination as they broke Olympic and world records in both Tokyo and London.
It is time of year when we consider any changes we might want to make in our own lives. Some of us resist. Others set new intentions. And a small number meet those goals and form new habits.
Following the exemplar of our past President Steve Gould who set the goal in front of each of us to join at least one committee and to invite at least one person to attend a regular Thursday morning at Brookside Country Club, I want to set 2 New Year's resolutions -- immediate goals you can obtain-- before all of you.
First, Happy Dollars! (I love Happy Dollars!) Did you know that Don Blose, our Sergeant- at- Arms, works to meet a budgeted amount? He has developed his own modus operandi and chooses to focus on the “happiness” rather than the fines he can levy. In the month of January 2021, his efforts will be backed up by an anonymous donor who will match your Happy Dollars. (“Thank you, Anonymous!”) So, here is a simple suggestion. For the New Year, you could resolve to come to Thursday morning meetings prepared to share your story, your moment, your happiness, and your Happy Dollars!
Second, James Clear promotes the practice of not focusing on the finish line but rather making the start easy. One of the goals I audaciously set for Emmaus Rotary last Spring was to double the number of us who attended RLI - Rotary Leadership Training. So let me make the start easy for any of you who have been wanting to know more about Rotary. Please consider investing your time in strengthening your membership and ability to contribute by attending this Spring's training which will be online Saturday, March 13, 2021. Emmaus Rotary will reimburse your registration fee. And I assure you that the information presented will be clear and useful.
So, for that easy start -- look below for more information and links!
Due to the New Years Day Holiday, we will not be having a meeting this week.
This is the time of the year for connecting with family both near and far. The Executive Committee sends out our Happy New Year's greetings to all Rotarians and their families.
Weekly Door Prize Donations Needed! Be our next meeting's prize sponsor!
It seems like we all like the idea of winning a festive prize at our meetings (in person or online). We have had some very generous and fun donations since incorporating this new aspect to our meetings. Many thanks to all who have donated a prize! It is a nice way to give back to each other. Do you have a hobby or talent you can share with the club? Maybe you love to bake, sew, or garden (IE Garlic). Let’s get creative with our door prizes and share a little bit about ourselves in the process! How about we show some love to the local businesses in our community? They have shown us support with raffle donations and sponsorships throughout the years. Consider purchasing a $20.00 gift card from one of the many small businesses in the East Penn Area. As we know every little bit helps. It's also a great way to start a conversation about Rotary and invite business owners and managers to a club meeting.
So if you’d like to sponsor a door prize contact Don Blose, Meghan Reed, Sal Verrastro or Lexa Shallcross.
Once again we have an anonymous donor who will match all Happy Dollars collect in January 2021. What a way to start the New Year. Let's bring our generosity to all of our January Virtual Meetings and help our Sargent At Arms! Thanks to our Donor for ringing in the New Year this way.
We have reached a critical point to fund the East Penn Food Coalition, Feed East Penn Students Program. We currently serve over 200 children a week and need your help to raise $20,000 by February to continue to feed hungry kids in our community. Please consider donating to the go-fund-me campaign to provide students with "backpacks" of food to take home over the weekend. Please click on the link for information and to donate now.
Surely there are women in our Emmaus and Lehigh Valley communities with an outstanding record of volunteer humanitarian service who have given their time and efforts to advance RI’s Mission to provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance understanding, goodwill, and peace, and who are leaders in their chosen field.
Now is your opportunity to nominate a woman from our community who personifies these qualities to receive the Emmaus Rotary Club International Women’s Day Celebration (IWDC) Rotary Award on March 11, 2021. For the fourth year, on behalf of the Emmaus Rotary Club, I am writing to encourage you to submit a nomination by January 24, 2021.
You will find detailed information about the nomination criteria and how to submit a nomination when you click read more below. If you have any questions before this date, please feel free to e-mail me at aruizorbin@aol.com or to call me at my cell #610-392-5134.
On behalf of our Club’s IWDC Committee and on my behalf, I thank you for your support and look forward to receiving your nomination.
Yours in Rotary Service,
Alicia Ruiz-Orbin, Committee Chair International Women’s Day Celebration
December is Disease Prevention and Treatment Month
Fighting disease
We educate and equip communities to stop the spread of life-threatening diseases like polio, HIV/AIDS, and malaria. We improve and expand access to low-cost and free health care in developing areas.
We believe good health care is everyone’s right. Yet 400 million people in the world can’t afford or don’t have access to basic health care.
Disease results in misery, pain, and poverty for millions of people worldwide. That’s why treating and preventing disease is so important to us. We lead efforts both large and small. We set up temporary clinics, blood donation centers, and training facilities in underserved communities struggling with outbreaks and health care access. We design and build infrastructure that allows doctors, patients, and governments to work together.
Our members combat diseases like malaria, HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and polio. Prevention is important, which is why we also focus on health education and bringing people routine hearing, vision, and dental care. For more information go to: https://www.rotary.org/en/our-causes/fighting-diseases
COVID-19 is impacting us all in our personal, professional and Rotary lives. We must base our decisions about Rotary activities on the health and safety of our members and compliance with government and health regulations. Even though we may not be able to conduct the usual weekly in person meetings, many of our clubs are leading or participating in food and other relief programs in their communities. These efforts will likely be continuing through the balance of this Rotary year and into the future.
With this in mind, the following are guidelines for all Rotary District 7430 activities:
All guidelines set forth by the Governor, counties and other authorized persons in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the CDC should be followed.
Should any Rotarian be diagnosed with or have symptoms that they suspect to be consistent with COVID-19, that Rotarian shall:
Not participate in any Rotary event that involves a personal appearance at the event.
Report their diagnoses or symptoms to the Rotarian supervising any program in which they have participated in-person within fourteen (14) days before the diagnoses or occurrence of symptoms.
We also suggest that you adopt guidelines for your clubs that reflect the current health crisis.
Welcome to the Emmaus Rotary Club!
We meet at 7:30 AM on Thursday mornings
at Brookside Country Club, 901 Willow Lane, Macungie, PA 18062
Contact: 
