Dear Fellow Rotarians,
Here’s something you don’t want to miss especially if you are having difficulty finding good news in the headlines of today’s current events.
The Rotary Foundation Trustees and Rotary International Board of Directors have unanimously approved adding a new area of focus -- this will be the seventh.
The first six are:
Peacebuilding and conflict prevention
Disease prevention and treatment
Water, sanitation, and hygiene
Maternal and child health
Basic education and literacy
Community economic development
And, now, (drumroll……)
Supporting the environment
This is a big one, Folks. We can hold recycling, educational and informational events. We can plant more trees. We can look at our group’s and our individual carbon footprints. We can find ways to use less plastic.
Dream and scheme with me. How might Emmaus Rotary respond? How can we serve “Mother Earth”?
Here’s a fun start. Which of the 3 green emojis works for you? The green tree? The blue and green globe? The green recycling arrows?
If you click the link below to see more, you will get the details from Rotary International’s announcement of this multi-million dollar venture. I, personally, don’t think Rotary has been this bold since we committed to eradicating polio- and “we’re this close”.
Yours in service,
Lexa Shallcross, President Emmaus Rotary
www.rotary.org/en/supporting-environment-becomes...
The Rotary Foundation Trustees and Rotary International Board of Directors have both unanimously approved adding a new area of focus: supporting the environment.
More than $18 million in Foundation global grant funding has been allocated to environment-related projects over the past five years. Creating a distinct area of focus to support the environment will give Rotary members even more ways to bring about positive change in the world and increase our impact.
RI President Mark Maloney says that during his travels around the world as a Rotary senior leader he encountered many Rotary members and Rotaractors who advocated for the environment to be an area of focus.
“I believe strongly that our Rotary Foundation programs now have a valuable added dimension to our efforts,” says, Maloney.
Foundation Trustee Chair Gary C.K. Huang says that with the global population reaching near eight billion, protecting the environment is increasingly important.
“It is time for us to use our collective resources to invest in a smart and efficient way to protecting our environment,” says Huang. “We are qualified to take this initiative because we are a global group of problem solvers with diversified talents.”
In 1990-91, RI President Paulo V.C. Costa made the environment one of his primary causes, creating the Preserve Planet Earth subcommittee, which looked at ways clubs and members could conduct environmental initiatives.
“We have finally caught up to Costa [his vision],” says Past RI President Ian H.S. Riseley, chair of the Environmental Issues task force, which championed the new area of focus.
“As a lifelong environmentalist, I’m delighted that our great organization has recognized that the environment is a worthy and appropriate destination for our project activity,” says Riseley. “This is an exciting moment in Rotary history.”
Supporting the environment becomes Rotary's seventh area of focus, which are categories of service activities supported by global grants. It joins peacebuilding and conflict prevention; disease prevention and treatment; water, sanitation, and hygiene; maternal and child health; basic education and literacy; and community economic development.
Grant applications for projects will be accepted beginning on 1 July 2021. Gifts and commitments from Rotarians and others will be sought to provide global grant support for the new area of focus.
More information about this new cause will be announced soon.