By Rotary magazine staff

Every month in Rotary magazine, we showcase answers to ethical questions that members might face in their Rotary clubs, to help members share best practices with each other as they make their clubs stronger. Below is the ethical challenge we will tackle in the August issue of the magazine.

Your club has been flexible in finding ways to meet and participate in service virtually. Your club president wishes to continue to innovate and has tasked a committee that you chair with creating a new service opportunity each month for club members to take part in, either virtually or in person if it is safe. However, there is reluctance among your fellow committee members, who wish to wait until after the pandemic has ended to work on creating new opportunities for engagement and volunteering. What would you do?

Share your suggestions below and send them to: magazine@rotary.org

By building on a proven concept — such as efforts to stamp out malaria in Zambia — Rotary’s new multimillion-dollar Programs of Scale grants help make good better

by Diana Schoberg and Vanessa Glavinskas Illustrations by Gwen Keraval

As part of the polio eradication campaign, Rotary and its partners have trained millions of health care workers and volunteers and vaccinated nearly 3 billion children. Polio cases have dropped 99.9 percent since Rotary took up the cause in 1985, and the number of countries with endemic wild polio has dropped to two: Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“What you’ve done with polio is remarkable,” says Larry Cooley, a well-known international development consultant. “But it shouldn’t be a study of one.”

Rotary is stepping up to that challenge through Programs of Scale, a new Foundation program awarding grants to Rotary clubs or districts with evidence-based interventions that are ready to scale. The first such grant, announced in February, will provide $2 million to Partners for a Malaria-Free Zambia, a member-led program focused on fighting malaria. Co-funders World Vision U.S. and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are also involved in malaria mitigation efforts and will each contribute $2 million to the program. This $6 million program will train and equip 2,500 community health workers in Zambia to support the government’s work to eradicate malaria in that country.

The concept of Programs of Scale dates back to 2013, when global grants, introduced through The Rotary Foundation’s updated grant model, expanded the scope and size of Rotary projects with the aim of increasing their impact. After a 2016 evaluation of the grant model, the Foundation Trustees requested that a new grant type be developed that would fund “scalable” grant projects in the areas of focus — meaning projects that were planned in a way that allowed them to be expanded, built upon, and further developed.

Saturday, May 22, 2021
Cedarburg, Wisconsin
7 AM - 3 PM CST

The ROTARY RIDE  bicycling event will be held on Saturday, May 22, 2021, with the start and finish at Cedar Creek Park in Cedarburg WI.

The ride benefits the Cedarburg-Grafton Rotary Foundation's technical scholarship fund and is open to the public.

All riding abilities are encouraged to participate.  10, 25, 45, and 65-mile routes are being planned along with a virtual ride.

So tune up your bike and get your family and friends together for this fun-filled event!

Tips to have that talk

by Elizabeth Schroeder

As COVID-19 vaccinations are administered around the globe, you’ve probably seen your social media feeds fill up with joyful vaccine selfies and excited appointment updates. Chances are, you also have someone in your life who’s skeptical. Most of us do — and that has public health officials concerned.

Vaccine hesitancy is often fuel for heated public debate, but conversations about vaccines don’t have to be contentious. In fact, being willing to have them is one of the most impactful ways we can influence global health. As with many emotionally-charged topics, knowing how to start the conversation can be the hardest part. These tips may help you open up a dialogue and get your loved ones thinking differently about being vaccinated.

Find shared values. We all want similar things — healthy families, thriving communities, and a sense of control over our health. Demonizing vaccine-hesitant individuals only creates further division and exacerbates an “us vs. them” mentality. Try explaining why you choose vaccinations. Is it to protect the most vulnerable members of your community? To shield your children from preventable disease? Relatable motivations like these can help forge a human connection and get to the emotional heart of the issue.

Seek to understand. Just as there are many reasons to be vaccinated, there are many reasons a person might feel dubious. A prevalent one is misinformation, which is more contagious than ever in our digital age. Others are more complicated and riddled with an ugly history. Marginalized communities have spent centuries being mistreated by the medical establishment. Expecting these communities to immediately trust the same institution to have their best interest at heart is unfair and dismissive of historic trauma.

Know your “C’s.” The World Health Organization (WHO) has outlined three “C’s” that contribute to vaccinate hesitancy: complacency, convenience, and confidence. We could also add a fourth: culture. Rates of vaccine hesitancy, as well as contributing factors, vary widely based on a person’s location, background, and community. Being cognizant of these differences can prevent us from making incorrect assumptions. If someone is skipping recommended vaccines due to religious beliefs, opening a conversation with safety statistics may not be helpful or relevant to them.

Lead with facts. Mythbusting can be tempting, but did you know that repeating misinformation can actually give it more weight? Instead of focusing on why that meme or blog post is incorrect, stick to simple statements of fact. For example: “large-scale scientific studies find no link between the HPV vaccine and auto-immune symptoms.”

Be the voice of the majority. Social norms are an incredibly powerful force, but the key is to keep it positive. If you try to convince someone that not enough people are receiving vaccines, they may feel that their hesitancy has been validated by others. A more effective approach is to focus on how many people are choosing to vaccinate and why. Remind them that large-scale inoculation is a group effort and we want them on the team.

Identify the problem and the solution. If you’ve ever stood at the edge of a diving board, unable to move, you know that fear can be paralyzing. Fear of severe illness can have similar effects. When we talk about vaccine-preventable disease, simply scaring someone is likely to backfire. Instead, it’s important to acknowledge two facts simultaneously: these diseases are serious and being vaccinated is a simple and effective countermeasure. Help put power back into their hands by identifying an action they can take — being vaccinated!

Vaccines bring us closer to a world where everyone thrives, but it’s a team effort. By having conversations, you can bring your friends and family along on our global health journey.

The logistics of shipping and storing vaccines

by Elizabeth Schroeder

A mass, worldwide vaccination effort is crucial to defeating the COVID-19 pandemic — but the logistics of getting it done are incredibly complex. Two of the most complicating factors? Storage and transportation.  

Distributing vaccine doses is much more elaborate than simply putting vials in a box and loading them onto a truck. From the time a vaccine leaves the manufacturer to the time it’s administered to a patient, it needs to be kept in ideal and highly specific conditions. For example, Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine needs to be stored at a frigid -70° C.  That’s why the success of large-scale immunization efforts is dependent on a reliable cold chain: a system of safely storing and transporting vaccines at recommended temperatures.

What makes up a cold chain?

A seamless cold chain combines three equally important elements:

• Equipment: in most cases, the best storage option is a pharmaceutical-grade unit, specially designed for housing vaccines. Unlike the freezer where you keep your ice cream, these can cost upwards of $15,000. Specialized portable coolers are also important for moving vaccines from one location to another.
• Personnel: staff and volunteers tasked with handling vaccines must be thoroughly trained on safe storage and transportation practices. This is particularly important because different vaccines require different conditions.
• Processes: vaccinating facilities must have clear, detailed, and up-to-date instructions for vaccine handling — plus contingency plans in case of emergency. What if the facility loses power? What if there’s a weather event? These questions and more should have thorough answers. 

What happens if the chain breaks? 

Vaccines can only protect against disease if they’re delivered safely. Overexposure to heat, cold, or light can compromise vaccine quality. Not only does this diminish the vaccine’s effectiveness; it also leads to wasted vaccine supply and financial loss. Between spoiled vaccines, replacement costs, and administrative expenses, cold chain errors cost healthcare shippers billions of dollars a year.

How we help

For more than 30 years, Rotary members have been supporting the safe transport of polio vaccines to every corner of the globe. When it comes to COVID-19, we’re just as committed to bringing vaccines to all. Learn more about how we’re playing our part: http://on.rotary.org/covid19efforts.

Dear friends,

The Community Services and Environmental Stewardship committees invites you to a celebration of Earth Day that will take place on Saturday, April 24th from 9:00 AM till Noon around the Gateway as well as Riverwalk area across from City Hall.

We are in need of volunteers for general clean-up, brush/weed cutting along the Riverwalk, preparation of sites for planting Pollinator Garden spaces, and transplanting native day lilies in the park north of the Gateway.

Bring your friends and family ... many hands make light work. Volunteers from the Interact Club and Concordia will be joining us.

If you can make it, please bring along shovels, rakes, loggers, etc. 

Thanks,

Bruce, Connie & Jennifer

pay it forward [pey it fawr-werd]: Pay it forward is an expression for when the recipient of an act of kindness does something kind for someone else rather than simply accepting or repaying the original good deed. - Pop Culture Dictionary

Following Albert Alcarraz's presentation, individuals in our club sent $1000 and a box of gifts to Albert and his family in Lima, Peru.

The money was wired to Albert at no cost thanks to our friends at Port Washington State Bank. Albert used part of the funds to buy food baskets for needy neighbors. The remainder was set aside for family expenses.

Club members also filled a box with family gifts including games, bilingual books, clothes, and puzzles. Scott Bern covered the costly international postage. After an anxious four-week wait, the package arrived today! (See top photo)

From an earlier article:

On Friday (2/19) our Rotary speaker was Albert Alcarraz who was kind enough to share a bit of his life and beautiful family with us. He also shared the not-so-beautiful situation that currently exists in Peru. On top of a corrupt and ineffective government, citizens of Peru are experiencing a hard lock-down with extreme limits on mobility, no opportunity for work or income, and no hope of receiving a covid vaccine.

After hearing Alberto's story our club wanted to do something to help. In addition to collecting needed items and shipping them to Albert we also raised $1,000.

Here are some photos from Albert about the 10 baskets he prepared for neighbors using part of the funds we sent. The rest will be used to cover family expenses.