When: We meet Friday mornings from 7:00 AM to 8:00 AM.
Where: Our meeting this Friday (3/11) will be at the Mequon Public Market, 6300 W Mequon Rd, Mequon, WI 53092.
Program: This week's program will feature our own Mike Meinolf along with Steven Bloom. Mike and Steven will talk about the Leukemia Foundation.
The greeter will provide either the thought, a Rotary minute, share a family moment or a cultural tradition ... anything they would like to start off the day positive.
Upcoming "It's your Rotary moment" assignees:
Dean Johnson (3/11)
Brian Kendzor (3/18)
Mike Kim (3/25)
Dick Kinney (4/1)
Note: If you are unable to act as "It's your Rotary moment" assignee when scheduled please arrange for your replacement.
In response to the deepening humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, The Rotary Foundation has created an official channel for Rotary members around the world to contribute funds to support the relief efforts underway by Rotary districts and has designated its Disaster Response Fund as the main avenue for contributions.
To this end, The Rotary Foundation has approved:
Now through 30 June 2022, designated Rotary districts that border Ukraine and the Rotary district in Ukraine may apply for grants of up to $50,000 each from the Disaster Response Fund. These expedited disaster response grants can be used to provide relief to refugees or other victims of the crisis including items such as water, food, shelter, medicine and clothing.
During this same period, other impacted Rotary districts that wish to offer support to refugees or other victims of the crisis in their district can apply for $25,000 grants from the Disaster Response Fund.
Now through 30 April 2022, Rotary districts can transfer unallocated District Designated Funds (DDF) to support the Disaster Response Fund, directly supporting these Ukraine-specific humanitarian grants.
Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund in support of Ukraine can be made here. All funds need to be received into the Disaster Response Fund by 30 April 2022 in order to qualify for use in support of the Ukrainian relief efforts.
Although the Disaster Response Fund will be the main avenue for Rotary Foundation support, Rotary and Rotaract clubs are also encouraged to create their own responses to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.
In addition to support provided through the Disaster Response Fund, the Foundation is coordinating with partners and regional leaders, exploring effective solutions to the increased humanitarian needs.
We are in contact with the United Nations High Commission on Refugees – USA to prepare for and respond to the needs of those being displaced in Ukraine and to neighboring countries.
ShelterBox, our project partner for disaster response, is in communication with Rotary members in Eastern Europe to explore how it may offer support with temporary transitional housing and other essential supplies.
The Rotary Action Group for Refugees, Forced Displacement, and Migration is also mobilizing its resources to assist in this crisis.
A million people have fled Ukraine and are in dire need of emergency aid. The United Nations estimates that number could grow to as many as 5 million people displaced. Rotary clubs in Europe and around the world have stepped up their relief work, some working on the ground to help displaced families.
We will continue to monitor the situation in Ukraine and neighboring countries. Visit My Rotary and follow Rotary on social media to stay updated on how clubs can get involved and what actions Rotary members have taken and the impact it has had for people in the region.
For all other questions and to obtain more information, please contact the Rotary Support Center at rotarysupportcenter@rotary.org.
Learn practical tips to strengthen your resilience, and how to instill resilience in others
by Louis Greenstein
Why do some people spring back from hardship while others struggle? Experts agree that resilience is a function of several elements, including genetics, trauma, and personal development, not necessarily in that order. Each of us is genetically hardwired to recover after a failure — some more quickly than others. And, to an extent, our resilience is informed by our experiences. A young person who is abused, neglected, or abandoned is less likely to develop the resilience of one who was nurtured and supported. But most important, whatever degree of resilience we possess, we can always work to increase it. Resilience gets projects accomplished and polio eradicated. It beats the odds, turning losses into wins. Which leads to the question: What, exactly, is resilience?
According to George Everly Jr., professor of psychology and public health at Johns Hopkins University and co-author of Stronger: Develop the Resilience You Need to Succeed, resilience is a matter of both attitude and actions. Tenacity is an action. “People won’t be tenacious if they assume they are going to fail,” he says. “A resilient attitude is optimistic; it’s the belief in a self-fulfilling prophecy.” If you expect to be resilient, you will become resilient. “But the attitude is impotent without subsequent action,” Everly adds. “This ain’t rocket science. We tend to couch it in psychobabble and the ethereal, and it is not.”
Rev. Susan B Vergeront is a retired pastor, and state co-director of Braver Angels Wisconsin. She received her BS degree in Political Science from UW Madison in 1967 and her Masters of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 1985.
Susan worked as a researcher for the Legislative Council after graduation from UW. She went on to work in Public Relations before running for the Wis. State Assembly in 1984. She served five terms, leaving politics for ministry. She served Presbyterian Churches in Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa. She says, “we can pass all the laws and rule, but if peoples hearts are not right to follow them, then we have chaos. Susan belongs to the Rotary Club of Waunakee and is a former member of the Cedarburg Grafton Sunrise Rotary Club.
Cameron Swallow is the Blue co-coordinator for Braver Angels in the state of Wisconsin. She has been moderating BA workshops since 2018 and is currently working with the Music and Arts committee for the national organization. She is from Tennessee originally and moved to Kenosha, WI, in 2017 when her husband became president of Carthage College. She teaches middle schoolers in an after-school program, serves on several local volunteer boards, and plays with the bluegrass band, Flat Creek Highway.
She is not a Rotarian, but she was the faculty sponsor of the Interact Club at Grundy Co High School in Tennessee.
