.png)
-
Ride to End Polio
Nov 23, 2019
-
Peacebuilders Network Monthly e-Meeting
Dec 03, 2019
5:00 PM – 6:00 PM -
Holiday Dinner Dance
Big E Steakhouse & SaloonDec 07, 2019 6:00 PM
-
Treasures 4 Teachers
Dec 21, 2019
9:45 AM – 12:20 PM -
RYLA Pinerock Adult Volunteer Orientation
Jan 04, 2020
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
.jpg "District 5495 Governor David Simmer")
"In this month's District Governor Video, DG David speaks about the importance of intentionality."
November is Rotary Foundation month, and that makes it a great time to have The Rotary Foundation (TRF) prominently featured at every club meeting. Here are some things you can do at your club meeting: show a short video, showcase an international project from a club in our District, highlight something from the Rotarian magazine, provide TRF handouts, explain the recognition categories, remind members that TRF is one of the best charities in the world, have a speaker from the District, recognize those in the club who have achieved a specific giving level. Of course, many of these can and should be done all year long. Need some help? Our District Rotary Foundation Committee is a good resource for all the support your club needs. Please contact us!
Imagine getting all of your most pressing Rotary Foundation questions answered in just 180 minutes of your time. It’s possible if you attend the Rotary Foundation Education event on Nov 16th at Huntington University in Peoria, 9am – noon. All Club Presidents and Club Rotary Foundation Chairs are highly encouraged to attend but all Rotarians are welcome. Cost is free and no registration is required! November is Rotary Foundation month so come and find out how your club can leverage the Rotary Foundation to do great things in our communities and the world. Contact Charlie Tegarden (ctegarden@outlook.com) for more information or if you have any questions
.png)
.jpg "DGE Elizabeth Mahoney")
Our District's Rotary Foundation Committee Chair position will be open this coming July 2020.Every three years, this important position becomes available for a Rotarian to lead our District in all matters related to The Rotary Foundation.
The District Rotary Foundation Committee Chair position:
* Oversees all of our District and Global Grants.
* Meets and Speaks to Rotarians all around Arizona and beyond.
* Helps to further the mission of eradicating Polio.
* Fundraises and collaborates for amazing projects and causes
* Participates in the Annual Mexico/USA Friendship Conference and Global Grants Exchange
* Much much more!
If you have experience with The Rotary Foundation and are passionate to lead this committee, please contact Elizabeth Mahoney (602) 488-8800 by November 15th, 2019. Interviews will take place late November.
Thanks!
Sal.jpg)
udos Amigos de D5495!
udos Amigos de D5495!Registration is now open for the Mexico USA Friendship Conference and Global Grants Exchange.
The MX USA Friendship Conference will be held this year at the Grand Canyon November 7 - 11. The Squire Inn at Tusayan will be our venue. They have given us a fantastic room rate, so $250 per person in double occupancy or $390 in single includes your room for Thursday thru Saturday nights, meals and registration, plus we will be spending time at the South rim, as well as looking at wonderful global grant projects. And Saturday night we’ll have a down home western BBQ dinner at Big E Steakhouse and Saloon.
Does your club have a major project you want to present at the conference to find international partners and get global grant funding?
Or maybe your club has not participated in a global grant but you’d like to make a dollar commitment to do so.
This conference is the perfect opportunity. Clubs bring funding in all amounts, from a few hundred to several thousand dollars. Bring your pledges and get involved in Rotary Foundation Global Grants. Our grants team will help you navigate the process and you and your members will have a fun-filled weekend, making new friends and learning about doing good in the world by leveraging the Rotary Foundation.
Register at:
.png)
Thunderbird School of Global Management offering Rotarians a Rotary Partnership Scholarship for this inaugural year of its Washington, DC-based programThunderbird School of Global Management is expanding to Washington, DC, and offering a new degree there, the Executive Master of Arts in Global Affairs & Management degree. Because Thunderbird and Rotary are working on plans for collaborative partnering, Thunderbird is pleased to offer a substantial Rotary Partnership Scholarship for Rotarians who enroll in this new program, for this inaugural year only. The program begins in January 2020. Application deadline is November 29, 2019.
Th
e effort to eradicate polio from the planet and deliver Rotary’s promise to the children continues to be a challenge. The weekly polio eradication report of October 23rd, indicated that there are thus far in 2019 94 cases of polio worldwide caused by the wild poliovirus. Afghanistan has seen 18 cases compared to 21 in all of 2018. Pakistan has stumbled significantly, recording 76 cases compared to 12 in all of 2018. Despite having gone three (3) years without a case of polio, Nigeria is still considered an endemic country along with Afghanistan and Pakistan. Nigeria has never stopped circulation of the indigenous wild poliovirus and is currently infected by circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2.
e effort to eradicate polio from the planet and deliver Rotary’s promise to the children continues to be a challenge. The weekly polio eradication report of October 23rd, indicated that there are thus far in 2019 94 cases of polio worldwide caused by the wild poliovirus. Afghanistan has seen 18 cases compared to 21 in all of 2018. Pakistan has stumbled significantly, recording 76 cases compared to 12 in all of 2018. Despite having gone three (3) years without a case of polio, Nigeria is still considered an endemic country along with Afghanistan and Pakistan. Nigeria has never stopped circulation of the indigenous wild poliovirus and is currently infected by circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2.This week there were 102 cases of circulating vaccine derived poliovirus reported thus far in 2019. Sixteen of these cases were in endemic countries and 86 in non endemic countries. The year 2018 saw a total of 104 cVDPV2 cases.
Along with the three endemic countries mentioned above, there are 14 outbreak countries that have experienced cases of cVDPV2 case and 13 key at risk countries. Our job is not done and the need for vigilance is high.
There is however some good news this month.
Wild poliovirus type 3 (WPV3) has been declared as globally eradicated.
.png)
Are you familiar with Vaccine-Derived Poliovirus? Continue reading for more information!
VACCINE-DERIVED POLIOVIRUSES
Vaccine-derived polioviruses (VDPVs) are rare strains of poliovirus that have genetically mutated from the strain contained in the oral polio vaccine. The oral polio vaccine contains a live, attenuated(weakened) vaccine-virus. When a child is vaccinated,the weakened vaccine-virus replicates in the intestine and enters into the bloodstream, triggering a protective immune response in the child. Like wild poliovirus, the child excretes the vaccine-virus for a period of six to eight weeks. Importantly, as it is excreted, some of the vaccine-virus may no longer be the same as the original vaccine-virus as it has genetically altered during replication. This is called a VDPV.
.jpg)
.png)
November 23rd Saturday 2019District 5495 has a personal invitation to attend RTEP from both Natasha Wrae (the chair) and District Governor Elect Diane Ventura-Goodyear.
More Information HERE
The race has various distances (routes) you can sign up for. Registration is opened now.
We have various Rotary booths throughout the race and can always use assistance.
The newly designed jerseys should be available this week for ordering Oct. 1st. they are stunning. I personally love the commemorative one the best..
Rotary will be a presenting sponsor for the first time this year. Bill and Melinda Gates will be spotlighted this year and will receive an award from the El Tour de Tucson committee for their continued generosity.
This race has raised over $53M during the past 10 years for the eradication of Polio.
We would love to see as many Rotarians as possible this year in Tucson.
If you need any further information please contact myself or Natasha know.
Home hosting can be available if the request is made early.
Th
e members of the Board of Directors of The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona are hopeful that during the "season of giving" this year Rotarians will generously support vocational education grants by taking advantage of the Arizona tax credit donation opportunity available to TRVFA donors.
e members of the Board of Directors of The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona are hopeful that during the "season of giving" this year Rotarians will generously support vocational education grants by taking advantage of the Arizona tax credit donation opportunity available to TRVFA donors.The demand for grants exceeded TRVFA capacity in the 2018-19 fiscal year, and the 2019-20 fiscal year demand started out so robust, many applicants had to be turned away for programs starting in the fall, but were invited to apply for programs starting after January 1, 2020. Fifteen applicants are already in line for January - all at the $2,000 level for a total of $30,000. New application activity is steady now that TRVFA is "back in business." Capacity to meet the demand for grants is in the hands of potential donors. When you can help someone make a forever positive change in their lives without it costing anything (because of the tax credit) - it's a "no brainer" - just do it!
The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona needs your support now. Please click on trvfa.org to make your Arizona Tax Credit donation to TRVFA. While you’re on the website, take a few minutes to view the video from District 5495 Conference to see and hear from some TRVFA alumni. You’ll see what a difference a donation makes in the lives of grant recipients.
Fellow Arizona Rotarians – Peace Starts With You on January 17-18, 2020 in Ontario, California
Just as many of you have been talking with your clubs this past month about becoming a Peacebuilder Club and joining the D5495 Peacebuilder Network, another exciting opportunity to dive deeper into your family of Rotary’s Focus on Peace and Conflict Prevention is preparing to take place in our backyard – so to speak. Find information here: (https://peaceconference2020.org/)
Rotary World Peace Conference 2020 is happening at the Ontario Convention Center in Ontario, CA on January 17th& 18th. It is a great opportunity to connect with leaders from all continents, cultures, and occupations; to Exchange ideas and share solutions that work; and to Take Action and help create lasting change in both your community and communities around the world.
As described on the event website - “Together with our partners, Rotarians promote peace, prevent and cure disease, provide clean water and sanitation, improve the health of mothers and children, support basic education and literacy, and provide economic and community development.
The World Peace Conference 2020 will give each of us, Rotarians and non-Rotarians from all sectors of society, an opportunity to come together, learn from experts, become inspired and leave with immediate action plans to implement within our communities. Together, we can make the changes needed to create world peace!”
Our district, along with at least half a dozen others in California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia, are proud sponsors of this conference and look forward to helping you learn more and contribute to Peace Building in – Education and Literacy; Our personal lives, homes, workplaces and communities; the International stage; Gender Empowerment; Human and Civil Rights; Diplomacy; Religion/Spirituality; Economic Development and overall Sustainability.
Don’t miss this opportunity to enrich your commitment to Peace and to our shared Vision - "Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change — across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves."RI Vision Statement 2019
Special Greetings from your District 5495 Youth Services!!!!
We are SO excited to be talking to you about our district 5495 Youth Services…THE BEST YOU WILL FIND ANYWHERE!!! It’s time to let you know what is happening within your district so that you can brag about it AND help with an area of passion and/or support financially. Don’t hesitate to reach out to any of us if you want to get involved in any way. We are YOUR pipelines to tons of GREAT kids!!!!
So, what are our district’s Youth Services?
Interact Club: Incredibly, we have a record 88 high school involved Interact Clubs and 17 middle school or junior high student involved clubs (some are combinations) for a total of around 2750 students who receive incredible leadership training, do tons of community service as they learn to be great Rotarians, and support their International service project Crutches to Africa. We are very excited to announce that, starting this next year, for the first time the program will send a group of Interators to central Mexico!
Check out the web site! https://www.rotaryazinteract.org/ It’s very exciting! Help by volunteering to be a Rotarian co-advisor for your club’s Interact Club or get a club started at your local middle school, junior or senior high school.
You may contact Chair Art Harrington at 928-245-0411 or arthts@msn.com
Please continue reading!!
Crutches 4 Africa - Ap)
plications to open Nov. 1
plications to open Nov. 1 Applications for positions as Interact Ambassadors and Team Advisors are expected to be available by Nov. 1, or shortly thereafter, on our Interact District 5495’s website, https://www.rotaryazinteract.org, according to District Interact Chair Art Harrington.
For the past three years our district has been selecting from our top Interactors in the state a team of Interact Ambassadors, accompanied by adult advisors, that have been sent to Kenya for two weeks during the summer. From the funds raised each year for the program, the airfare for the student Ambassadors has been paid, along with the travel insurance for the team. The adult advisors have paid their own way each year.
.jpeg "Interact DG Madelynn Mac Donald")
October 19th was one of the most important days for all of the Interactors in Arizona: Fall Leadership Conference. This is where all the officers or potential leaders of Interact clubs, along with the club advisors, come together for a conference that is full of learning and bonding. Their Assistant Governors teach them how to grow as a successful leader and to improve their clubs. We were hosted by the Wickenburg Interact and Rotary Clubs on the beautiful campus of Wickenburg High School, including using the Del E. Web Center for the Performing Arts, which is also located on that campus. We had two outstanding guest speakers: DG David Simmer and Rotarian Life Coach Sarah Kay Harrison. Their stories truly motivated the audience and demonstrated the power of Rotary. DG David reminded the audience that many people do not know the great work of Rotary and Interact, and he encouraged us to showcase it. Sarah Kay taught the leaders how to be the most successful person they have the potential to be. Both speakers were inspiring and they made the conference even better.
I would like to take this opportunity to showcase the amazing work of the Interact Assistant Governors. They worked extremely hard to make this conference go perfectly. It was a strenuous process, involving long meetings that happened every week. The AGs were able to utilize four break-out sessions to do their best to assure the officers at the conference were able to take away valuable information and to have the best possible experience.
There has been some exciting news in the Interact world. We will be chartering the very first Native American Interact Club in Arizona at the Piñon High School on the Navajo Reservation. This would not be able to happen without the help of Dr. Robert LaBarge, who will serve as the Faculty Advisor, PDG Don LaBarge, who will serve as the Rotarian Advisor, and sponsorship by the Mesa West Rotary Club.
I hope everyone will have a wonderful month and Thanksgiving! If you have questions about Interact in our district, feel free to contact me (macdonald.madelynn03@gmail.com)!
Interact Club Spotlight Bradshaw Mountain
Over the years, there have been many different Interact Clubs all over the state of Arizona that have stood out. Bradshaw Mountain High School has been a club that has participated in many unique service projects and produced some of the best student leaders. One service event the school has been apart of for the past few years is, running the “Kids Zone” at the Prescott Valley Balloon Fest. The festival is ran by a Prescott Rotary Club and is a fun night of live music, food and hot air balloons. The kid’s zone is an area where kids can listen to music, get their faces painted and participate in a glow party. Unfortunately, this year's fest was the last hurrah for the Prescott Valley Rotary Club. Now, Bradshaw Mountain High School’s Interact club that has about 75-100 members is in the process of being adopted by the Prescott Frontier Rotary Club. Although sometimes it can be hard t
o adjust under a new sponsor, I have no doubt this Interact club will continue to thrive and make an impact over the years. Not only has this Interact club been able to play a part in service projects, they have also generated wonderful student leaders. One of these leaders is, Jazael Carrasco who was an Assistant Governor two years ago. He was an amazing asset to the club and was an advisor to Kenya on the trip our current District Governor, Madelyn MacDonald attended. Jazael has gone onto now being an active member of the Rotaract club at the University of Arizona. Clubs like Bradshaw Mountain are a prominent example of what it means to be apart of Rotary and Interact and how working with peers can really lead to making a difference.
Dictionaries for 3rd Grade Students on Navajo NationThe Dictionary Project has been one of Sun Lakes Rotary Club’s most successful and rewarding projects that both students, teachers, and Rotarians look forward to each year. The project was started in 2003 with this year marking the Club’s 16th year of distributing dictionaries to all 3rd graders in the Chandler Unified School District. Over 50,000 dictionaries have been distributed since the project began. This year will be the second year the Club has given dictionaries to the St. Bonaventure Mission and K-8 School located on the Navajo Nation in Thoreau, New Mexico.
The St. Bonaventure school in New Mexico is over 300 miles away from Sun Lakes. And as you might know, it is not part of the Chandler Unified School District. But the need for books for these children became evident as a result of a Sun Lakes Rotary project being undertaken in the Navajo territory. And the Club felt the need to help.
Founder Donors Being Sought
Visionary Rotary clubs, club foundations and individual Rotarians are being sought who are willing to make a one-time contribution to help underwrite a badly-needed new Rotary youth services program in our district. Those individuals, clubs or club foundations who are willing to donate $2,500 or more to establish this program will have their names inscribed on a permanent Founders Plaque, which will be displayed at Camp Wamatochick in Prescott, where we will be holding our first-ever JR RYLA camp on June 17-20, 2020 for youth in grades 6-8. We look forward to a long and happy relationship with this camp, as the home for this exciting new leadership development adventure for middle school and junior high youth.
Consider the fact that 17 of our current 101 Interact clubs in our district have middle school and junior high students in them. Yet, we have had nothing for these youth beyond their clubs, except for their ability to participate in our two annual Interact conferences. They are too young to be able to go as Rotary Youth Exchange “outbounds,” and they are also too young to be able to attend either of our high school age RYLA weekends at Pinerock or Ponderosa. They are unable to serve on the Interact District Council or to apply to become Interact Ambassadors to Kenya. It is understandable that they have felt “left out” of any of our “extra-curricular” programs available to high school Interact members.
SAVE THE DATE - March 231, 2020. That evening will see Rotarians gather for dinner and an evening of entertainment. All proceeds will benefit The Rotary Foundation. Watch for further details.
Tickets are available now. For best seating order your tickets NOW. Click HERE.
RYLA 5495 – Teaching Our Young Leaders
SERVICE ABOVE SELF
It is that time of year again and the District 5495 RYLA Programs are moving forward, with RYLA Pinerock scheduled Jan 17-20, and RYLA Ponderosa scheduled to be April 2-5. One of the key components of RYLA 5495 is providing high school students the opportunity to LEARN the concept of
SERVICE ABOVE SELF by participating in a hands-on service project. This will be the 7thyear that RYLA 5495 will be partnering with the Manzanita Outreach Program in Cottonwood to pack meals. Last year the RYLA program packed 75,000 meals, and the year before just a tad under that, etc. These are all meals that all remain and are distributed to communities in Arizona. For many of the students who attend RYLA, this is the first opportunity they have had to experience the beauty of SERVICE ABOVE SELF. We are teaching our young leaders to give back!! In order to make this program grow over the past 7 years, RYLA has relied on the generous tax donationsof so many District members. We appreciate your consideration in helping provide this ongoing opportunity to the 200 + students who attend your RYLA 5495 District Programs. Below is the link set
up directly to the Manzanita Outreach Program on behalf of RYLA Pinerock and RYLA Ponderosa for your consideration.
Thank you.
Tammy Sabinsky, RYLA Pinerock Chair
Sherry Mischel, RYLA Ponderosa Chair
The Rotary Club of Scottsdale welcomed David Ramirez, Public Information Officer at the City of Phoenix Aviation Department, as its keynote speaker at a luncheon meeting held at McCormick Ranch Golf Club. During the program's introduction, Christopher West noted that David has held his position as PIO since 2009, has held various other City of Phoenix positions, and has been an Arizona Republic staff reporter. David stated that Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, America's Friendliest Airport®, has an annual economic impact of more than $38 billion. Every day approximately 1,200 aircraft and more than 120,000 passengers arrive and depart at Sky Harbor. In 2018, 45 million people traveled through the Airport. In 1965, it served 1.6 million passengers. David talked about the changes within the Airport's 3 terminals, 3 runways, 18 airlines serving the airport, and supporting airports (Deer Valley, Phoenix Goodyear..). Terminal 3 was built in 1979 and is being modernized in 3 phases with the second phase being just completed and named John S McCain III Terminal 3.
VALLEY METRO LIGHT RAIL UPDATE 
Julie Cruz and Michael Book
Susan Nicholson introduced two community Outreach Coordinators from Valley Metro—Julie Cruz and Michael Book
Julie and Michael spoke about Light Rail, now celebrating its tenth anniversary! As members know, in August, voters defeated Prop 105 which would have ended all future rail expansion projects in Phoenix, but Valley Metro can now continue to work to reach its goals including bringing people together through a seam-less transportation system and providing riders with safe, comfortable and reliable travel.
Some basic facts: In 2017 Light Rail had 16.5 million riders compared to 2.8 million in 2007. Light Rail results in 15-minute savings of travel time during rush hour and 35,000+ jobs have been created within one-half mile of light rail since 2008.
Michael spoke about Phase II of the Northwest Extension that by 2023 will extend light rail west on Dunlap from 19th Avenue, running north on the east side of 25th Avenue (right by Rusty’s Avenue 25) to Mountain View and across I-17 on two new bridges and ending near Metrocenter Mall. The Metrocenter Station will be the first elevated station in the Light Rail System. A four-story park-and-ride garage will be next to the center.
Thanks to our speakers for a most informative update on Light Rail happenings in our area.
When the Rotary Club of Scottsdale visited the Scottsdale water treatment plant last spring, members heard that their recycled water was soon to be acceptable as potable water. It is now official. Drinks made from Scottsdale's recycled water are now being produced. They will be introduced at the Scottsdale's Canal Convergence (https://canalconvergence.com/) on November 7th and 8th at Scottsdale’s waterfront between Fashion Square Mall and Old Town Scottsdale.Scottsdale Water has became Arizona's first, and one of only three places in the USA, where the waste water processing facility is permitted to treat recycled water for potable water uses. Potable means: drinking water.