NOVEMBER 13, 2019

Meeting Recap

Greetings fellow Rotarians! Today we welcomed Michael McGovern, Rotary International Chair of the International Polio Plus Committee. As November is Rotary Foundation month, we were very fortunate to have Mr. McGovern address our Club and discuss the impact Rotary has had on the fight to eradicate polio worldwide. Mike relayed a bit of history about polio and the efforts to fight it. Shortly after Franklin D. Roosevelt was diagnosed with polio, efforts in our country were ramped up to find a vaccine against it. From this effort, the March of Dimes was born and shortly after that, Dr. Jonas Salk successfully developed the polio vaccine. Rotary’s first involvement with the fight against polio was in the 1970s when Rotary Clubs in the Philippines used a $750,000.00 grant from the Rotary Foundation to wipe out the disease in that country. From there, Rotary Clubs worldwide collectively raised $2.5 million in an effort to convince the World Health Organization to assist Rotary International’s efforts to spearhead the war against polio. This money was used by the Rotary Foundation to establish the Polio Plus Campaign as a means of financing this endeavor. Since that time, Rotarians have donated over $2 billion to the Polio Plus Campaign, the result of which has led to the eradication of polio in all but isolated pockets in two countries worldwide. Mr. McGovern’s talk illustrated the importance of the Rotary Foundation and the amazing work it finances.

Annual Senior Luncheon

The annual senior luncheon is scheduled for Wednesday, December 4th at the Champlain Valley Expo. As always, we will be looking for volunteers that day to help serve food, put together goodie bags and clean up. Please contact Janet Cooper at jcooper@cooperfinancialvt.com if you have any questions or are able to donate items for the goodie bags.

Salvation Army Bell-Ringing Project

We are only one volunteer away from completely filling our bell-ringing shifts on December 6th and 7th! Please sign up for the remaining shift on the following link: https://rotaryclubofessex.org/event/salvation-army-bell-ringing-2019/

Server Gratuity

Over the course of the next several meetings, we will be collecting donations for a holiday gratuity to give to our server in December. If you would like to contribute to this, please give your cash donation to Jean Ashe at the front desk before each meeting. There is no set amount to donate and every little bit that we receive is appreciated.

Heavenly Pantry Food Shelf

We are looking for volunteers to help staff the Heavenly Pantry Food Shelf on the following dates; Thursday, November 21st (3:30pm); Monday, December 9th (5:15pm) and Thursday, December 19th (3:30pm). Please contact Sharon Dettenrieder at sharon.dettenrieder@gmail.com if you are able to fill any of these shifts.

Upcoming Meeting Schedule: Wednesday, November 20, 2019 – Our speakers will be Annie Constandi and Chelsea Mandigo who will discuss efforts by the Town of Essex and Village of Essex Junction to treat stormwater runoff.

For the complete list of upcoming speakers and information about the Club, please go to our website at rotaryclubofessex.org Be sure to also follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/EssexVermontRotary , on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/essexvermontrotary/ and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/essex_rotary

Yours in Rotary,

Jason Ruwet