Waterloo Rotary Reporter (Mar 24, 2017)

Program for March 27

Fellow Rotarian Dr. John Berry will share details about the Tri County Head Start program, which for 50 years has served families by ensuring a successful foundation to education. They have new STEM initiatives and provide social and health services to families.

Give to Clean Water & Get Paul Harris Credit

“The only brown water anyone should have to drink is coffee!” ~ Marcy Pease

In Haiti one in five children under the age of 5 will die due to lack of access to clean water. A very preventable problem!

Haiti is working to address this issue by implementing a nationwide water infrastructure development project and the Rotary Foundation is being asked to help. Through a grant application to the Rotary Global Fund, at least four additional clean water wells will be installed in the Arcahaie/Cabaret region - an area where more than 86 percent of women give birth at home and 35 percent of babies die primarily due to diarrhea or fever.

We need your help! Fellow Rotarian, Annie Vander Werff is the Executive Director for the Community Health Initiative, Haiti (CHI), the organization called upon to lead the efforts in the identified service area of Arcahaie/Cabaret.

Will you help fill the gap?

Total Project Cost: $98,000
Total Match Request to Rotarians: $21,000
Left to raise from Rotarians: $11,000

Your gift to clean water:

Counts towards your Paul Harris; just earmark it for the CHI Water Project
Is tax deductible
Is matched 100 percent by our district and international so $1 quickly turns into $5!

To make a gift or for more information, please contact Annie Vander Werff at annie.vanderwerff@chihaiti.org or call 319-243-5189; Phil Nash or Lauren Finke

President elect attends training

Among the presenters- -President Elect Ian Risely from Australia and Vice President Jennifer Jones from Canada

Club President Elect Phil Nash attended the 2017 President Elect Training Seminar (PETS) for presidents elect from clubs in four districts in our area, representing all of Iowa, Southern Minnesota, and Southern Wisconsin. The training was on March 9 – 11 in Ames. The room and mileage were reimbursed by our club.

Here’s a short update to let you know that the investment was well worth it. Here are my takeaways:

1. Our International President Elect would like to have 1 tree planted for every Rotarian in the world. It is up to us to figure out the details. I will also be reporting some simple information to international, the dollars and hours we spend as a club on causes, whether in our community or abroad.

2. I have set priorities for next year. My goals are to re-engage existing membership, and to do a better job marketing the Rotary Foundation. During Lauren’s tenure we have begun to focus more on club activities and Rotary oriented service projects.

3. The networking alone was worth the trip. I got to rub elbows with:

a. Ian Riseley (Victoria, Australia) - Rotary International President Elect 2016-2017. This is me asking him what his membership pitch sounds like.

b. Jennifer Jones (Ontario, Canada) – Rotary International Vice President 2016-2017, Zone 28 & 29 Director 2015-2017

c. Bradford Howard (Oakland, CA) Zone 25/26 Director 2015-2017. Our club along with the Cedar Valley Club will be reporting to Brad and Niki Scott will be working on a new membership and cooperative club strategy

d. Niki Scott – Zone 28 Coordinator and Membership Director. Niki was awesome.

e. Here is the Cedar Falls, Cedar Valley and Waterloo Clubs posing with DG Jim Coloff and RI PE Ian Riseley.

I was surprised at the level of leadership that attended our PETS conference. I can’t imagine these folks make it to every conference.

The courses I took were OK. One thing I took away is that we have a larger than normal club, and that we are doing A LOT. You all should be commended for doing such fantastic work.

I will be starting an initiative to include the Cedar Falls and Cedar Valley Clubs to try and coordinate our efforts among all three clubs. Not sure what that will look like, but stay tuned!

All in all – this is a very eye-opening experience. I think anybody who likes Rotary and what we do should be in attendance. I got to chat with hundreds of passionate Rotarians that are doing a wide variety of service projects. There is a lot of passion out there that was contagious!

And no, I wasn’t the youngest one there.

President-elect Phillip Nash

RYLA Nominations Due April 14

Any current Sophomore or Junior in High School who is interested in attending the Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA) Conference in Grinnell from July 16-21 should contact Luke Jenson at ljenson@mrs-lawfirm.com by April 14. The Waterloo Rotary Club sponsors two students at RYLA, a conference focused on providing foundational leadership skills for teenagers, by paying for the cost of the conference. Contact Luke if you have any questions or visit www.iowaryla.org.

Waterloo Spring Clean-up Month Set for April

The goal --better first impressions for visitors

The City of Waterloo is sponsoring a city-wide Waterloo Spring Clean-up Month throughout April. Citizens are encouraged to organize teams of co-workers, club or church members, classmates, friends and family to collect litter and beautify areas of their choosing or a designated area assigned by the City.

Clean up teams should register with the city Public Works Sanitation Department. Registered teams will receive reflective vests, trash bags, and trash collection at designated locations. Clean up activities may be scheduled anytime during the month of April. Individuals seeking to participate may also register to be connected with participating teams.

Waterloo Public Works-Sanitation Department along with the Waterloo Convention and Visitors Bureau has identified high-visibility areas of the city frequented by visitors.

"What people see when they drive through Waterloo may be the first and only chance we have to make a good impression. Some of our highest traffic areas are also prone to the most litter," says Aaron Buzza, executive director of the Waterloo Convention & Visitors Bureau. "Participating in Spring Clean-Up is something everyone can do to make a positive impact and show community pride."

Organizers hope that the month-long focus will have a long-term impact by encouraging citizens to take ownership by monitoring and maintaining their neighborhoods and business districts throughout the year.

“Citizens often ask me ‘what can I do to improve Waterloo?’ Participating in City-wide Waterloo Spring Clean-up Month is a hands-on way to do something positive for Waterloo,” says Mayor Quentin Hart. “This is an opportunity for people to come together. Imagine the impact if people from every business, church, and neighborhood took to the streets and parks together. It could go far deeper than changing the physical landscape. It could improve our cultural landscape as well; the way we think, act, and talk about our city and each other.”

For more information or to register a team, please contact with the Sam Barrett, Operations Supervisor by calling 319-291-4445 or by email to samuel.barrett@waterloo-ia.org.