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Dear Fellow Rotarians,
At the 1990 Rotary International Convention in Portland,
Oregon, then President-elect Paulo Costa told the gathered Rotarians,
"The hour has come for Rotary to raise its voice, to claim
its leadership, and to rouse all Rotarians to an honorable crusade
to protect our natural resources." He declared a Rotary initiative
to "Preserve Planet Earth," asking Rotarians to make environmental
issues part of their service agenda: to plant trees, to work to
keep our air and water clean, and to protect the planet for future
generations.
President Costa asked that one tree be planted for
each of the 1.1 million members that Rotary had at the time. We
Rotarians, as is our wont, did better, planting nearly 35 million
trees by the end of the Rotary year. Many of those trees are likely
still flourishing today, absorbing carbon from the environment,
releasing oxygen, cooling the air, improving soil quality, providing
habitat and food for birds, animals, and insects, and yielding a
host of other benefits. Unfortunately, while those trees have kept
on doing good for the environment, Rotary as a whole has not carried
its environmental commitment forward.
That is why, at the start of this year, I followed
Paulo Costa's example and asked Rotary to plant at least one tree
for every Rotary member. My goal was to achieve a good beyond the
considerable benefits that those 1.2 million (or more!) trees would
themselves bring. It is my hope that by planting trees, Rotarians
will renew their interest in, and attention to, an issue that we
must put back on the Rotary agenda: the state of our planet.
Environmental issues are deeply entwined in every
one of our areas of focus and cannot be dismissed as not Rotary's
concern. Pollution is affecting health across the globe: More than
80 percent of people in urban areas breathe unsafe air, a number
that rises to 98 percent in low- and middle-income countries. If
current trends continue, by 2050 the oceans are expected to contain
more plastics by weight than fish. And rising temperatures are well-documented:
Global annual average temperatures increased by about 2 degrees
F (1.1 degrees C) from 1880 through 2015. That this change was caused
by humans is not a subject of scientific debate, nor is the likelihood
of vast economic and human disruption if the trend continues unchecked.
The need for action is greater than ever – and so is our ability
to have a real impact.
As past UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon put it, "There
can be no Plan B, because there is no Planet B." Our planet
belongs to all of us, and to our children, and to their children.
It is for all of us to protect, and for all of us in Rotary to make
a difference.
Ian H.S. Riseley
President 2017-18
Trustee Chair's Message - April
2018
Paul A. Netzel, Trustee Chair 2017-18
The new grant model comes up frequently during my
visits with Rotarians throughout the world. It is always disappointing
to learn that a club or district lacks interest in participating
in global grants.
What are the reasons I hear most often? Global grants
are too complicated. They take too much work, require too much money.
Or the available pool of DDFs (District Designated Funds) may not
be large enough to meet the demand.
Yet the numbers tell a story that can be perceived
as positive. During 2016-17 – The Rotary Foundation's centennial
year – 1,260 global grants were awarded, an 8 percent increase
over the previous year. And the figures for the first half of this
Rotary year are running ahead of last year.
Your ongoing feedback and suggestions have helped
make a difference. Numerous upgrades have been made to the global
grant online application process. The time it takes to process global
grants has been significantly reduced. In 2016-17, the average was
129 business days from the time a grant application was submitted
to the first payment. The average was 107 business days for 2017-18
as of 1 February.
If your club has not participated in a global grant,
I urge you to take another look at the resources now available.
Start by looking at the newly redesigned Rotary Grant Center at
grants.rotary.org. Explore the comprehensive resources linked in
the right-hand column.
Our Foundation's outstanding grants staff wants to help, drawing
on its expertise and TRF's collective experience. Establish a relationship
with the staff contact for your project district. The Rotary Support
Center can provide contact information within one business day (rotarysupportcenter@rotary.org).
The Rotary Foundation's Cadre of Technical Advisers
is a group of volunteer Rotarians who also provide technical expertise
and advice to Rotarians planning and carrying out Rotary projects.
If you would like to receive guidance on project planning early
in the process, contact cadre@rotary.org.
A critical role of the Trustees is to listen. Rotary
members have spoken. Together we are a powerful force of volunteers
who identify needs and respond with generosity, creativity, and
passion. Rotary grants provide us with a unique opportunity to bring
ideas to reality and to make a lasting impact, whether locally or
globally.
Paul A. Netzel
Trustee Chair 2017-18
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