Rotary Club of Needham Newsletter for Tuesday October 13th, 2020
Upcoming Events in our Local Community:
- Register for our Virtual Carnival: November 7th
In these COVID days, what are the kids to do for fun? How about a Virtual Carnival???
Here’s the link for the November 7th Virtual Carnival: http://virtualcarnival.eventbrite.com
That page has all the info on the event including the schedule. Registration is free. We are hoping to get kids from all over the world to join the fun. Please feel free to share this link widely among family members you have across the USA as well as around the world. The more the merrier.
If people want to make donations, we are suggesting https://www.shelterboxusa.org/donate/. ShelterBox does amazing work helping families that have lost their homes.
- Thanksgiving Dinner
Sandy Robinson, Executive Director of Needham Community Council and our own Dan Tibma are determined that home delivery of Thanksgiving Dinner should go on despite the pandemic. They are focused on safely accomplishing this mission. Be alert for communication on how you can help.
In our Global Community:
- Bujjuko and Ssumbwe Relief Project
Sylvia Kiggundu, is fundraising to distribute food and supplies to families whose income has been disrupted by the COVID-19 lockdown in Uganda. Home-hound elderly, widows, disabled persons and single mothers in the villages of Bujjuko and Ssumbwe were identified as candidates to receive support from the project. The first-round goal of $5000 was achieved and distributed to families, providing an estimated 6 weeks of food and sanitary supplies. Fundraising and support are on-going.
If you would like to donate, go to: https://gf.me/u/ynbi9m.
This week's Speaker: District Governor Diana Nestorova
Diana offered insights into how our district's clubs are staying true to our motto of "Service over Self" despite the pandemic. She pointed out that when the pandemic ends, things aren't likely to return to exactly how they were beforehand. She encouraged us to learn how to adapt to these changes. For example: our Zoom meetings are reaching a broader group than our prior, in-person meetings. Now, people who couldn't attend a lunch meeting can attend a virtual meeting from their office. All agreed that service projects are the core that makes Rotary both involving and fun. Social Distancing and reasonable caution are making safe, service projects more difficult, but not impossible to plan.
We noted our club's involvement in planning Thanksgiving Dinner deliveries, the Virtual Carnival, the Bujjuko Relief Project and Bill's leadership within the Diversity Initiative. She suggested that we visit the District 7910 website where her October 15th "Open Doors" meeting includes seven, ambitious service projects that proceeded during lockdown. These included: launch boxes for young adults transitioning out of DCF care; making beds for needy children, erecting plexiglass shields for schools and a safe room for displaced families. She thought that we should try to keep our RYLA and Interact youth groups connected with our service projects to drive engagement and future membership.
Next Week's Speaker (October 20th): Amy Haelsen, Economic Development Manager, Town of Needham