Eugene Rotary Club President's Message
2/1/2010 The Haiti Earthquake Helps Remind Us that Rotary is International
My Fellow Rotarians,
The horrible January 12 earthquake in Haiti is a human disaster nearly without parallel in modern times. The suffering of the Haitian people is unimaginable, and their needs both short-term and over the long haul are staggering.
This tragedy has provided us with the opportunity to escape our sometimes and somewhat parochial concerns and to focus on a tragedy that defies comprehension, as well as the opportunity to do what we can as a united Club to help those who need it most in another part of the world.
Our Eugene Rotary Club can be proud of itself for its immediate and thoughtful response to this crisis. We should be especially grateful to Rotarian Joachim Schulz who is leading the Disaster Relief Committee established at the Club’s January 19 meeting, and to Past President Scott Palmer who formulated the motion that established that subcommittee of the World Service Committee.
The Club voted unanimously to approve Scott’s motion, which gave the Rotary Disaster Relief Committee two assignments:
1) Make a recommendation to the Club regarding our response to the disaster in Haiti.
2) Develop a process for our Club’s response to future disasters.
The committee focused on the first assignment, gathered information, and had a lively and spirited exchange of e-mails. After further discussion, the committee approved unanimously its recommendation, which the Club accepted in a unanimous vote, on Tuesday, January 26.
The Club has committed itself to raise at least $10,000 for disaster relief in Haiti. We hope that Club members will find it within themselves to contribute $100 each. If every club member on average does that, we would raise close to $30,000!
Now, many of you have already given to the Haiti relief efforts at church or otherwise, for which we are grateful, but we urge all to give as much as possible to our own Eugene Rotary Club effort.
Here are the guiding principles the Club adopted in selecting the projects/organizations we are supporting with our donations. These projects or organizations:
1) will meet the needs “on the ground,”
2) will leverage club contributions with other relief efforts,
3) are already familiar to us (as Club or through Club members),
4) are groups who already have an established local presence, and
5) will guarantee that donations reach the intended recipients with maximum efficiency.
Joachim’s committee had compiled a list of six organizations, from which the Club selected three:
1) Holt International, to benefit its Haiti orphanage, will receive 50% of the funds we raise,
2) The Shelterbox Project will receive 25% of funds, and
3) Northwest Medical Teams will receive 25% of funds.
Please make your checks out to “Eugene Rotary Charitable Trust,” designate the funds to “Haiti Relief,” and give or mail them to Mary Holdsworth. These contributions will be eligible as charitable tax deductions on your 2009 tax return. (Unfortunately, they won’t count toward your Paul Harris Fellowship/Rotary Foundation contribution.)
If you would like your donation to go to one of our recipient projects exclusively, please mark it on the check and we will honor your wish. Unfortunately our web page will not be able to process donations. So, don’t wait for a credit card link to appear on our site – write your checks and get them to Mary.
While Rotary International has its own Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund (Donor Advised Fund), see http://www.rotary.org/RIdocuments/en_pdf/haiti_earthquake_relief_daf_en.pdf, it is especially gratifying that our Club has committed itself to a more personalized response to this overwhelming tragedy. And, while we are aware that our own World Community Service Committee quietly funds projects far from our comfortable Eugene, we should take this opportunity to renew our commitment to service above self world-wide through Rotary International, and its and our partners.
Mike Fox
President 2009-2010