Rotary Log: March 27, 2014 (Rotary Foundation)

Today is a first in a new series—Great Moments and Tales from around the Rotarian Table.  Each week, we gather to share lunch and entertaining stories with our tablemates.  Unfortunately, due to the size of our club, we cannot share our stories with everyone.  This series will capture a selection of those memorable moments of Rotarian culture.  Our inaugural episode begins with Ted Alex and his Boy Scout Alpha and Omega award, the highest religious reward given for good deeds tied to religious based activities.  Altar boy and all around good guy, Ted earned the coveted cross through his many good deeds tied to the Orthodox Church, a medal prerequisite, and proudly shared it with us today.  Our table guest, and Eagle Scout in the making, Hayden Diemer, viewed it with awe and reverence. 

Our next entry is called “Dan and the Donut.”  Dan Hoefle, a donut connoisseur of sorts, was “testing” a newly baked confectionary delight at his desk when his administrative assistant warned him his client had arrived early.  Counselor to prince and pauper alike, and ever the proper gent, Dan hurriedly ditched the donut in his top side drawer and composed himself for the meeting.  Enthralled by the meeting’s events, Dan forgot about his toroidal treat.  Leave it to his trustworthy administrative assistant to discover the forgotten treasure, hermitically sealed to Dan’s also forgotten notepad after spending many, many days alone in that dark, humid, unforgiving chamber of a desk drawer.  And that is how Dan discovered a natural substitute for crazy glue.

Our last entry is brought to us by James Peterson (recipient of his high school class’ “Most Friendly” award to his chagrin) and entitled, “The Tale of the Abandoned Boat.”  During a stormy mid-summer’s day, two intrepid diving enthusiasts launched their boat into the turbulent waters—certainly this would be a day for which diving memories would be made.  Thinking they would weather the storm in a Newcastle cove, the two adventurers dropped anchor near the rocky shore.  The cove, however, did not provide the promise of shelter that coves so often do.  Shaken violently about by the surge and waves, and taking on water faster than they could bale, the divers thought better of their lot and abandoned ship and made a beeline to the shore.  In their escape, they watched solemnly as Mother Nature laid waste their plans and capsized their boat.  Rather than mourn their loss, the divers simply walked away and faded into the mist, pondering future shore dives to their sunken boat.

Moving on to our meeting’s main events, guests were introduced and Ted Alex informed us about an upcoming Rotary Hands-on event to be orchestrated by Hayden.  Four dugouts will be constructed for the two fields used by the Girls’ Softball League Saturday, April 19.

President Dave informed us about his two favorite parts of the job: 1) recognizing new Rotarians, and 2) handing out money for worthy causes.  And at today’s meeting, he was able to do both.  First up was new member Monica Shepard introduced by Lynn McLaren.  This could have been our fourth story, the Tale of the Drooping Microphone, but we will leave that for another log.  Monica works as a loan officer at the Federal Savings Bank in Portsmouth.  She lives in Barrington and has two boys, a daughter and 2 granddaughters.  Monica was born in Germany and has worked for the American Red Cross in Germany as a liaison officer to translate German and English in a hospital there.  She has donated time to the Big Brother/Big Sister program, been a board member of Habitat for Humanity, and a United Way volunteer among many other charitable organizations.  Welcome Monica! 

Up next was a presentation of a check for $5,301.00 to guest Hayden Diemer for the dugout project.  The funds will cover all the materials needed to build the dugouts.  This should be a fun project for all interested.

President Dave next called Neil Ouellett to the podium for another round of fines.  True to form, Neil fined John Lyons $1 just because.  Dr. Peter Beck also made a rare appearance and was rewarded with a $1 fine.  Neil next informed us March Madness began in 1939 and promptly fined anyone that has watched at least one game $1.  Anyone still alive in a bracket was fined $2.  Next, in 1958, Khrushchev was made the Soviet Premier—not sure what that had to do with the price of bread, but a fine nevertheless was given for all who were alive to know it.  Neil next travelled way back in time to the year 1513 when Ponce De Leon discovered Florida.  Anyone touching down in Florida this winter was fined $2.  Lastly, Marc Greer was fined $2 for “embracing winter.”

But wait, Neil was not done.  In 1998 Viagra was approved by the FDA, but being too personal, Neil reconsidered his fine.  Bill Hurley was identified in an ad.  To the dismay of his fellow Rotarians, someone else was required to pay a $5 fine—a fine fine to end them all—at least for today.

President Dave made two more announcements including a Board meeting Wednesday, April 2, and a reminder about the District Assembly on April 12.  Ben Wheeler announced the impending arrival of his next child via C-section next week and celebrated early with $10 in happy bucks.

Our speaker du jour was none other than our very own Bob Herold, who graciously stepped in as speaker when the planned speaker canceled.  That is two in a row.  Let’s just hope this is a coincidence and not a pattern--only time will tell.  Bob provided a very informative explanation of the Rotary Foundation and how it works.

As the Foundation chair, Bob identified the rest of the committee members including Mort Schmidt with an honorable mention of Arch Klumpf.  Diane Foley, Maureen Sullivan, Janice Wood, Steve Wood, Dave Careno and Ben Wheeler rounded out the group.

Bob spoke about the annual fund, the Paul Harris fellowships for $1,000, the suggested sustaining member donations of $100/yr., and the EREY (Every Rotarian Every Year) donations of $99 or less.  Unknown to many of us, each year the club president sets a goal for the Foundation.  President Dave set this year’s goal at $13,520.  To date, $5,118 has been collected toward that goal.

So how is the goal reached?  One source is a budget line item for Paul Harris matching funds.  The example given was that any number of Rotarians can pool $500 and the club will match the amount to get to the Paul Harris Fellowship threshold of $1,000.  The contributing Rotarians can then name a Paul Harris Fellow.

How does the committee get people interested in donating, especially when people are inundated with charitable donation requests?  One key is the value received for a donation to the Rotary Foundation.  The Foundation is perennially rated as one of the best charities in terms of most bang for the buck by reputable charity rating services such as Navigator.  The Foundation is at the top or near the top year after year.  Bob’s advice—put the Rotary Foundation high on your charity list.

During the question and answer session, Bob explained how donations work.  For every dollar donated by outsiders, or by club members, the club matches the donation with 50 cents on the dollar.  The District matches dollar for dollar.  Funds sent to Rotary International turn each dollar into $1.04, even after expenses through investment.  Funds raised this year, for example, will be kept in investment vehicles for two years.  The funds are then dispersed the third year after being pooled until disbursement.  Total expenses of about 9% still leave a positive return after the three years.

Currently 31% of club members donate to the Foundation.  83 members donated to the Polio Plus campaign this past fall.  For fiscal year 2012-1013, District 7780

Collected $184,000, over $100 per capita.  Members can also make donations annually and build up to $1,000 to obtain a Paul Harris Fellowship.

Bob went on to explain how there are two sets of books as the club and the Rotary Foundation are separate 501(c)(3) entities.  Annual dues go to cover club operating expenses.  Approximately $90 goes to Rotary International and to District assessments.  Funds, such as the $5,301 donated to the dugout project are derived from the charitable division. 

Lastly, Bob asked that we send checks to the Foundation, if possible, rather than credit card payments so as not to lose the 3% merchant fee--just place an EREY designation in the re line of the check, or donations can be made online too.

Luis was the 50/50 raffle winner ($69) and there was no match.  And Happy Trails to all until next week when the bonus should be $550.