Announcements

(notes provided by Allen “The Terminator” Penwell)

Don’t forget that the district conference is May 2 and 3, and this year it’s in Champaign-Urbana.  Act now, tickets are going fast!

Rod noted that the Gifford tree planting was successful, and Rotarians gave their support to this community project.

Molly announced that the annual benefit dinner for the C-U Schools Foundation’s 2015 Alumni Recognition Gala will be held Saturday, April 11^th at 6pm at the Hilton Garden Inn.  See Molly for ticket info.

President Tod also announced a fundraiser taking place on Saturday, 4/11/15.  Sola Gratia will host their fundraiser, Local Flavors Dinner, at St. Matthew Lutheran Church on Philo Road.  Dinner at 6:00 and program at 7:00.  Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.

Rotary Foundation Update for C-U Sunrise Rotary Club

Our Rotary Foundation is the engine that drives Rotary.  It supplies funds for worthy projects around the world, but it is best known for its commitment to the eradication of polio.  We are not there yet but getting closer every year.

In 2013, the Foundation received over $239 million and ranks 85^th in the world in size.  The Foundation received a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, the most prestigious and largest evaluator of nonprofits in the U.S.  During the last fiscal year, 92% of the Foundation’s expenditures were applied to programs with only 6 percent on fund-raising and 2 percent on administrative expenses.  The Foundation funded $23.5 million in district grants and $47.3 million in global grants.  These grants support local and international humanitarian projects as well as scholarships.

All Rotarians are encouraged to donate to the Rotary Foundation. Here is some basic information about our club and the Rotary Foundation.

The basic level is $100 annually which means that such a gift provides sustainer status.  I don’t have any statistics on how many of us are sustainers, but all Rotarians are encouraged to be sustainers.  All of us—$100 per year.

A benefactor is a Rotarian who has established a gift to the Foundation in estate plans.  Four of our members are benefactors.  A benefactor is recognized by having a small ribbon attached to his/her Rotary pin.

A Paul Harris Fellow is a Rotarian who has donated $1,000 to the Foundation. We have 35 members who are Paul Harris Fellows or about 80% of our club.  Some clubs have 100% Paul Harris Fellows.  Six of our members are multiple Paul Harris Fellows which is measured in $1,000 increments.

Our goal in this Rotary year is for our club to donate a total of $4,500 to the Foundation. Thus far we are 59% toward that goal.  We can achieve that goal if all of us can give an additional $45 to the Foundation.  Let’s do that to make Tod look good.

You can send money to the Foundation in two ways.  Write a check to our own Sunrise Foundation, and we will forward that to the Rotary Foundation.  Or you can go on the Foundation website and donate electronically.  One time gifts can be made or you can set up for automatic withdrawals from your checking account or put on your credit card.

Let’s all support our Rotary Foundation and make Tod look good.

Program

Last week our presenter was Donald Fournier who discussed the future of coal as an energy source.  Don has been affiliated with the University of Illinois, but is now retired (more or less).  He has published extensively on environmental and sustainability projects.  His discussion today was the future uses of coal which is extensively mined in Illinois but has had controversial environmental issues.

The future does not bode well for increased use of coal because of cleaner alternatives such as solar, wind, and natural gas as energy sources.  It appears that usage of coal will peak in 2025 on a world-wide basis.  However, the peak in the United States was in 2008 and coal use since has declined. In the past, 65% of U.S. electricity production was fired by coal, but now it has been reduced to 38%.

At the present levels, coal has a 100-year supply.  U.S. electricity production uses 90% of the coal supply, and the remaining 10% is exported.

The decrease in coal usage is not only due to cheaper, alternative energy sources, but coal plants are aging and being put out of production because of expensive environmental upgrades.  At present 64% of coal plants are in environmental compliance and 36% need improvements.  No new coal plants are on the drawing boards.

There have been several pushes to make coal more environmentally acceptable.  One of these was the FutureGen project which was to capture carbon dioxide emissions and store them underground.  This never came to fruition because of costs and politics.

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UPCOMING SCHEDULE

April 9th – Denise Martin will discuss Cradles to Careers

April 16th – Dr. Henderson and Mr. Rick Greer will discuss the St. Elmo Brady project at UIUC

April 23rd – Dr. Richard Fredrickson, Professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine, UIUC, will discuss services and research in veterinary medicine

April 30th – TBD

May 7th – Winnie Crowder, Executive Director of the Reading Group, and former CU Sunrise Rotarian

May 14th – George Vargas, Champaign County Public Defender’s Office

May 21st – Sam Banks, Don Moyer Boys & Girls Club

May 28th – TBD

June 4th – Jen Shelby will discuss the Cannes Film Festival

June 11th – Kathie Spegal, Coordinator, Illinois Radio Reader, and former CU Sunrise Rotarian

June 18th – Andy Leipold will discuss grand juries and Ferguson, MO