December 27th, 2018 Newsletter

 
“Being brave means knowing that when you fail, you don’t fail forever.” – Lana Del Rey
 
“Wake up determined to go to bed satisfied.” – Dwayne Johnson
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS
(Notes provided by Allan Penwell)
Our meeting on January 3^rd will be at Lodgic. Meal cost is $10.00. See you there!
 
Fruit sale money is due to Billy. Looks like we had a good year.
 
Bucket money for February will be for Books for Prisoners. If you have books you would like to donate, contact Mary. Popular books are mysteries, paperback dictionaries, paperbacks, and books in Spanish.
 
During bucket money, Jen mentioned her company is getting in a new line of Vintage Cruisers. It’s part of the Gulfstream products and pretty cool. Check it out on line.
 
PROGRAM
Mary introduced her husband Tom who is chair of the District Scholarship Committee. Tom is also chair of the district’s committee for ShelterBox USA. Tom’s comments related to Global Grants which a few years ago replaced the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship.
The following is a description from the RI website:  “Global grants are for graduate students studying abroad in one of Rotary’s six causes:  (1) promoting peace, (2) fighting disease, (3) providing clean water,   sanitation, and hygiene, (4) saving mothers and children, (5) supporting education, and (6) growing local economies.”
A Global Grant Scholarship must be used for a degree granting program.  However, it does not cover the entire cost of the program.  So far, our district has limited its funding to $15,000 of District Designated Funds, which, with the match from the The Rotary Foundation results can be $30,000.  Our most recent application also was funded $3,000 generously from the Chicago Rotary Club so the total scholarship was $33,000.
The Rotary Foundation fully funds all expenses for Peace Fellowships.  That is a different and more selective program for which no contribution is required from the District.
In the past year our District submitted one application for one Global Grant Scholarship, and that application has been funded.  We also sponsored an application for a Peace Fellowship, and that application was also successful.
The following is a description from the RI website:  “Global grants are for graduate students studying abroad in one of Rotary’s six causes:  (1) promoting peace, (2) fighting disease, (3) Providing clean water,   sanitation, and hygiene, (4) saving mothers and children, (5) supporting education, and (6) growing local economies.”
Scholarships last from one to four years and can include an entire degree program. Global grant scholarships are funded using cash or District Designated Funds matched by the World Fund. District grants can be used to sponsor secondary school, undergraduate, or graduate students studying any subject, either locally or abroad. The scholarship may cover any length of time, from a six-week language training program to a year or more of university study.
The district committee is looking for candidates that have a solid focus at the undergraduate level in a particular area that would relate to their project proposal for their scholarship. Another qualification is community or global service to demonstrate their interest in this funding for principally international service.  Our district approved two scholars in the last RI fiscal year for worthy projects.
 
 
—
 

 
—
 
UPCOMING SCHEDULE (with program committee member responsible listed in parentheses)
January 3rd -Jori Orsini, the Executive Director of Lodgic, will talk about the Lodgic Every Day Community, our new meeting place (Charlie)
January 10th – Kim Gollings from Habitat for Humanity (Bob)
January 17th – PDG Larry Howell will discuss the Heart to Heart Zone trip to Mexico (Mary)
January 24th – Viktor Gruev, Associate Professor, UI Electrical and Computer Engineering, will speak about his research applications