Variety and value of grants growing:

This article is a reprint from the January 2020 Spirit of 7600, just in case you missed reading it there.

Each year since the 2013-2014 new grant process began, the grant funds available have grown as have the size and variety of district grants. District grant policies have fostered multi-club grants, regularized the grant application process, and auditing procedures have improved the stewardship of district grant funds.

In the 2019-2020 Grant year, District 7600 had almost $153,500 in designated funds to dispense and hosted two rounds of grant applications. The second round of grant applications allowed the District Grants Team to award almost all of the district designated funds (DDF) available. With clubs joining each other on grant projects and partnering with other nonprofits and governmental agencies the total financial impact of this year’s district grants totals $263,364. This represents a significant and lasting impact for the communities in central and southeast Virginia.

In total there were 20 district grants awarded. But three clubs double dipped in interesting ways.  South Hill came back in Round Two to purchase more benches for its project and the clubs of Warwick at City Center Newport News and Virginia Peninsula joined together in two separate district grants. Double dipping is possible, though any given club may not be awarded more than a total of $5000 DDF.

There were 13 multi-club grants in five of the Areas of Focus. There were ten  grant applications which listed Economic & Community Development as the area focus.  One club listed both Economic & Community Development as well as Maternal & Child Health as its area of focus.  There were seven grants in the Maternal & Child Health Area of focus, and one each in Basic Education & Literacy, Peace & Conflict Resolution, and Disease Prevention/Treatment.  There were not grant projects in the Water & Sanitation Area of Focus. In the early days of “Future Vision” the marketing description of our current grant module most of the district grants clustered in the Maternal & Child Health and Basic Education & Literacy Area of Focus.

If you would like to delve more into the District 7600 grants you can visit dacdb.com. After logging in, click on the District Tab and then click on the Grants icon. Your club may come up with some super ideas for your grant projects next year.

October 24th World Polio Day

Colleen Bonadonna, District Polio Plus Chair, and Past District Governor Jim Bynum were interviewed by WRIC TV on October 15th about Rotary’s effort to eradicate polio world-wide.Colleen emphasized that though we have eliminated Polio as a health threat in America, polio and other diseases are only a plane ride away. https://www.wric.com/community/rotary-clubs-to-mark-world-polio-day-with-local-events/

A Different Kind of Event

Visit the day-long (10:00 am – 5:00 pm) free exhibition about Rotary’s efforts to eradicate Polio at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture, 428 N Arthur Ashe Blvd, in Richmond on October 24th. There will be many neat displays and experiences:

• polio artifacts display
• virtual reality videos of the eradication efforts around the world
• purple pinkie booth
• polio banner signing
• corn hole relaxation area

All ages will enjoy and learn

The Virginia Museum of History & Culture is located next to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts which is also free and open to the public. Lunch and snacks are available there as well as a world class exhibit of the world’s most exciting art.

Alumni Social at 6:30

The social ($5) is provided complete with musical entertainment. Cash bar available. Not able to visit during the work day for an hour or so, come later and enjoy the company and stories of Rotary Alumni.

A few minutes ago the writer accidentally published a draft. Bear with the writer as she adjusts to the new block format.

Tomorrow be on the alert for the blog on the District 7600 Grant Management Seminar. You will not be disappointed.

District 7610, just north of District 7600, is a Peace Builder District having met the financial and programming requirements to achieve such a designation. The 7610 District Rotary Foundation Chair, Past District Governor Juanita Cawley, invites Rotarians to register and attend this informative and inspiring conference. See her information below.

Linking Pieces of Peace is a conference to connect people, ideas and projects. JOIN US for a day-long, interactive, action-oriented conference, (including lunch) open to Rotarians and others interested in tangible approaches to peacebuilding.

Register today on dacdb.com (7600) or at  https://linkingpiecesofpeace.eventbrite.com

Specifics:

• the conference is on Saturday, October 27, 2018, 9:00am – 4pm
• Check-In and Day-Of Conference Registration 8:00am–9:00am
• Location: Riverside Center, 95 Riverside Parkway, Fredericksburg, VA 22406
• Lunch included Tickets*: $50.00 until Oct. 22 $55.00 after Oct. 22 (Additional online service charges may apply)
• *Please register just ONE time. If you have already registered on the DACdb District Event Website, there is no need to register again.
• Feel free to forward and share with Rotary Club members!
• QUESTIONS: PDG Juanita Cawley, District 7610 Rotary Foundation Chair, drfc7610@cox.net 

Every person is a piece of the puzzle when it comes to peacebuilding, and peacebuilding efforts are more effective through the linking of people, ideas and projects. Attendees will come to:

• Understand key frameworks and foundations of peacebuilding
• Engage in dialogue, discussion and hands-on experiences with conflict analysis and peacebuilding tools
• Imagine peace project ideas at the local, national and international level
• Receive materials and links to sites that will help continue the peacebuilding journey after the conference
• Make connections and build relationships

This event is a collaboration between Rotary District 7610 and NewGen Peacebuilders SM, a global peace education, training and mentoring program and process.

There is still a little room left at the Workshops:

You can still go on the dacdb.com calendar and register for one of the Sensational Trio of August Rotary Seminars or #STARS for short.  You can choose between Membership, Foundation, or Public Image.  Having trouble registering.  Contact Carol Dois Woodward via Facebook Messenger.  If you want to call, text, or email her, you will find all of her contact information on where? … dacdb.com, of course!

Agenda:

There are four pages of AGENDA — one overall agenda and a separate agenda for each of the seminars.  This will give you the topics and speakers in advance. By the way, agenda is actually the plural of agendum, which is not really used anymore as the singular version of that noun. Agenda has become the singular usage and agendas is plural. Are you confused yet?

And what is all of this about #Mustard?

August 4th happens to be National Mustard Day.  David Rosenthal (Hampton Roads)

Neva Lynde

passed along this factoid along to the blogger.  How did he know? No idea.  Anyway, in honor of mustard, we are asking each attendee of the #STARS to bring a new, unopened container of mustard to the Seminars on Saturday. Neva Lynde (James City County Satellite Rotary) suggested that we donate the mustard to the FISH Food Bank and she is willing to deliver the containers of the precious condiment to FISH.

David Rosenthal

This recognition of #mustard has ignited some lively conversations: District Rotary Foundation Chair prefers Amish stone ground mustard and/or mustard with horseradish; Jan Rowley prefers almost any Dijon-style mustard; and, David Rosenthal extols the virtues of stadium mustard. What is your favorite mustard?

So, sign up (for a couple of more days) for #STARS and decide which mustard to bring to Williamsburg.

Economic & Community Development Grants (continued):

We began a series on economic and community development district grants about a month ago.  There were a few hiccups in the publication schedule … the District Foundation Awards Banquet, a week of vacation, and a most interesting Windows 10 upgrade which imposed some unexpected adventures with the publication platform.  Today we offer the final article in the series about the 2017-2018 economic and community development district grants.

The District Foundation Committee awarded 19 district grants shared by 30 clubs.  Of those 19 district grants, 7 were devoted in total or in part to Economic and Community Development. As published previously, grants in this area of focus encourage multi-club, co-operation, partnerships with local governments, corporations, or non-profits, and these grants create the opportunity to make sizeable, long-lasting regional impacts.

We described three of these grants in considerable detail already, but here we provide a brief synopsis of the 7 grants and the clubs involved.  You can get more detail by logging onto dacdb.com and clicking on the ‘Grants’ tab.

The seven grants:

Blackstone:  A bus stop structure to protect riders from the element.

Bon Air:  Safe ramps for homes in partnership with project:HOMES.

Chester:  Improvements, remodeling, and repair to a regional K-9 training facility for law enforcement.  Will allow training of K-9s to assist with the elderly and with youth.

Colonial Heights, Petersburg, & Petersburg Breakfast:  Refurbishment of a deteriorated park to provide a safe playground for family outdoor activities.

Fluvanna:  In conjunction with Carysbrook Elementary,  this grant will create and stock an advanced STEAM lab for 3d and 4th graders, which enrollment population is expected to grow in the next few years.

Hampton Roads and Norfolk-Sunrise:  Winterization, repair, and improvements to cabins at this Girl Scout Campground.  The Campground has been an important regional resource for decades.

Prince George County: Improvement and enhancement of a Computer Resource Room at the Central Wellness Center.  The Center is a recent adaptive rehabilitative use of a former county middle school.  Under the auspices of the county Parks and Recreation Department, this facility will provide wellness equipment and classes, a computer lab, as well as high-speed broadband in an area of this rural county with limited access to such services.

Sharing the wealth:

In past years at every district training, the most frequent request was to have a way to share ideas among the clubs about their projects and activities.  We humbly suggest that the district and club database (dacdb.com), the district website, and the almost universal facebook pages for district clubs are starting points.

“See” you on Thursday.

Too much grilled salmon today to blog .. but see you tomorrow