Tag Archives: PDG Stephen Beer

World Water Day

22 Friday Mar 2019

Posted by in Rotary 7600 Foundation News, Rotary Grants

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Water & Sanitation are core Rotary causes:

Assistant Governor Shel Douglas and Past District Governor Stephen Beer shared many of their photos and stories from their Water & Sanitation grant project in Ghana on all of our District 7600 channels. This extensive Global Grant allows individual clubs, even small ones to “invest” whatever they can afford finanically to the efforts to improve access to clean water, safe sanitation, education, and economic development in Ghana. In District 7600 the Rotary clubs of Prince George and South Hill took that opportunity and through their involvement, Ghanain communities will be benefitting from Rotarians’ concern and generosity.

Another such story is the story of the Soap Chips District Grant spearheaded by the Churchland club. This multi-club, multi-partner District Grant provides private, portable showers for the homeless in the greater Hampton Roads area. These are private showers with hot water, hygiene supplies, and fresh socks, provided on a regualr basis to those in need.

Both the Ghana grant and the Soap Chips grant have been featured in recent issues of the Spirit of 7600, our the District’s Facebook pages and in this blog. As recently as today (March 22), Past District Governor Bill Pollard and AG Shel Douglas have posted on Facebook, Bill specifically about the Soap Chips grant, and Shel, a meme she created to celebrate that today, March 22, is the UN’s World Water Day.

Enjoy.

UN World Water Day Meme

The stuff of which dreams are made … #GMS

15 Friday Feb 2019

Posted by in Rotary 7600 Foundation News, Rotary Grants, The Rotary Foundation, Training

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Register on dacdb calendar

Incoming District Rotary Foundation Chair, Stephen Beer, promised that registration for the Grant Management Seminar to be held on March 16 would be open by February 15th. By golly, it is open! In fact, Rotarians from the Western Henrico, Chester, and Prince George Rotary clubs have already registered.

PDG Stephen Beer in Ghana

A bit of nitty-gritty

For a club to be eligible to apply for and receive a Rotary grant, it must have had at least one member attend a Grant Management Seminar (GMS) for that grant year. It is recommended that a club have more than one club member attend because:

  • that one person might win the lottery and decamp for the islands
  • that one person might have napped off during GMS and missed something really important
  • carpooling is a way to share ideas on the ride home

You might note there will be a GMS Webinar on April 20th. More details will follow about it. Attendance at either the March 16 Seminar or the April 20th Webinar will qualify the club to apply for a Rotary Grant. Registration for the Webinar will be open at a later date.

GMS details

Flyer by Dianne Shannon Gordonn, District Public Image Chair

Where is the world is … ?

07 Thursday Feb 2019

Posted by in Foundation Global Grants, National Immunization Days (NID), Rotary 7600 Foundation News

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Where will you find D7600 Rotarians?

Last week as we ushered in Peace and Conflict Resolution Month we highlighted work in progress on Water and Sanitation global grant projects in Ghana. District Rotarians Shel Douglas (Prince George) and Past District Governor Stephen Beer (Innsbrook) are on the ground on that series of grants. Yes, you will get a little update.

India:

We also have had a team in India working on preventing polio and vaccinating children. The 7600 Rotarians on that trip are Colleen Bonadonna (New Kent) our district’s Polio Plus Chair, Dianna M. Waters (Brandermill), and Muriel Hawkins (Petersburg Lunch). After two weeks of work, they are getting a little R & R.

Polio Plus Angels, Dianna, Muriel, Colleen

Costa Rica:

We have also learned of a global grant project in Costa Rica spearheaded by the Rotary Club of Richmond, with the Rotary Clubs of James River and Huguenot Trail joining in. This project has been to provide English language books to elementary schools in Costa Rica. Members from the Richmond Club have already been on one or more trips to Costa Rica including, Michael Little, Jeanne Walls, E.M. Miller, and John Delandro. Around the end of March, there will be another trip of local Rotarians to Costa Rica to bring additional books to assist elementary school children in learning and improving their English language skills. Mike Little, Jeanne Walls, Kelly Keene, and Karin Jimenez (James River Club) are scheduled to go on that trip along with Mike’s and Jeanne’s spouses.

Ghana:

The district Rotarians have actually just landed in Accra (about 1 pm our time Thursday) where they will meet with the District Governor on Friday morning. Then the team will have a few hours to shop, rest, read, whatever before they catch their flight back to Virginia. Two pictures sent by Shel captured this writer and are shared here. This is also an homage to our Rotarians in India just about to finish their work there.

Part of the grant project in the Andasi village in Ghana was to install a block of micro-flush toilets. This project builder is a young man trained last year by the grant’s master trainer. Everyone had said that this polio survivor would never be successful. He has proved them wrong!

  • Builder
  • Block of micro-flush toilets being built

This blog is just a teaser … More in the March Spirit of 7600

All three project trips will be featured in more detail in the March Spirit of 7600. It is an abundance of riches to have many of our District 7600 Rotarians engaged in three different international endeavors, Polio Plus, and two global grants, but how interconnected they are! Doing good in the world.

Peace … one well at a time

01 Friday Feb 2019

Posted by in Rotary 7600 Foundation News, Rotary Grants, The Rotary Foundation

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Peace & Conflict Resolution

Rotary is serious about waging peace: “Through our service projects, peace fellowships, and scholarships, our members are taking action to address the underlying causes of conflict, including poverty, inequality, ethnic tension, lack of access to education and unequal distribution of resources.”

February is Rotary’s Peace and Conflict Resolution Month. Clubs, through their district and global grants, are often getting at the underlying causes of conflict, one ‘starfish’ at a time.

Consider Our Ghana Global Grant

District 7600, the South Hill Rotary and the Prince George Rotary have joined many other districts and clubs in the US and other countries in a series of global grant projects in Ghana to supply borehole wells, micro-flush toilets, schools and school libraries to outlying communities. There are other components as well, such as solar collector power units, and disease prevention supplies.

  • Shel Douglas with school-age children in Ghana.
  • One of the two suitcase solar panel kits installed in Ghana.
  • PDG Stephen Beer conferring with village leaders in Ghana.
On the road to the village of Abansere, Ghana.

Past District Governor, Stephen Beer, and Assistant Governor (Area 6), Shel Douglas, are on the ground now in Ghana, representing this district and our clubs in this complex series of grants.

Access to potable water, proper sanitation, education, access to electricity and other facilities, do so much to raise the quality of life, provide access to economic development, and resources for the future of the young.

Rotarians are waging peace, being the inspiration, and connecting the world.

D7600 & Global Water Grants

14 Friday Dec 2018

Posted by in Rotary 7600 Foundation News, Rotary Grants

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Clean water, toilets, & schools, oh my …

Rotary District 7600,  clubs in the district, as well as districts and clubs throughout the US and in Ghana, have committed funds and volunteers to a series of water and sanitation global grant projects in Ghana.

These grants, spearheaded by Walter Hughes of District 7570 and greatly aided by grant writer, Shel Douglas, Past President of the Prince George Club and Assistant Governor of Area 6, will also include basic school buildings complete with libraries filled with books.  There will be volunteer work trips, one of which is coming up in late January and three of the volunteers on that trip will be Walter, Shel, and Past District Governor Stephen Beer.

Walter visited the Rotary Club of Prince George County on December 12 and provided the club with information about the water & hygiene grants in particular, but also about the Rotary Water & Hygiene Area of Focus (or Cause, if you will).  On hand were PDG Stephen, PDG & current District Rotary Foundation Chair, Chuck Arnason, District Polio Plus Chair, Colleen Bonadonna, and non-Rotarian visitors and guests interested in health, education, clean water, and sanitation.

Walther Hughes addressing Prince George Rotary

The presentation is provided here as a video and runs about 20 minutes. Watch it if you can, but if not, know that the gist of Walter’s message is that access to sustainable potable water, hygienic sanitation, education, and maintenance training,  not only fights disease but also provides economic development opportunities for isolated areas. These opportunities build the ability of communities to continue improving their own facilities, resources, and futures.

Shel Douglas & Walter Hughes

on the front lines fighting polio

17 Tuesday Jan 2017

Posted by in National Immunization Days (NID), Rotary 7600 Foundation News

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Rotarians from 7600 join NID trip

2016-nidPDG Stephen Beer (Innsbrook), Diane Waters (Brandermill), and Colleen Bonadonna (New Kent) are End Polio Now Warriors on a zone 33-34 NID trip to India.  Fortunately for us, Nancy Barbee, coordinator of the expedition, is publishing a blog documenting the trip.  You can read and follow the blog at 33-34poliowarriors.  You can have the blog posts come to you in your email account by submitting your email address once you have opened the blog at the link provided.  District 7600 is well represented.

2016 Facts -The Rotary Foundation

This is a handy, handy little fact sheet to demonstrate the generosity of Rotarian donors, the financial health of The Rotary Foundation (TRF), and the commitment of TRF to good works.  You can download it from this link and share it with your clubs. Enjoy The Rotary Foundation 2016 Facts.