from the tractor seat of Chuck Arnason …

Two weeks in and it has already been an eventful Rotary Foundation year for me as the District Rotary Foundation Committee Chair … DRFC for short.

The first of our two End Polio Now Baseball Games in Richmond on July 7 was a huge success.  Game Coordinator and now Assistant Governor Stan Wall and Debbie Wall, District Secretary, sold 1016 tickets, a record for the Richmond Squirrels Game.  Two dollars from each ticket was a donation to End Polio Now, the Squirrels threw in a bit more, and Debbie’s employer Sabra Dipping added another $2 for each of the 400 tickets that Debbie sold.  Add the matching contribution from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and our Richmond Squirrels game raised over $8000 for End Polio Now. At left District Polio Plus Coordinator, Colleen Bonadonna, under the watchful eye of that giant Squirrel, Nutzy.

At our District Awards Banquet in Williamsburg on July 9th our District’s Global Scholar, Zoe Romano,  Skyped in from Maine to share her plans for her two-year graduate program which will span three South American countries and will include academic semesters and semesters of volunteer teaching in under-served schools.  She especially praised Delmar Dayton of the South Richmond Club for his patience and persistence in the two years it took to steward her acceptance as a global scholar.

So two weeks in and there is another fantastic  End Polio Now Baseball Game in Norfolk on July 27th being organized by David Mansfield.  There is still time to get tickets for this Triple-A game. Join in with hundreds of area Rotarians doing their bit to eradicate Polio and have a heck of a lot of fun. Rip Tide will be so disappointed if you don’t show.  Check the 2016 Polio Plus Tides Baseball  flyer for more details.

Finally, capping off the first full month as the DRFC we have the August 6th Foundation and Membership Workshop in Williamsburg. The new District Rotary Foundation Team will be front and center in explaining the tweaks to Foundation Giving and Grants. I hope you can make it.  There is an award winning breakfast, door prizes, and tons, just tons, of great information on the Rotary Foundation.  Go on dacdb.com calendar and register, please.  Clothing is not optional, but tropical comfortable is recommended. Click 2016 Workshop Flyer for more information.