Don't miss this inspirational event featuring our keynote speaker, Ann Lee Hussey! Meet her during the District Foundation Dinner, to be held on Thursday, November 14 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Framingham Hotel & Conference Center in Framingham.
Hussey has made the eradication of polio and the alleviation of suffering by polio survivors her life’s work. In the past 12 years, she has actively participated in 25 volunteer National Immunization Days teams. She has organized and led the last 18 NIDs teams herself, choosing to take them to places that do not often see westerners – Bangladesh, Chad, Mali, Niger and Nigeria as well as less “touristy” destinations in Egypt and India – where the need is greatest, and where the publicity and goodwill surrounding the trip are as critical as the immunizations themselves to help communicate the need for eradication.
It is with a heavy heart that I notify you of the passing of Ed Hall. He was a District Governor from 1987 to 1988 for District 7910, and he passed away on Thursday, November 7.
Ed was a member of the Rotary Club of Worcester for more than 50 years. In May 2017, he had the first-ever District award named after him: The Edward C. Hall Foundation Achievement Award.
Ed held numerous club and district positions, was a Major Donor, and received the Rotary Foundation Meritorious Service Award and the Service Above Self award. He also participated in many international foundation projects.
Of special note, is the work Ed did in Haiti. Through the use of advanced-engineering know-how and a touch of Yankee ingenuity, hard work and a Rotary Foundation grant of $475,000 matched by $25,000 of District funds, more than 30 solar-powered water systems were installed in many locations on the island nation.
Realizing that we are all busy and that it is a holiday weekend, we are extending the application deadline (originally, October 14) to November 25 for District Leadership Positions.
The future of our clubs depends on qualified candidates serving in leadership roles throughout the District. In order for our clubs to grow and have more impact addressing local and international needs, there must be Rotarians who will fill leadership roles and provide vision and management skills in support of the business aspects of running our District.
If you or others have attended Rotary Leadership (and Learning) Institute, you would know the impact of this training program. RLI graduates often say that going through the program is what helped connect the dots for them - and made them feel like a Rotarian. In my mind, RLI is the best Rotary training around!
Please remind your club that the next RLI in our area will be held on Saturday, January 25, 2020 at the Marriott Courtyard Marlborough. and registration is now open at www.rlinea.org. All the details on RLI as well as how to register are on the Home page of that website. This year's tuition is $110, which includes breakfast, lunch and the course materials.
While I hope to average two attendees from each of our 50 clubs, please commit to sending at least one person. Keep in mind the benefit to your club: Well-informed Rotarians will more easily see how Rotary fulfills their passions, causing them to become more engaged and impactful to your club. Everyone benefits!
To download my RLI presentation, in PDF format, click here. This is what I deliver to clubs when I visit, to speak about RLI.
Certainly, you know about IKEA furniture and you’ve undoubtedly seen and tasted Swedish meatballs, but what do you really know about Sweden? The Rotary Friendship Exchange with Rotary District 2390, Southern Sweden, provides you an exceptional opportunity to learn much, much more about Sweden - and Swedes, in general.
Rotary’s Friendship Exchange is an international-exchange program for Rotary members and friends that allows participants to take turns hosting one another in their homes and clubs. Participants may travel as individuals, couples, families, or groups, and may be Rotary members or not. In 2020, our district will participate with Sweden in an RFE.
District 7910 congratulates the Rotary clubs of Southbridge and Sturbridge for exceeding their 2019 goal by delivering more than 3,000 pounds of fresh, cleaned, organic produce, grown and delivered this year to St. John Paul II Food Pantry. And , they did it in only their second year.
If you haven't heard the good news, check out this article. We're getting closer.
Rotary and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) are celebrating a major milestone this World Polio Day: confirmation that a second type of the wild poliovirus has been eradicated, which is a significant step toward the ultimate goal of a polio-free world.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), announced the historic feat in a video address during Rotary’s Global Online Update on October 24. He said an independent commission of health experts certified the global eradication of the type-3 strain, which hasn't been detected anywhere in the world since Nigeria identified a case of polio that it caused in November 2012. The type-2 strain was certified as eradicated in 2015.
“That leaves just wild poliovirus type-1,” said Tedros (shown, in Nigeria). He also commended Rotary’s long fight against polio. “Everything you [Rotary] have done has brought us to the brink of a polio-free world.”
The Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley has been named Best Club for Rotary 2018-2019 by Immediate Past Governor Steve Sager (left), shown presenting the award to club Immediate Past President Jacky Foster (right).
Among our District's 50 Rotary clubs, Nashoba Valley ranked in the top 3 in all categories - and had the highest number of points in total!
Rotary Peace Fellow Announces 'Building a Just Peace in Mexico and Beyond' Presentation in Worcester
Rotary Peace Fellow Matthew Johnssen, PhD., announces a presentation, Building a Just Peace in Mexico and Beyond by Pietro Ameglio on Tuesday, October 25 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at Worcester State University. The event is free of charge!
Our 2019-2020 District Directory - at more than 300 pages - is available for download, in PDF format.
Note: The Assistant Governors will be be contacting the Club Presidents, to arrange for delivery of the District Directory.
Note: The Assistant Governors will be be contacting the Club Presidents, to arrange for delivery of the District Directory.
Check out the first promotional video for the 2020 Rotary International Convention, to be held next June 6 through 10 in Honolulu, HI. Click here to watch this one-minute video.
The City of Honolulu and Host Organization Committee welcome you with aloha to enjoy the sun, sand and fun of their island paradise.
District Governor-Elect Diana Nestorova is attending the Governor-Elect Training Seminar, part of the Rotary Zones 24 & 32 Conference in Niagara Falls, Canada. Congratulations, Diana! It's official!
Because of RYLA 2019, We have reason to celebrate!
We, Rotarians of District 7910, have directly impacted the lives of 800 people as a result of our 2019 Rotary Youth Leadership Awards in June at Fitchburg State University!
Check out the "Feelin' 800" we generated:
The Rotary Club of Charles River was recently out in the community of Natick at Natick Days with their fundraiser food-concession booth. Members grilled hot dogs, made fresh popcorn, and served drinks.
Our District's Public Image Resource Team is here to help! We are a group of Rotarians who have lots of experience in social media, working with Clubrunner as users and webmasters, and Rotary.org and website development/content. Our goal is to help you understand the tools that are available so you can make your club’s outreach more effective.
Here’s what we can help you with and/or coach you on:
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Summer is almost over and clubs across the district are working to finalize and implement their goals. This is a great time to consider a Visioning Workshop.
A Visioning Workshop can help ensure that your club’s goals are reflective of the values of your members, and that the goals have strong buy-in from the people in your club who will be carrying out these goals. If you are finding that your club’s goals are generating only a lukewarm response or that members aren’t stepping up to implement them, a Visioning Workshop could help get your club moving forward.
Members of District 7910 had a great time at the Lowell Spinners game on Friday, August 9! Even though the team lost, it was a gorgeous night - and everyone enjoyed themselves. And the best part? We raised money to eradicate polio!
Shown are: Past District Governor Karin Gaffney (left), District Governor Pam Anastasia (center) and District Public Image Chair Sue Peghiny (right).
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Hello everyone - and Happy Summer!
I am excited and honored to have the privilege of working with all of you over the next year! My two primary areas of focus are Membership and Public Image.
We do a great job attracting people to be Rotarians, but we need to make sure that we keep then active and engaged. Also, I believe that Rotary is still somewhat unknown in many communities; people have heard of it but they don't know who we are or what we do. I would like us to do a better job of letting people know what we do - and using social media to get the word out. I think that if every club sat down and made a list of all the projects that they supported in their local communities, people would be surprised and amazed at all we've done. Every club is active and engaged in their community; we just need to do a better job telling our story.
District 7910 Rotary clubs were active this year utilizing The Rotary Foundation's funds that came back to our District in the form of District Grants. During Rotary 2018-'119, 21 District Grants were funded and executed by the clubs, to better our communities. The service projects broadly fell into four of the Rotary Foundation's six areas of focus. Clubs made an impact in Disease Prevention, Treatment and Health, Maternal and Child Health, Basic Education and Literacy, and Economic and Community Development.
In addition, we implemented two Global Grants - one was our District Service Project that built stoves in Guatemala in order to reduce respiratory illness in the community. Ten Rotarians traveled there to work with Rotarians from the host club. The other Global Grant that was approved this year involved the Rotary Club of Concord's egg-farm project in Haiti.
Here are details of the District Grant projects:
During Rotary 2018-2019, the District 7910 Membership Committee introduced several initiatives to help clubs attract and engage membership. These initiatives will continue, and new ones will be introduced in 2019-2020.
New Member Orientation Events were held during Fall 2018 and Spring 2019, with 60 total attendees. These events introduce newer (two years or less) and prospective members to the various facets of Rotary in a fun and interactive way. Clubs are encouraged to send their newer and prospective members to these events. Feedback indicates that attending these events significantly improves member retention. The next events are scheduled for October 3, 2019, and April 4, 2020 (during the District Assembly).
Rotary club members from Districts 7910 and 7930 joined together last week to cover a week’s worth of meal shifts at the New England Center and Home for Veterans (NECHV) in Boston in honor of Memorial Day. Ten meals were served by District governors and the following clubs: Billerica, Wellesley, Nashoba Valley, Tewksbury, Newton, Winchester, Brookline, Charles River and Lowell.
Random Acts of Kindness is quickly helping expand the influence of the Rotary Club of Framingham! Recently, the club engaged in two separate acts to help solve an Iraqi immigrant mother's transportation problem, and to help repair housing for an elderly couple.
Needed Home Repairs
Framingham’s Jim Goodreau and his wife, Christine Goodreau, were in dire need of a helping hand, and quickly. Jim is recovering from cardiac arrest— Christine gave him CPR until the EMTs arrived—and couldn’t risk the exertion needed to repair the un-lockable front door or the damaged storm door in their Landseer Avenue home. Moreover, the dishwasher wouldn’t work. Unfortunately, the couple couldn’t pay for the needed repairs because Christine had just lost her job.
Recently, 18 members of the Rotary clubs of Bedford, Burlington, Burlington Breakfast, Tyngsboro/Dunstable, and Kobleskill, NY plus the Rotarcat Club of MIT, representing three districts, joined more than 200 volunteers from the local community plus corporations Anika Therapeutics and BAE Systems to package more than 40,000 meals. Rise Against Hunger will distribute these meals to school meal programs in developing countries. This brought our seven-year total to more than 400,000 meals.
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District 7910 is pleased to announce that O'Mara Taylor of Wayland is the recipient of the $35,00 2019 David & Eleanor Morley Endowed Global Grant Scholarship. Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Framingham, O'Mara is a graduate of Vassar College. She plans to spend the 2019-2020 academic year in graduate studies at the Saïd Business School of Oxford University. Her Rotary Area of Focus is Maternal & Child Health.
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