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Let a few of your Rotary friends know you care over the holidays

One of the major benefits of Rotary is relationships with high-quality people. We may join for service, but we often stay for the friendships, connections, support, and enjoyment. And of course, these relationships are with people who recite the Four Way Test each week. 

District Governor Debb Corbett has asked us to put a lot of emphasis on ‘member care’ this Rotary year, especially within our own clubs. We are a caring organization almost by definition, but we are also busy people. So, we sometimes have to be intentional about our caring. Caring is a series of deliberate acts. Not complex or time-consuming; just deliberate.

So DG Debb and I ask you to take 30 minutes this holiday season to reach out to 2 or 3 Rotary friends, letting them know you were thinking about them. Do this especially if it’s been a while since you’ve seen them. It is surprising how powerful a small caring act can be. And there is no better time than during this busy holiday season.

Mental Health Corner
District 7680 Newsletter

Romy Cawood, PhD
Charlotte Dilworth Southend Rotary Club

The U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy released an advisory earlier this year titled “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation.” In his report, he notes that even before the Covid19 pandemic,
approximately half of all adults in the U.S. report experiencing “measurable levels of loneliness.” The report outlines the possible physical consequences of loneliness, including dementia for older adults, heart disease, and stroke. He defines loneliness in terms of the quality, more so than the quantity of connections with others.

Mental Health is a new Rotary initiative, as spearheaded by Rotary International President Gordon
R. McInally. As our Rotary District’s clubs begin to formulate projects in service of Mental Health,
we can take guidance and ideas from established organizations. Surgeon General Murthy has
announced a national strategy based on six “foundational pillars,” which include:

• “Strengthening social infrastructure, which includes things like parks and libraries as well as public
  programs,”
• “Reforming digital environments to ‘critically evaluate our relationship with technology,’” and
• “Cultivating a culture of connection.”

For more information, Listen to: NPR’s All Things Considered: America has a loneliness epidemic. Here are 6 steps to address it, 2 May 2023. 7 Minute.

What you can do Now to address Loneliness:

• Call a friend to say hello this week and let them know how much time you have for the call if
  necessary, as in: “I am on the way to the grocery and have 10 minutes but you have been on my mind and I wanted to hear your voice. Do you have 10 minutes for a quick chat?”
• Consider limiting your child’s or your own time on social media. Social media has an addictive
  quality that can mimic the feeling of a real interaction, which in this way fools the brain and takes
  away precious time during which you can interact with real people.

It’s time for incoming district leaders to prepare for their terms. The first step is taking courses that will prepare them for their Club Leadership Learning Seminar in the spring.

Go to the course catalog for district leaders in the Learning Center to find the learning plan for each role.

LEARNING CENTER TIPS

Use these tips to help every member have a positive experience when visiting Rotary’s Learning Center:

• When you share learning center material with people who have never used the Learning Center, tell them to start by going to rotary.org/learn, sign in to My Rotary when prompted, and accept the privacy policy. They need to do this before they can take courses or enroll in learning plans.
• If links to the Learning Center don’t work, try going to My Rotary first and then navigating to the Learning Center and searching for materials or courses.

If members in your club, district, or zone are interested in learning more about the Learning Center, we invite them to write to learn@rotary.org to schedule a virtual presentation.

You are among Rotary’s strongest supporters, and it’s my privilege to invite you to be the first to view our 2022-23 annual report. Thanks to your generosity, we can all reflect on another year with pride in our achievements and ambition for the future.

The commitment of friends, leaders, and problem-solvers united in taking action makes a life-changing impact. This past year, 1,098 global grants supported large-scale projects, scholarships, and vocational training teams. Leaders who are building peace in the Middle East or North Africa will soon have the opportunity to get world-class professional development at the newest Rotary Peace Center at Bahçeşehir University in Istanbul, Turkey. Our global polio eradication effort is intensifying through our joint commitment with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Our progress in advancing important causes is possible because of your support.

As you explore the stories, review our finances, and hear from our community of donors in this year’s report, I hope that you’re as inspired as I am by the change we’re making – change that adds hope to people’s lives today and makes a difference for years to come.

Sincerely,

John Hewko, General Secretary and Chief Executive Officer, Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation

Congratulations Taylorsville Rotary Club

Charlotte Dilworth South End Club

Collaborate with Meck South and Serve Together with Rise Against Hunger

Meck South’s January service project will collaborate with Rise Against Hunger packaging meals for those facing food insecurities.  This is always a heartwarming yet fun project in which other clubs are always invited to join us.

Should anyone have questions please share my contact Jill Bastian.

Friday, January 12th Rise Against Hunger meal packaging event at the Hyatt House.

Volunteer times:

• 6:00 a.m. – 7:30 a.m. (unload the truck, set up tables with equipment and products)
• 7:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. (meal packaging)
• 10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. (package equipment, load truck, and clean up)

Volunteers should register for this event via the Rise Against Hunger link:

http://events.riseagainsthunger.org/RotarySouthMeck2024