Happy Diwali to my Rotary family and friends. Diwali is the “festival of lights”, celebrating the triumph of light over dark and good over evil, and the blessings of victory, freedom, and enlightenment.

Can you believe, a quarter of the Imagine Rotary year is over? I am energized to see what WE will do together in the next three quarters. Every day is a blessing to learn about Rotary members and the work they are doing in the community. Thank YOU for making an impact. I have visited a third of the clubs in our district; the club traditions are so unique and diverse but there is one thread that ties us all together – “Service above Self”.

On the personal front, my family was excited to speak with our daughter Smera, outbound RYE student, after the 30-day blackout period recommended by the Rotary Youth Exchange program. She is very well settled in Navas, Spain and speaks a new language Catalan. Thank you Rotary for giving our Youth the opportunity to be global citizens.

This week is World Interact Week (Oct 31st – Nov 6). Rotary celebrates a legacy of 60 years of Interactors changing the world by demonstrating “Service Above Self”. Engage with your Interact Club and celebrate this milestone with them.

I hope you have registered for the Foundation Celebration on November 18th. This is one event that you don’t want to miss because this is where we get to see how our dollars are actively helping to support needs in communities around the world. Invite Interactors, Rotaractors, RYE students, Interact and Rotaract advisors and prospective guests to celebrate and recognize the work done by your Rotary Foundation. This month let’s welcome our Rotary Friendship Exchange friends from Turkey (D2430). Host them, invite them to your club meetings and make lifelong friends. For more details reach out to PDG Ineke Wilson.

The District Leadership team has planned the following events. Please register and participate to enjoy “beyond the club” experience.

Diaper Bank service project – Empowering Girls initiative on Nov 5 2022,
Mid Year Assembly on January 28, 2023,
Membership Summit on February 24, 2023,
Joint District Conference from May 5-7, 2023,
Seminar for Tomorrow’s Leaders from July 13-17, 2023.

Each year, Rotary International highlights November as Rotary Foundation Month to emphasize the importance of and need for Rotarian support of The Rotary Foundation. So, when your President and Foundation Chair asks you to contribute something to our Foundation for the first time, or to become a Sustaining Member, or, if your club aims to achieve EREY status this year; if you’ve been asked to contribute for your first Paul Harris Fellow or your 10th as a Major Donor, remember – whatever you can give – will come back as grants three years later which have been invested and returned to the District as a force-multiplier which can do a lot of good. Show your support for our Foundation by clicking the “Give” button on the welcome page of the www.rotary.org website. It will be the best investment you’ve ever made!

The leaves are changing, the weather is starting to cool and we are all getting ready to celebrate time with our families for Thanksgiving. Let me know if there is anything I can do to support you. I thank you all for your friendship and most of all – for who you are!

Let’s make sure we continue shining the light on one another and our work.

Kam Chandan

Upcoming Events

Zone, National, and International Oriented

District Oriented

Clubs Oriented

Other

FRI Nov 18 – Foundation Celebration

Interact clubs bring together young people ages 12-18 to develop leadership skills while engaging in service across their communities. This World Interact Week, Rotary celebrates a legacy of 60 years of Interactors changing the world by demonstrating Service Above Self.

Want to join in the celebration? Below are four ways you can participate in this historic event:

Join the party on social media

Register for the Facebook World Interact Week event to follow all event information, including first access to the announcement of the Interact 60th Anniversary campaign and opportunities for alumni engagement. Attend a Facebook LIVE chat hosted by the Interact Advisory Council on 2 November 2022 at 8:00 am Chicago Time and use #WorldInteractWeek and #Interact60 to share your own celebrations!

Participate in the 2022 Interact Awards

Encourage your sponsored Interact club to show how it champions diversity, equity, and inclusion across its service projects, club, and community by participating in the 2022 Interact Awards. Nominate your Interact club by 1 December 2022 for an opportunity to be named “Best Video,” “Best Photo,” or “Best Essay” and receive funds to support your club’s next project. Learn more at http://on.rotary.org/2022INTERACTAWARDS

Make progress toward the Rotary Citation

World Interact Week is a great time to work with your sponsored club to complete a Certificate of Recognition to highlight the positive impact of your Interact club’s service projects. Remember, social media promotion of a World Interact Week activity by your Interact club is an optional goal towards achieving the Rotary Citation for Interact Clubs. Use this worksheet to track your progress throughout the year.

Start a new Interact club

Lifelong connections to Rotary often begin with Interact. Invest in developing young leaders by sponsoring an Interact club. Find out how fulfilling youth service can be when you invite young people to Interact!

The Host Organizing Committee is very excited to welcome Rotarians and guests to Melbourne for the 2023 Rotary International Convention. Known as one of the world’s most livable cities, you will enjoy what we take for granted, a beautiful, vibrant and cosmopolitan city. Set on the shores of picturesque Port Phillip Bay, the southern-most city of mainland Australia Melbourne is rich in aesthetics, with its beauty enhanced by the meandering Yarra River, immaculate parks and gardens, public art, classical buildings and innovative design.

Iconic Flinders Street railway station is the meeting point for all people when they come to Melbourne. Start your journey there and enjoy a great coffee and discover what Melbourne has to offer. With interlocking laneways with graffiti art and the buzzing inner-city precinct reveals one-off boutiques and world-class restaurants, while our larger modern department stores and shopping complexes compete to enchant the most discerning shopper. Melbourne is culturally diverse and is globally recognized as one of the most concentrated dining and fashion cultures in the world.

Melbourne is the heart of Australia’s major sports: Formula 1, Melbourne Cup (the race that stops a nation), Australian Tennis Open, and the mighty Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) which is home to Australian cricket and our unique Australian Football League (AFL). Just a short drive from the heart of Melbourne, you can take one of the world’s iconic drives along the Great Ocean Road. Head north to the Murray River and sit amongst the great river red gums or relax with a glass of local wine on a river paddle steamer. Or, if you prefer, head to Phillip Island. Here you can visit the koala sanctuary and see the world-famous fairy penguin parade in the evening. Step back in time – head to Ballarat and try your hand at gold panning at Sovereign Hill. Visit the Yarra Valley, home of great cool climate wines, chardonnay, pinot and sparkling. There are unlimited adventures and discoveries to be had, just a short distance from Melbourne City.

Please keep visiting this site because we will be regularly posting new exciting activities and information. We look forward to welcoming you to our great city. https://convention.rotary.org/en/melbourne

Are you REGISTERED?

Do you have QUESTIONS?

Call Bob Wilson, 7680 Melbourne Convention Chair

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have an exciting agenda set up for our delegation of 8 Rotarians from Turkey who are visiting us from November 14 through 25. We invite any Rotarians who would like to meet our guests to email me and we’ll try to get you involved.  Some events are limited.  Our goal is to introduce our guests to as many of you as possible, so check out the agenda and please join us if you can.  We will be visiting Charlotte, Cornelius, Mooresville, Gastonia and Concord. And a special thanks to the many of you that are hosting our visitors, to those who are sponsoring lunches and dinners and other events.

Many thanks to everyone who has participated thus far in our District 7680 effort to collect canned and dry goods for the Second Harvest Food Bank. I would like to especially thank several clubs, including the Rotary Club of North Mecklenburg County, the Mecklenburg South Club, Charlotte International, and of course, my own Charlotte Dilworth Rotary Club. All of these clubs have responded remarkably well, accounting for more than 1,000 pounds of donations to Second Harvest. Here are a few pictures of what we’ve donated thus far. And please know that even though the drive technically ended on 10/31, if you have food you’d like to donate on behalf of your club, please let me know and I’m happy to facilitate arrangements!

Please contact Kevin Kendrick at kevin.dg7680.2425@gmail.com

  • On September 14th, the District D E & I Committee, in concert with the Charlotte International Club, was privileged to bring renowned author and philanthropist Jillian Haslam to Charlotte to speak of her incredible journey from the slums of Calcutta to a position in life allowing her to empower girls around the world.
  • Brought a D E & I perspective to the Membership, Foundation, and Public Image sessions at the September 17th  District Training.
  • Several Committee members have begun Dialogue Circle training in preparation for bringing this program to our District later this year.
  • Continued development of a template for a compilation of D E & I resources that can be used by our District’s clubs for their websites and to provide easy access to information to all District members.
  • Our Committee strives to keep the RI focus on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the forefront of our District’s club memberships, programming, and service opportunities.
  • If you are interested in being part of the D E & I Committee, please email co-chairs Rina Arline at rcarline07@yahoo.com or Chris Arline at carline30@gmail.com.

Your Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee

Mark your calendar and vigorously promote the

Membership Action Plan (MAP)

“Bite-Sized” webinars, every month on the second Monday at 6 pm ET.

The target audience is club leaders, Presidents, Assistant Governors, Presidents-Elect, Membership Chairs, and anyone else who has an interest in the long-term viability and vitality of their Rotary club. All District leaders are also encouraged to attend.

The MAP Page on the Zone website has past recordings, registration links for upcoming events, and a library of membership collateral: RIZones33-34.org/membership-action-plan

What is the MAP?

It’s a unified, multi-year membership growth initiative spanning Rotary Zones 33 and 34 — 1,700 clubs and 66,000 Rotarians from Pennsylvania to Florida, then extending through the Caribbean to the coast of South America.

In search of a strategy to mitigate membership decline and get our clubs on a path of consistent, moderate growth, RI Director Jeremy Hurst launched a task force in January of 2022.

This group of District and Zone leaders has developed a set of “Bite-Sized”? webinars (1 hour or less), delivered once a month, that are 100% actionable by the clubs. No concepts. No theory. No figuring out how. Everything is there. Strategies that are GUARANTEED to work (they’ve worked for hundreds of clubs), together with recipes, templates, slides, videos, worksheets and scripts. There’s also an awards program that will recognize both clubs and districts for their participation and achievements.

How can YOU help?

Embrace, publicize and promote participation of all your club leaders in these monthly events. Yes, they are being recorded, and, yes, all the material presented is downloadable from the MAP Page on the Zone Website: RIZones33-34.org/membership-action-plan.

Kam is doing his official club visits and has been posting photos and commentary on his Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/kamleshchandan. Go take a look. Great Photos! We have added a few below, but on his FB page, it is club by club.

New to Rotary or want to know more – This is for you! You are part of a group whose impact reaches around the world through local community service by our 1.4 million members in 200+ countries. Join us for “Rotary 101” a virtual tour of Rotary and Rotarians that will inspire you to engage even more in the Rotary community. Wednesday August 24 was the kickoff for ROTARY 101, an online program designed for new and potential members of Rotary. There are the events scheduled in the next two months.

Wednesday, November 2 at 6:00pm

Tuesday, December 6 at 6:00pm 

Here’s the link: Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81801636156?pwd=d2sraXFqdWRlSTVtL2ltQ0dIT1dPZz09 Meeting ID: 818 0163 6156 Passcode: 539445 

Questions: Contact Marcia Scheideman (mscheideman.ms@gmail.com) or Lorena Prince (garzalster@gmail.com ) for any questions you might have. Looking forward to seeing you virtually!