Dear Friends,

On August 22nd, I celebrated my 9th Rotaversary. Since I first joined the Rotary and to this day, I’ve considered that invitation as a gift that we keep on giving. It has opened many doors of opportunities, has connected me with highly esteemed individuals, has helped me build life-long friendships and it has been a great avenue to serve the community locally and globally. Continue to invite your friend, colleague or co-worker to your Rotary meeting or event. Your invitation will unlock imaginations and allow them to know that everything and anything is possible. Each one of us has that same opportunity: the honor to extend an invitation.

How time flies! The new Rotary year is no longer so new. August was an engaging and awe-inspiring month for Rotary Clubs across the District doing hands-on service projects, in-person events, programs and socials. The best way to experience Rotary is to do Rotary.

When new members join Rotary, I have had the opportunity to connect with them 1:1 on Zoom. I am eager to learn about them, share the opportunities that Rotary has to offer beyond their club and encourage them to get involved in projects and District events. We also launched the Rotary 101 program. The first session was on Zoom on August 24th. The objective is to engage new members and provide answers and a better understanding of Rotary at the Member, Club, District, Zone and International levels. Elevate awareness of how they can learn more about Rotary. Motivate and inspire them to have fun and get involved at the Club, District and International levels. Join Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) Part 1 to learn more.

On the International Service front, I welcome incoming Rotary Youth Exchange students to District 7680. Consider inviting the students to come to speak at your club meeting or social.  In September, D7680 Rotary members are heading to Turkey for the Rotary Friendship Exchange (RFE)  with D2430. They will be traveling to Istanbul, Ankara, Samsun and nearby cities. In Turkey they will be hosted by Rotarians. If you are interested in future RFE opportunities, please let us know.

The District Leadership team has planned three events. Your participation is vital to make the events successful. Take a moment to register for the events.

• Membership, Foundation and Public Image Summit on September 17th,
• International day of Peace on September 21st and
• Foundation Celebration on November 18th.

You will have the opportunity to network, enjoy fellowship, have fun and experience Rotary in action.

I look forward to starting my club visits this month and learning about the work you do in your communities. Thank you for being an active Rotary member, and for being a part of the Rotary family. Your commitment helps demonstrate how we Imagine Rotary.

Warmest Regards,

Kam Chandan

• WED    Sept 14 – DEI Event
• SAT      Sept 17 – District Training
• WED    Sept 21 – Peace Conference
• SAT      Oct 22 – Flight of Honor
• SAT      Oct 22 – Annual Polio Fundraiser
• MON   Oct 24 – World Polio Day
• FRI       Nov 18 – Foundation Celebration

The service partnership between Rotary International and The Peace Corps is the focus of the second annual Rotary-Peace Corps Week taking place 19-23 September 2022. Partnering for Peace (PFP), a group of Rotary members and Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, is hosting the week-long virtual celebration.   

The year’s theme is Peacebuilding on the Ground and will start on Monday, 19 September at 10.00 CDT with a panel webinar including: 

• Keevon Baten, Chief Financial Officer of Open Doors Asheville, founding Rotaract Club President and Returned Peace Corps Volunteer; 
• Charles Dambach, President Emeritus of the National Peace Corps Association, Former President of the Alliance for Peacebuilding, 2017 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, 2017 Institute for Economics and Peace Leadership and Service for Peace Award Recipient; 
• Peter Kyle, 2020-22 Rotary International Director, active peace builder and former chair of the Rotary Peace Center Committee;
• Ana Patel, U.S. Representative for Frontline Defenders, Rotary Peace Fellow, Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, Rotary Representative to UN Women. 

How else can your Rotary community participate in this initiative? 

• Share a summary of a project that you or your club completed through a Rotary-Peace Corps collaboration. 
• Invite a member of the Peace Corps community to speak about their service experience abroad at an upcoming club meeting. To find a speaker, contact: 

• The Peace Corps office in your country 
• Returned Peace Corps Volunteers  
• Partnering for Peace 

• Organize a club-led service project or social event with members of the Peace Corps community. 
• Join Partnering for Peace for free (both individual and organizational memberships available). 
• Honor current and returned Peace Corps Volunteers at an upcoming meeting or conference. 

For more information, email events@partneringforpeace.org or visit Rotary-Peace Corps Week.  

Do you have a project in your community that meets the following criteria?

• Has a long-term, sustainable impact 
• Include activities that align with the goals of one of Rotary’s areas of focus 
• Has a minimum budget of $30,000 
• Addresses an important need identified by the community 
• Strengthen the community’s capacity to address its own needs

If yes, D7680 will match up to $10,000 towards your project. Please reach out to Global Grants Chair George Solomon and District Foundation Chair Beth Trotter with your project idea.

Celebrate Community 2022 is a joint initiative of Rotary International, Kiwanis International, Lions Clubs International and Optimist International. Clubs are encouraged to collaborate on projects to support health and wellness, alleviate food insecurity and hunger, improve education and literacy, and protect the environment. Clubs can organize activities such as community cleanups, food donation drives and distributions, walks and runs to raise money for specific causes, and book collections for children’s personal libraries.

Clubs from across these organizations can connect by making an initial introduction, inviting members of other clubs to their service projects, and creating new activities together to make a difference in their community. Clubs could participate individually or in partnership with clubs from the other organizations

https://www.kiwanis.org/clubs/member-resources/service-projects/celebrate-community

Seminar for Tomorrows Leaders (SFTL) participants from Alleghany County were so inspired for the SFTL experience they they are reigniting their Interact Club with much stronger purpose and energy.

Karlie wrote a touching letter saying she was very thankful for the sponsorship to be part of this great experience.

“it was a life changing experience”

Alumni Relations Team Member/Team Leader

Alumni are valued members of the Rotary family who have participated in a Rotary program, and include Rotary Peace Fellows, scholars, Youth Exchange students, Rotaractors, Interactors, and participants in other Rotary youth and scholarship programs. The District Alumni Relations team can help Rotarians in your district maintain relationships with alumni, which can lead to better projects, fundraisers, and new members. The team will have the opportunity to encourage proven leaders to strengthen their connection with Rotary, ultimately allowing clubs to give back even more to their communities. If you are interested, please reach out to DGN Kevin Kendrick

Foundation Celebration Volunteer

We need volunteers to help with table decorations, stage setup, registration, photography and videography, service project and post event clean up for the Foundation Celebration event on November 18th at Great Wolf Lodge in Concord. Specific instructions will be provided by the Foundation Celebration Committee. If you are interested, please reach out to Allyn Oliver

District Conference Volunteer

We need volunteers to help with event promotion, sell tickets, table decorations, stage setup, registration, photography and videography, service projects and post event clean up for the District Conference event from May 5th – 7th, 2023 at Le Meridian in Charlotte, NC. Specific instructions will be provided by the District Conference Committee. If you are interested, please reach out to Justin Merritt

District DEI Committee

We are always looking to be as representative as possible for our District DEI Committee. We have wonderful representation in the Mecklenburg and Gaston County areas but we would like to see greater involvement from other areas of the District. If you are interested in helping our District to grow our membership by having our clubs understand more about their communities, please reach out to Chris or Rina Arline

Socials on Zoom Committee

Please connect with DGN Kevin Kendrick

The District is sponsoring 7 inbound Rotary Exchange Students. They are:

Ella from Slovakia

        Sponsor Club is Charlotte-North

Marielen from Germany

         Sponsor Club is Asheville

Karina  from Czechia

        Sponsor Club is Brevard

Olivera from Bosnia-Herzegovina

       Sponsor Club is Charlotte

Benedek from Hungary

        Sponsor Club is Lake Norman/Huntersville

Kalle from Germany

       Sponsor Club is Waxhaw-Weddington

Zuzia from Poland

        Sponsor Club is Shelby

Are you new to Rotary or want to learn 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 two events on the September calendar
   > Monday, September 12th at 6:00 and
   > Tuesday, September 20th at 6:00,
with more to follow.

Questions: Contact Marcia Scheideman (mscheideman.ms@gmail.com) or Lorena Prince (garzalster@gmail.com )

Past District Governor Lois Crumpler and her husband Jack celebrated their 61st anniversary two weeks ago, along with Jack’s 85th birthday

The Albemarle Rotary Club held the first Race to Remember on June 18th with around 100 participants running or walking the 1 mile and 5K routes through Albemarle. Rotarian Louisa Hartsell, who recently lost her father to Alzheimer’s, helped lead the effort for sponsors for the first ever Albemarle Rotary Club Race to Remember. Race fees paid for the race administration with all donations and profits being designated for CART. $5,850.50 was raised at the June race. Plans are already underway for the 2nd Annual Race to Remember set for June 10, 2023. Other Rotarians are encouraged to join us for the race or to become a sponsor.

Union West Rotarians participated in the annual Back-to-School-Bash-Union on Sunday, August 7th. Rotarians, Mike Griffin, Shirley and Larry Helms, Clarence Alsobrooks, Andy Peters, Hayden Kramer, and Robin Barron-Golobish proudly represented our club. Rotarians Robin and Hayden also served on the Board of Directors. Volunteers worked from 9:00am to late afternoon.

Families began arriving at 11:30am for the 1:00pm event at Carolina Courts, Indian Trail, NC. Pre-registered students selected their free book bag, and, with the help of a personal assistant, filled their bags with basic school supplies. Union West Rotary donated composition notebooks on which we placed a sticker with the Rotary Four Way Test and our Rotary name.

.Last month the Rotary Club of Global Impact partnered with the US Presidential Culinary Museum, our 24-hour No Questions Asked Food Bank and two Little Free Libraries and prepared 730 meals to help fight hunger