Essay contest Winners [2007]

Congratulations!
The winners of 2007 Essay contest...
Juliet Pawelski (1st place: $500)
John Kocsis (2nd place: $300)
Elaine Hong (3rd place: $200)
Sonika Chandra & Vickie Chou (Honorable Mentions: $100 to each)

From left to right, are Dr। Fran Carothers, Rotarian Dan Whiteside, Vickie Chou, Juliet Pawelski, Elaine Hong, John Kocsis, Sonika Chandra, and Mr। Brian Martin। Dr. Carothers is supervisor of the English Department at CV and Mr. Martin is a 9th grade English teacher.

Lending a hand to Chance Orphanage

Clarence Asbury and Steve Grubb have been exploring if there are other needs at the Chance Orphanage. They have learned that the orphanage needs a new bathroom for the children. The orphanage estimates that the materials will cost around $3,000. A team from St. James Presbyterian Church (Clarence and Steve are both members there) plans to go to South Africa in March 2008 to install the bathroom. Clarence hopes to be part of that team. This morning, the Board approved a donation of $2,000.00, again from the “new international project” line item. That line item has $3,000.00, so we overcommitted by $100.00, but there are funds elsewhere in the budget. Steve will approach District to see if we can get a simplified grant for the other $1,000.00 (it’s likely too small a project for a RI matching grant, and those take a long time). If there are not funds available at the District level, we will reexamine our budget and contact other local clubs and the club in South Africa that is partnering with us in the computer/playground project about participating in this project.

Harrisburg-Keystone Club - First International Project

The Harrisburg-Keystone Club (aka the Happy Hour Club) is embarking on its first international project.
You may recall that Keystone Club members have assisted us with Monte Carlo for the last couple of years. One of their members met Ed Barben and asked if he’d assist them with their first Matching Grant application. They will be assisting the Good Shepherd Health Care Center in Guayaquil-Ecuador by providing dental and medical equipment to a clinic. The Rotary Club of Guayaquil South in District 4400 is also participating. One of the Keystone Club members is a native of Ecuador. Thus, there are eyes and ears on the ground, which we’ve learned is very helpful!

In September, after a month of study, our Club’s Board voted to support this project. At this morning’s Board meeting, we approved a donation of $1,100.00 (the same amount as the Guayaquil South Club and the Keystone Club are each contributing). The funds will come from a line item in our budget for “new international project.” Our Board thinks it is an honor to be asked to support the Keystone Club in its first project and shows how Rotarians can work together.