DISTRICT GOVERNOR’S NOVEMBER MESSAGE---

 

NOVEMBER IS ROTARY FOUNDATION MONTH!

 

The fact that November is Foundation Month in Rotary is no accident.  November is traditionally a time for reflection and as the calendar year winds down to a close, Rotarians often find themselves asking, “Have I done enough?  What more can I do to help?”

 

Your simple gift to the Annual Programs Fund provides hope and opportunity to people in worldwide, in nations where little hope and opportunity exist.  If by your birth, you were born in a shanty, sent at the age of three to forage in the garbage dump for food to help feed the family, and were lucky to live long enough drinking contaminated water, what kind of a life could you expect to lead?  Without an opportunity for basic education, how would you even know that another world existed outside of your realm?

 

UNICEF, one of our partners in the global eradication of polio, publishes the fact that over one-half of the world’s population (three billion people) live on less than US$2.50 a day.  Too, we often hear in Rotary that most of us are quick to spend more than that on a cup of Starbucks coffee every day or we spend our money on something else that we really don’t need.  Maybe we can think about question number four on the Four-Way Test, “Is it beneficial to all concerned?”

 

In Rotary, our motto is to do good in the world.  You can do just that by making your gift to the Annual Programs Fund before 2009 comes to a close.  By doing so, you will provide a source of funding from which all Rotarians can work together to save lives and change lives through our Rotary Foundation.

 

“The Future of Rotary is in Your Hands.”  So is the life of someone in need.  Concern yourself with being beneficial by being extraordinary this year.  Make your annual gift today.

 

Yours in Rotary,

Ted Silver

District Governor 2009 -10