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Rotary District 5030 Newsletter - July 2017 Page 1 of 8

ROTARY: MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Special Observance Month: Disease Prevention & Treatment - Alex Hopkins, District Governor

Monthly Newsletter of Rotary District 5030

In this Issue

Pg. 1 Zone 25 Awards for D5030

Pg. 2 Our New DGD PeaceBuilder Info

Pg. 3 Our Clubs Making a Difference

Pg. 4 Continued from Page 3

Pg. 5 RFH Hearts & Wine Express Grant Project $800,000 Global Grant

Pg. 6 D5030 Global Grant Scholar Emily Copple

Polio Update

Pg. 7 Rotary Business Network and more

Pg. 8 Seema Tamaag

Pg. 9 Youth Service Happenings

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December 2017

It’s hard to believe that the Holiday Season is here again. We are almost half way through the Rotary year. December is focused on Disease Prevention & Treatment, which brings our Polio efforts to mind. A

huge “Thank You” goes out to all of the Clubs and individual Rotarians who contributed to our Polio District Matching Challenge in October. The District was able to do the full $25K match and our total efforts are well over $60K. That’s just the start as it gets matched & multiplied through RI and the Gates Foundation - We Are Making A Difference!

Congratulations to our newly selected District Governor Designee, Cathy Gibson from The Rotary Club of Seattle. See page 2 for more information about this remarkable Rotarian.

Next year will be filled with new opportunities for us all.

District 5030 Website

D5030 on Facebook

District Conference Website

District Conference 2018 on FB

D5030 Private LinkedIn Page

Puget Sound Rotary Network

DACdb

RI Website

End Polio Website

Music4Life

Partners for Work

Rotary First Harvest

Rotarian Malaria Partners

StolenYouth

District Governor Message

Are you interested in joining a District Committee and expanding your

Rotary Network? Follow this link, click on the name and send an email to

the committee chair or email CarmaMcKay@gmail.com. It will be forwarded

to the appropriate Rotarian.

Enjoy the Holiday Season

Alex & Julie

Each year at the Zone Institute, awards are given to Districts who demonstrate outstanding performance in three primary categories, Membership, Public Image and Foundation. As you can see from the list below, we have a very strong District. The awards are for the 2016 - 2017 Rotary year. Congratulations to Bo Darling for his successful leadership as your District Governor.

Public Image: Greatest Brand Adoption by a District | 2nd Place Most Improvement in Brand Adoption by a District | 3rd Place

Foundation: Total Contributions | 2nd Place - $1,387,047 Annual Fund | 2nd Place - $659,940 Annual Fund per Capita | 2nd Place - $252.17 Endowment Fund | 2nd Place - $647,106 Percentage of Members Giving to The Rotary Foundation |1st Place at 78% Club Participation in Global Grants | 3rd Place - 47% Participation Sustained Foundation Achievement over 5 years | 1st Place

Total Contributions in Zone 25 | $10,046,730 Total PolioPlus Contributions in Zone 25 | $1,650,584

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Rotary District 5030 Newsletter - July 2017 Page 2 of 8 5030 Newsletter - December 2017

Our new District Governor Nominee Designate is Catherine Gibson, a 17 year Rotarian and the immediate past president of the Rotary Club of Seattle (#4). This year she serves as the District 5030 Peacebuilder Chair; a year ago she chaired the 2016 District Conference in Coeur d'Alene.

Currently Cathy is the Managing Partner at

Evolve Partner Group, a Seattle-based firm focused on strategic succession support and mediation. Previously she was a partner at Moss Adams for 16 years. She’s a native New Yorker and went to school back east too (MBA from Cornell University; an MS in European Management Science from the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium, and a BA from Mount Holyoke College). In addition to Rotary she is a committed community volunteer, serving on the Seattle Goodwill board for almost 10 years and the board of the West Seattle Family YMCA. She and her husband, Aleksei, have lived in West Seattle since 1991. Both are avid outdoor enthusiasts.

Fun fact: A long-time serious mountaineer, Cathy has completed six of the Seven Summits with the 7th in sight for 2018 + her 20th summit of Mt. Rainier next summer. Earlier this year, when recounting her climb of Mt Vinson she told Seattle #4 Rotarians: "Rotary and mountaineering have a lot in common: people are at the heart of both. Essentially we are all on the same rope team, and it’s our collective success that counts.”

So what can we expect? Last year as Seattle #4’s prez, DGND Cathy championed “hands-on” service while striving to keep Rotary relevant for club members. Together with community peacebuilding, these are two themes we’re likely to hear more about as 2020-2021 gets closer.

Cathy joins the current District Governor line of:

Catherine "Cathy" Gibson Selected as District Governor for 2020 - 2021

Alan Merry 2018-19

Alex Hopkins 2017-18

Catherine Gibson visited Seattle City Rotaract to share ideas on how to work together on Peace Builder initiatives. Perhaps this would involve the King County Juvenile Detention Center where Seattle City Rotaract already volunteers as mentors. As the Club Liaison between Seattle Rotary and Seattle City Rotaract I can say this is a very exciting idea!!! ~ Virginia McKenzie

Bill McElroy 2019-2020

Cathy Gibson

District 5030

Click Here for More Info & Registration

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Rotary District 5030 Newsletter - July 2017 Page 3 of 8

I had the privilege of serving Thanksgiving dinner at Plymouth Housing Group’s new facility on First Hill. The tenants have just recently moved in and are getting to know each other. Seattle Rotary Service Foundation recently

donated the funds for them to purchase the furniture for the common room so they could have their Thanksgiving dinner. It was great to see everyone enjoying it. ~ Kathy Williams, Seattle Rotary

5030 Newsletter - December 2017

Thank You University District Rotary

"Here's a photo of a friend of mine who recently had heart surgery at the UW medical center. They gave him one of the pillows your club donated for heart surgery patients, signed by his care team. "

Susan Beals, Mercer Island Rotary

Thanks to School Counselor Kathy Dryden, several dozen winter coats purchased by the Rotary Club of Kirkland were distributed to students at John Muir Elementary. Additionally, School Counselor Brynn Nielsen of Robert Frost Elementary was able to ensure a number of students from Robert Frost Elementary also received new winter coats.

For many years, Rotary Club of Kirkland’s Warm Coats program has been providing coats to needy students at John Muir. Members of the Club were on hand at the school Friday morning, October 20, to unwrap the coats and assist the students in selecting their preferred size and color. Parents and students left the event assured that they had nothing to fear from the coming winter cold!

Since 1937, The Rotary Club of Kirkland has been providing various services and conceiving and helping to finance numerous projects in Kirkland, from Christmas food baskets to the Club’s most recent project, the new Picnic Pavilion at Waverly Park.

elkrunfarm One of

the things that has allowed the farm to be as productive as it has been thus far has been support from our local Rotary clubs. All the clubs listed provided funds for us to build our infrastructure, such as

the fence the sign is on and the wash/pack behind it. Thank you Rotarians!

West Seattle Rotary does it again; 100 kids given warm coats and more during annual shopping spree

Still think Santa Claus just shows up in the middle of the night? On this day every year – the first Saturday in December – hundreds of Santas rise very early, not to drop off gifts and fly away, but to escort local kids through a wonderland of dining and shopping, during the Rotary Club of West Seattle organized Children’s Shopping Spree.

Southcenter Mall was the location again this year, since it has the nearest Sears. Organizers and volunteers gathered long before dawn, getting their instructions from Rotarian Josh Sutton.

The gifts are bought via Rotary donations and fundraisers. And the time given by members and volunteers is priceless. Some of the groups represented this morning included Alpha Kappa Alpha, Omega Psi Phi, Alpha Phi Alpha, Phi Beta Sigma, Kappa Alpha Psi, Zeta Phi Beta, Delta Upsilon Omega, Omega Delta Phi, Delta Sigma Theta, and UW Rotaract. Even Seattle Lutheran High School basketball players were there!

Kirkland Rotary: Kids are Warm at John Muir Elementary

Our Rotarians are Making a Difference !!!

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Rotary District 5030 Newsletter - July 2017 Page 4 of 8 5030 Newsletter - December 2017

Click Here to Register

Tis the season! Rotary Bell Ringing for Salvation Army was in full swing today. Thanks to everyone who braved the rain to complete your shifts. Two more Saturdays to go! ~ Claudina Campbell, Mercer Island Rotary

With love, from Lynnwood to Mexico City

In Spring of 2015 Dr. Everard Espinosa, M.D. and Lynnwood Rotary Club Rotarian, received a call from his sister in Mexico City about needs for ambulance, pediatric ultrasound and kidney dialysis equipment to provide services to the Hospital General and smaller clinics connected to the hospital. They discussed the potential project at an International Committee meeting. The committee agreed to tackle the project and invited Sandra Cristina Espinosa, volunteer coordinator at Hospital De La Mujer, a clinic connected to Hospital General, to visit our club.

From these simple steps our club and IC started promoting the project. Our three retired physicians were able to use past connections to gain access to potential donors. Dr. Graham Christopher received 5 dialysis machines from a dialysis center, Lalo received 2 ultrasound machines from Swedish Hospital and also a anesthesia machine from an eye surgery center. Dr. Ken Peirce advised us on building crates for packaging and shipping.

We “purchased” a used ambulance from Snohomish County Fire District 1 and received a gurney and gurney equipment from Lynnwood Fire Department. Oak Harbor Freight provided free shipping to Phoenix where we had free storage at Arizona Specialty Motors, owned by Lalo's nephew.

We struggled through myriads of customs forms with help from a most wonderful Mexican custom’s agent in El Paso. After 6 months of custom’s filings, this official agent cleared our cargo for the border crossing to Juarez and Mexico City.

Dozens of groups and people on both sides of the border made this project possible. The Mexico Minister of Health and other delegates were present at arrival of the donations at Hospital General.

We already have begun collecting medical equipment for other projects in Central America.

Rotary matching funds… Lake Union Rotary granted

CHOICES Education Group, a non-profit that reaches out to 8th graders, $3,000 and Emerald City Rotary, Northeast Seattle Rotary and University District Rotary all granted matching funds, and with a matching grant from Rotary District 5030 the amount grew to more than $12,000. At right is Howard Cohen, Emerald City Rotary president and to his right are Leo Muller CHOICES Executive Director with check, and Jim Thomson, Lake Union Rotary sponsor for the grant.

More Rotarians Making a Difference

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Rotary District 5030 Newsletter - July 2017 Page 5 of 8 5030 Newsletter - December 2017

A group of us just returned from Ethiopia where 25 rotary clubs from four different districts funded a water and sanitation project.

This $800,000.00 Global Grant Project is providing water and sanitation to over 30,000 people in one of the poorest countries in the world. Rotary partnered with World Vision who matched our funding and provided the expertise to complete 12 shallow wells (40 to 80 meters deep) and one deep well under construction.

Clubs from our district that made contributions included Seattle #4, Bellevue, Renton, Federal Way, Redmond and Des Moines. Without all these contributions this project would not have been possible. If you don’t think these projects make a difference, talk to a young woman (25 years old) who now doesn’t spend all day gathering water for her family. She plants three different crops and feeds her family, provides school supplies for her siblings and bought mattresses for the family to sleep on.

I wanted to share a wonderful Express Grant project that I, as an Assistant Governor, recently had the opportunity to be involved in. Last month, University Club and Mercer Island Rotary

presented a $1,000 Express Grant to Evergreen Treatment Services (ETS) to help fund the restocking of emergency disaster kits. The kits included emergency food rations, batteries gloves and a basic BLS emergency response kit. Thank you to MI President, Claudine Campbell and University Club President, Ed Sider, along with our District Grants Chair, Catherine Burnell. Catherine had brought this issue to my attention and we thought, why not have 2 clubs combine efforts towards a localized community issue and the needs of ETS fit that bill.

None of us are immune to the effects of opioid use and disorders in our communities. They affect 40% of the homeless population, as well as members of our own families and Rotarians. Evergreen Treatment Services has a proven track record of success and utilizes the single most effective treatment, which is also the medical standard of care, the medication-assisted treatment (MAT), which combined with their award-winning homeless outreach program (REACH) provides a comprehensive solution. These clinical programs provide 4,500 residents of western Washington the support they need to improve their lives to overcome substance use disorder, getting jobs back, moving into housing, or reconnecting with family. 100 staff members serve 1,400 patients daily at the Seattle Clinic. Thank you Rotarians for Making a Difference with the power of the Express Grants!! ~ Vijya Patel, Assistant Governor

Has Your Club Applied for an Express Grant?

February 9, 2018 from 6-9 pm at The Foundry by Herban Feast.

4130 1st Avenue South, Seattle, WA

Tickets are $85 and can be purchased: HERE

Enjoy wine tasting from some of the region's best wineries, a full buffet dinner, live jazz, access to a

lively auction, and more!

All proceeds benefit Rotary First Harvest's efforts to rescue millions of pounds of produce and move

them to our food bank partners for hunger relief.

Join Us for Rotary First Harvest

Hearts & Wine

We also visited a project sponsored by Lake Union Rotary Club (and six other club from our district) and Addis Ababa West Rotary Club where 3,500 students have access to clean water and sanitation in Addis Ababa. This project is also completed and the kids are much healthier and taking care of the system. ~ Tim Arnold, Redmond Rotary

$800,000 Global Grant Project

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Rotary District 5030 Newsletter - July 2017 Page 6 of 8

PolioPlus funding will continue to be needed for three more years. The two new cases reported this past month in Afghanistan make it unlikely that eradication can be achieved by 2020. So sustained funding from Rotary and from governments will be critical for ongoing work into 2021. While the current outlook for US government appropriations at last year’s levels is positive, the final agreement for the current fiscal year had not been reached as this is written. It is anticipated that sustaining the current funding levels in the next fiscal year will encounter stiff headwinds. Grassroots Rotarian advocacy will continue to make our case that unless and until there have been no new polio cases for three years, it could come back. The priceless return on investing in the eradication campaign until polio is gone is that it will be gone forever.

5030 Newsletter - December 2017

Polio Update by Steve Crane

Country 2017 2016 2015

Thru Nov 29 Year End Year End

Afghanistan 11 13 20

Pakistan 5 20 54

Nigeria 0 4 0

Global Totals 16 37 74

Join University District Rotary's Humanitarian Volunteer trip to Fiji

May 1 to 13, 2018 Lead by Basant Singh!

May 1 Depart Los Angeles at 11:30 pm May 3 Arrive Nadi at 5:50 am, transfer to hotel May 3 to 9 Yatule Resort & Spa + Rotary Work! May 9 to 13 Musket Cove Island Resort May 13 Depart Nadi 9:40 pm / arrive LA at 1:25 pm

$4,466 *ppdo

* Price is per person, based on double occupancy. Includes Round trip air from Los Angeles to Nadi, Fiji + transfers from Airport to hotel, hotel to hotel & hotel to airport

To reserve your spot contact: Vicki Robbins (University District Rotarian)

425-775-1595 or 800-622-3342 Vicki.robbins@travelleaders.com

Meet Emily Copple. Emily is one of two Global Grant Scholarships awarded by District 5030 this year. She is off to the University College of London in pursuit of a Master’s degree in Global Health and Development.

Emily has a bachelor of science from Northwest University in nursing. She

worked at the Oncology unit at the University of Washington and was inspired to go on to receive a certificate in tropical nursing and medicine from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Working at Harborview Medical Center since 2015, helped confirm her desire to work with vulnerable populations.

Following the receipt of the Master’s degree, Emily hopes to join Doctors Without Borders, an internationally recognized nonprofit organization that delivers quality healthcare to populations of people who are affected by disasters and conflicts. Longer term, in Emily’s own words, “My ultimate goal is to work in a clinical setting advocating for, increasing access to, and improving quality of healthcare systems that will enhance the livelihoods of displaced, migratory or refugee populations.”

Emily’s scholarship, in Rotary’s “Disease Prevention and Treatment” focus area, is made possible by your donations to The Rotary Foundation. The value of the scholarship is $30,000, with $15,000 coming from our district designated funds and a $15,000 match from the World Fund of The Rotary Foundation. Congratulations Emily!

PolioPlus Incentive Match a Huge Success!

In recognition of World Polio Day on October 24th, our district ran a PolioPlus match incentive during October. For every dollar contributed by a Rotarian or a club, our district would match it with one dollar of District Designated Funds up to $25,000.

When the month of October counting was over, the final contribution figure was $33,911, with contributions coming in from twenty-one of our clubs! In addition, The Rotary Foundation World Fund matched our district contribution fifty cents for every dollar, or a total of $12,500. Add to this the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s two to one match, and the final value to PolioPlus is $214,232!! Thank you everyone for helping to making this match campaign a huge success for PolioPlus!

D5030 Global Grant Scholar

Alderwood-Terrace Auburn Bellevue Breakfast Duvall Emerald City Enumclaw, WA Kent, WA Kirkland (Largest amount) Lake Forest Park Lynnwood Mercer Island

Mill Creek, WA Renton Seattle #4 Seattle-International District Shoreline, WA Snoqualmie Valley University District of Seattle University Sunrise of Seattle Vashon Island Woodinville

Participating Clubs

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Rotary District 5030 Newsletter - July 2017 Page 7 of 8

5030 Newsletter - December 2017

A Business Network for Rotarians

FREE Join the Network Today

WWW.PUGETSOUNDROTARYNETWORK.ORG

IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING

We are here to help you - email us at rotarydirectory@frontier.com

Once you hit the save button, your account is on hold pending verification that you are a Rotarian. So keep it simple at the beginning (as little information as possible).

Once verified and approved you will receive a welcome email. Then you can log back on and make as many changes as you want to your page.

If you cannot find the proper category for your company select Rotarian as a category, email us and we will create one for you.

Pictures are a little tricky. Pay attention to the sizes that the program is recommending for pictures. If you have problems, email us the pictures and tell us the dimension you need.

Facebook Rotary International End Polio Now Rotaract Interact Rotary Peace Centers Rotary International President Rl General Secretary John Hewko

Twitter Rotary International End Polio Now Rotaract Rl General Secretary John Hewko

LinkedIn Rotary International Official Rotary Group Rotary Reconnect GroupRotary Peace Fellowships Group Rotary Youth Exchange Group

Other social sites Instagram YouTube SnapchatGoogle+ SlideShareVimeo

Councils Give us a Voice

Council on Resolutions: The Council on Resolutions meets online every year to vote on proposed resolutions. Resolutions are requests to the Board or the Trustees to take an action that is outside the purview of the constitutional documents. Ideally, a resolution should affect the Rotary world, rather than address local or administrative issues.

Representatives from all Rotary districts vote on resolutions proposed by clubs, districts, the RI Board, and the general council or conference of RIBI. Adopted resolutions are then considered by the RI Board or The Rotary Foundation Trustees.

The 2017 Council on Resolutions took place Oct 15-Nov 15th. The results are published by Nov 20th. Any Rotarian can view the resolutions and the results, but only representatives can vote.

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the Council on Resolutions.

Council on Legislation: Every three years, Rotarians meet at the Council on Legislation to review and vote on proposed changes to the legislation that governs Rotary. They consider enactments, which change Rotary’s governing documents, and position statements by the RI Board. The next Council on Legislation will take place in April 2019.

Council representatives: Each Rotary district chooses a representative for a three-year term. These members represent their districts at all three meetings of the Council on Resolutions and at the Council on Legislation during their term.

Rotary Embraces Social Media

Let's be honest. Social Media can be a challenge for many of us. Technology is moving so quickly it`s hard to keep up. Yet if we don't keep up, we will be left behind. Most of our clubs have a website and are on Facebook. Some use twitter and a few use LinkedIn, YouTube, etc. However, the Social Media world is so much bigger than that. Below are some links to the larger world of Rotary. Take the time to browse through them. You might be pleasantly surprised about what you will learn.

After the Songea Soirée some of the three tables of Rotarians who attended gathered for a picture. Members from our District who attended included Sammamish, Issaquah, Emerald City, Fremont, Kirkland and more. We also had in attendance the Chair of ISC for Oklahoma Steve Shepowitz who pledged his club will seek to provide $40,000 for the Rotary Health Center equipment. ~ Ramiro Valderrama, Chair ISC Sammamish Rotary

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Rotary District 5030 Newsletter - July 2017 Page 8 of 8 5030 Newsletter - December 2017

Seema Tamang Rotary Youth Exchange Student 2016-2017

Namaste (Hello in Nepali)! My name is Seema Tamang and I was a Rotary Youth Exchange student with blindness from Kathmandu, Nepal during the 2016-2017 school year. I was the first outbound exchange student

ever to come from Nepal. My main host-family for the school year was the Rose family with Rob & Gina Rose as my host mom and dad. I had a second host-family with whom I also lived with - the Camrud family consisting of Matt and Christine as my host mom and dad and Adam and Andrew, my younger host brothers.

Home life in the USA was much different than it was in Nepal. In my host-family’s home I had my own room, which was a new experience for me. I was used to sleeping together with my sisters at home and at school with the other girls in the dormitory bedroom. I quickly got used to it but I’ll admit I was a little scared at first. My family home back in Nepal is quite small, so being in a large home was very different and exciting as I got to explore every room and orient myself so that I could move about safely and quickly. It didn’t take me too long to be able to find everything by myself. It seems funny now that when I first arrived I asked my host-mom where the water bucket and pitcher was for flushing the toilet, like we do in Nepal!

We always wash dishes by hand in Nepal and I had never experienced a dishwasher before. However, I quickly learned how to load and empty the dishwasher to be of help to my host family. Using the washer and dryer was also a new experience for me. My host family put Braille dots on the appliances so that I could learn how to use them.

From my exchange experience I have made great improvements with my English skills and I am now able to more easily converse and be friendly with people. It helped me become more adaptable and able to adjust to different circumstances. I am also more comfortable speaking in front of large groups of

people.

I had many amazing experiences during my exchange year. Sledding in the snow, ice-skating, horseback riding, pop-music concerts and American holidays. One that particularly stands out was my visit to the Bellevue, Washington Police Department. On my birthday I was totally surprised to be picked up at home by Captain Lisa from the Bellevue Police Dept. and given a ride in a police car to the station where I found out how the police department worked. I checked out a police motorcycle, practiced self-defense on a rubber dummy and got to go into a police holding cell. I had a fantastic tour!

Another totally new experience for me was that my host family had a pet cat named Kumari. It took me quite a while to get comfortable with cats as no one keeps a cat as a pet in Nepal. My host family put a bell on Kumari’s collar which helped me know where she was. We eventually became good friends. However, my true love is dogs and I was lucky to meet many fun and friendly ones. I got to meet ‘Bella’ the Bulldog, ‘Lilly’ the King Charles Spaniel and ‘Grant’, a guide dog in training. Lilly was the first dog I met and she became my favorite. I miss her so much now that I’m back home. In the future I would love to have a guide-dog to help me and to be my furry friend!

With school I was so surprised that we didn’t have to wear uniforms, that students get to choose their own classes, that we had to move from class-to-class after each period and we got two days off each week (we only get Saturday off in Nepal). Each teacher assigned a fellow student to be my sighted-guide to help me move from class-to-class which helped me make many wonderful friends.

Halloween was my favorite festival. My host mom helped me dress up as a cat and I went door-to-door around our neighborhood with some of my friends, knocking on doors and getting loads of candy!

My advice to other exchange students is to come prepared to change your perspective, get new ideas, become more confident and become more independent.

Seema Tamang

Rotary Youth Exchange Student 2016-2017

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Rotary District 5030 Newsletter - July 2017 Page 9 of 8

INTERACT & ROTARACT AT THE 2018 DISTRICT CONFERENCE – APRIL 27-29 It’s time to start planning for the 2018 District Conference! This year we will have two registration options for Interact and Rotaract members: one for the full conference and the other for Saturday only. The registration fee for both options will be $199. We will have great New Generations speakers and Rotaract presenters will lead several breakout sessions on Saturday, plus Rotaract & Interact clubs will be highlighted throughout the day. We will send more information to Interact and Rotaract liaisons soon!

RYLA Defining moments can make your Rotary Year. Like that moment when your son tells you at dinner "Dad, I attended a cool meeting today. It was called Interact and they do some good work in the community." Or your daughter shares "My school counselor gave me this application to review. She thinks I'm a good candidate to attend a program called RYLA, and it's a weekend of leadership development and a chance to meet students from across Western Washington and Vancouver Island." And when one of the newest and youngest members of your Rotary Club gives a happy buck to say "I attended RYLA when I was younger and can attribute that experience to why I'm here today. One of the things I want to do as a Rotarian is to get involved with RYLA and give back to a program that got me started."

Now is your time to create a defining moment by checking in with your local schools, getting RYLA NW on the minds of the counselors, Interact Advisors, and your club members. RYLA NW is March 15-18, 2018 at Pacific Lutheran University. Anyone can learn more at www.rylanw.org. Registration forms are available online and applications submitted before January 31st get the early bird rate of $275.

RYLA NW 2018- Make it the Defining Moment in a young person's life.

ROTARY YOUTH EXCHANGE Youth Exchange Officers are busy gathering applications for the Academic Year (Long Program) and Summer Program (Short Program). Student Applications are due at the end of November. Clubs interview their applicants in December and select the applicants who will attend the District Interviews on January 6 at the Kirkland International School. Students will be selected for

exchange and matched with host families in March, April and May. Most will leave for their exchange in July and August. We have 10 Long program applications and 11 Short program applications from Bellevue Breakfast, Issaquah, Mercer Island, Mill Creek, Renton, Shoreline, University Sunrise and Vashon Island with more on the way from the hard working Youth Exchange Officers.

Youth Exchange is a path to a life in Rotary. Many Youth Exchange students go on to Interact and Rotaract immediately after their exchange year.

We encourage clubs that are concerned about the future of Rotary membership to consider getting active in Youth Service. Working with high school and college/university students is exciting and gratifying – they are the future and you have the wisdom to make a difference in their lives.

ROTARACT We’ve featured two Rotaract members recently who joined Rotary clubs. Here’s the experience of another, Marie Kiekhaefer, who joined Lake Union Rotary. In her own words:

I learned about Rotary from a friend and mentor who joined a Seattle-area club. When a new Rotaract started at Seattle Pacific, I became a charter member. I attended district training events, participated in service projects, and went to the RI Convention in Seoul, Korea. I was inspired by the energy, drive and enthusiasm I witnessed in the Rotary community. And I was humbled by the warm welcome I received.

Four years later, I’m a member of the Lake Union club, a sponsor club of the SPU Rotaract. The Friday morning meetings fit with my work schedule, and the “$30 under 30” program of monthly dues eased the financial commitment. I expressed interest in joining the club, but I have to credit the members for following up and encouraging me to apply. I mention this for those Rotarians reading -- an invitation to be part of a club is a powerful thing.

5030 Newsletter - December 2017 - What's Up with District 5030 Youth Service

Marie Kiekhaefer, former SPU Rotaract member, who joined Lake Union Rotary, here with Assistant Governor Jean Withers and President Linda Hunter Suzman