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<DIV><FONT size=2> <STRONG><FONT size=3>Messages In This Digest (2
Messages) </FONT></STRONG>
<DIV id=ygrp-summary><A name=toc></A>
<DL>
<DT>1. <A class=ygrp-subj href="mhtml:mid://00000027/#1"><FONT face=Georgia
color=#1e66ae>1415: Louis Piconi online on What the Gates Foundation Gift
Means to</FONT></A> From: Sunil K Zachariah
<DT>
<DT>2. <A class=ygrp-subj href="mhtml:mid://00000027/#2"><FONT face=Georgia
color=#1e66ae>1416: RI President's December Message</FONT></A> From: Sunil K
Zachariah </DT></DL></DIV>
<H1><FONT size=3>Messages </FONT></H1>
<DL class=first>
<DT>1. <A
href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eFlash_Rotary/message/1332;_ylc=X3oDMTJxOTNrdDJjBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE1BGdycElkAzI3ODYwNzYEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDY0MDg2BG1zZ0lkAzEzMzIEc2VjA2Rtc2cEc2xrA3Ztc2cEc3RpbWUDMTE5NjY3ODk4Mw--"
name=1><FONT color=#1e66ae size=2>1415: Louis Piconi online on What the Gates
Foundation Gift Means to </FONT></A></DT></DL>
<H3 class=last><FONT size=2> </FONT><FONT size=2>Sun Dec 2, 2007
5:32 am (PST) </FONT></H3>
<DIV class=ygrp-content>What the Gates Foundation Gift Means to
Rotary<BR><BR>Participate in an on-line discussion with <BR>Rotary Foundation
Trustee and PolioPlus Partners Co-Chair Louis Piconi<BR><BR>What wonderful news
we got this week about the $100 million challenge <BR>gift to Our Rotary
Foundation from the Bill and Melinda Gates <BR>Foundation. What a proud moment
for all of us when we read the RI <BR>press release, or saw it in the newspaper,
or heard it on TV or on <BR>the radio, or read it on the Internet. It was
wonderful to share the <BR>news at our Rotary meetings and listen to the
collective expressions <BR>of joy from the members.<BR><BR>But now that the warm
glow is starting to fade, many Rotarians are <BR>starting to ask Rotary
leaders"What does the Gates gift really mean <BR>for Rotary?", "Do we have to
raise more money?", "How will this <BR>affect annual fund giving?", "Will
PolioPlus Partners donations <BR>count toward the challenge?" I suspect most of
us cannot really <BR>answer the many, many questions being asked. We need
information.<BR><BR>To help sort this out, and to help answer some of the
questions <BR>floating around Rotary meetings, Rotary Foundation Trustee (and
co-<BR>chair of the PolioPlus Partners Task Force) Lou Piconi has agreed to
<BR>participate in an on-line discussion on this and other Foundation
<BR>subjects. The International Computer Users Fellowship of Rotarians
<BR>(ICUFR) has generously agreed to once again make its "Community <BR>Forums"
Internet site available so that Rotarians around the world <BR>can discuss the
Gates Foundation gift, its impact on Rotary and our <BR>clubs, and other
Foundation subjects with one of the most <BR>knowledgeable Rotarians.<BR><BR>The
on-line discussion with Trustee Piconi will take place over a 51 <BR>hour period
beginning at 900 A..M., EST, on Monday, December 10th and <BR>ending at Noon EST
on Wednesday, December 12, 2007. This informative, <BR>and perhaps provocative,
discussion with Trustee Piconi will take <BR>place at the web site http:
//www2.icufr.<WBR>org<BR><BR>To ask Trustee Piconi questions and to participate
in the discussion, <BR>Rotarians must register in the Forum. To do that, go to
the website <BR>and click on 'Register' at the top section of the opening page
of the <BR>Community Forums http //www2.icufr.<WBR>org . A 'Terms' page will
next <BR>appear and, once you accept the terms, you will automatically go to
<BR>the 'Registration' page. Please complete all 'required' information.
<BR>When you register, please make sure you make a personal, private <BR>record
of the 'User Name' and 'Password' you decide to use when <BR>registering in the
Community Forums. It will be necessary to add your <BR>club name and district,
and additional information in the profile, if <BR>you wish.<BR><BR>After you
"register", you will receive a confirming email from an <BR>ICUFR volunteer
confirming your registration. After receiving the <BR>confirming email, you must
post messages and participate in other <BR>services on the web site. Registering
for the Community Forums <BR>carries no obligation, and you will not be placed
on an email list as <BR>a result of registering.<BR><BR>You also may enter the
Forum as a 'guest' and read the discussion in <BR>the Community Forum but you
will not be able to 'post' without <BR>registering.<BR><BR>We suggest you go to
the ICUFR's Community Forums now, register and <BR>then look around for a while
to get a 'feel' for the Community <BR>Forums. Post a message or two in any of
the sections and topics, make <BR>some friends, and be ready for the discussion
with Trustee Lou <BR>Piconi. On Monday, December 10th, on or after 900 A.M. EST,
you can <BR>log into the ICUFR's Community Forums, and be ready to go. Scroll
<BR>down to 'HOT TOPICS', click on 'The Rotary Foundation' and then click <BR>on
'Discussion with Trustee Louis Piconi". Then fire away with your <BR>questions
about the impact of the Gates Foundation gift and any other <BR>questions about
The Rotary Foundation.<BR><BR>We sincerely will appreciate you passing this
message along to other <BR>Rotarians. Please post it on your district or club
web site, publish <BR>it in your district and club newsletter, and forward it to
all <BR>Rotarians in your email address book. In the meantime, if you have
<BR>any questions, you can ask them in the ICUFR's COMMUNITY FORUMS in <BR>the
'Computer Help and Ideas' section under the topic of 'Help Using <BR>this
Forum', or, alternatively, write to me at dwm @mooers-law.<WBR>com <BR>and I'll
help with your questions.<BR><BR>See you on-line on Monday, December
10th.<BR><BR>Source: Dan Mooers, PRID,Zone 31 Coordinator,<WBR>PolioPlus
Partners Task <BR>Force, Director, ICUFR <BR>Courtesy:
eFlash_Rotary<BR><BR></DIV>
<DIV class=ygrp-dateline>
<DIV class=offset>2. <A
href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eFlash_Rotary/message/1333;_ylc=X3oDMTJxcTZvaWVjBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE1BGdycElkAzI3ODYwNzYEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDY0MDg2BG1zZ0lkAzEzMzMEc2VjA2Rtc2cEc2xrA3Ztc2cEc3RpbWUDMTE5NjY3ODk4Mw--"
name=2><FONT color=#1e66ae>1416: RI President's December Message
</FONT></A></DIV></DIV>
<H3 class=last><FONT size=2> Sun Dec 2, 2007 5:43 am (PST)
</FONT></H3>
<DIV class=ygrp-content>RI President's December Message<BR><BR>December is
family month, a time when we pay special attention to our <BR>emphasis on the
family of Rotary. When I speak about this, I'm often <BR>asked to explain just
what the family of Rotary means and why it's <BR>included as an
emphasis.<BR><BR>When you put the family of Rotary idea next to such enormous
needs as <BR>nutritious food and clean water, it might seem much less important.
<BR>After all, as Rotarians, we're here to help everyone and look out for
<BR>all those who need us. We don't just look after our own – that's not
<BR>what Rotary is about. <BR><BR>As Rotarians, we do have a great
responsibility to make sure Rotary's <BR>good work doesn't end with us. Rotary
does so much that is so <BR>important in so many ways: providing water to the
thirsty, food to <BR>the hungry, medical care to the poor and sick, education to
the <BR>illiterate. It's been doing that for more than 100 years now.<BR><BR>But
if we focused all our attention on nothing but that lifesaving <BR>and
life-altering work, then that work would eventually come to an <BR>end. Rotary
would die out in a generation if we did not also pay <BR>attention to the health
of our own organization – our members, our <BR>clubs, and those who will join
our clubs in the years to come.<BR><BR>One reason I've always felt so at home in
Rotary and with the idea of <BR>the family of Rotary could be that I come from a
large family myself. <BR>I'm one of 10 children – six girls and four boys. But
as big as my <BR>family is, it's nothing compared with Rotary. We're not just
1.2 <BR>million Rotarians in 32,000 clubs. We're 250,000 Interactors, 170,000
<BR>Rotaractors, 150,000 Rotary Community Corps members and, in the last
<BR>year alone, about 8,000 young people in Rotary Youth Exchange. And, <BR>of
course, we also include the spouses, widows and widowers, and <BR>children of
Rotarians. Altogether, the family of Rotary is well over <BR>two million
strong.<BR><BR>Our family is strong because it's close, and because it's always
<BR>forming new ties. We need to ensure that Rotary keeps growing – in <BR>all
the branches of our family. We should always be looking for and <BR>inviting
qualified men and women to join our clubs.<BR><BR>Wilfrid J. (Wilf)
Wilkinson<BR>President, Rotary International <BR><BR>Courtesy:
eFlash_Rotary<BR></DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>