Dear Active Members and Guests,
Happy New Year! 2019 will hold great opportunities for us as Rotarians to become engaged in “Service Above Self” and strive to learn and appreciate other cultures. We will have a few members visiting Cucuta, Columbia as our container of food arrives to help feed the hungry refugees crossing the border from Venezuela. In March, we receive our six guests (5 delegates and one facilitator, and possibly a translator) from Ukraine through Open World. They will be here to focus on energy efficiency and we also want to show them Texas Hospitality with a chili cook-off, Texas BBQ and a visit to the Houston Livestock and Rodeo. This is the 20thAnniversary of Open World. We will need to submit host family forms by January 29th, so please let me know if you are interested in hosting. This is limited to those members living in Northwest Houston, but we will have the team present a program online for all to meet them.
Of course, Springtime will bring great opportunities for our garden project at Wisdom High School. We will work beside our Interactors to plant veggies and see other artistic plans take hold in the courtyard. Thanks, Wind Nguyen and Belinda Kaylani, for your diligence in attending meetings at the school and working closely with our partners Vox Culture and Galleria Rotary.
We need everyone on board to sell tickets and find some silent auction items for our House Concert on January 26that my house with Rebecca Folsom. Please send your list of names and auction items to me so I can prepare the signup sheets for the auction and keep a list of expected attendees. I will send an email soon with an auction item request form for you to use in speaking to various shops, restaurants, etc.
It will be another busy year and as always, rewarding, and inspiring! May we continue on our journey to build peace in this world, and hope to see you at the Peace Conference in Houston.
Districts 5890 and 5910 have teamed up to host a Gala for Peace on February 9th at Crowne Plaza Houston. The annual All Club Meeting will be held as part of the event. This will be a great opportunity to have a conversation about peace, obstacles and opportunities.
Looking forward to seeing you online and planning projects together in the New Year!
Yours in Rotary,
Robin Charlesworth, President 2018-19
Rotary e-club of Houston