Mark your calendar for next Tuesday, September 17th, for our zoom meeting with David Traxler as our guest speaker. He is a retired military veteran and the Executive Director of US Veteran's Initiative.
With our new program of communications, each club member will receive an invitation email to the meeting. It is imperative that you accept the invitation which will lead to further email reminders and the details to login to the zoom meeting. This must be done each month as each login is unique each month.
Also, this is now the format used to collect club dues which begin each July for the $300 annual dues payment. Please enter your credit card information in this secure format. In the future, this should make collecting dues and other payments quite seamless. If you have not yet paid this year's dues, please do so soon. We have already issued checks to both Rotary International and our Rotary District 5890 for this Rotary year.
Global grants have a minimum budget of $30,000 and a maximum World Fund award of $400,000. Grant sponsors can use a combination of District Designated Funds (DDF), cash, and/or directed gift and endowed fund program award spendable amounts to fund a global grant. The Foundation will provide an 80 percent World Fund match for all DDF contributions. There is no minimum World Fund match. Both the district or club in the country where the activity is carried out and the international partner district or club must first become qualified before applying for a global grant.
To be approved, your application must clearly describe how your project, scholarship, or vocational training team:
Is sustainable — include plans for long-term success after the global grant funds have been spent
Responds to real community needs — any club or district that applies for a global grant to support a humanitarian project or a vocational training team must conduct a community assessment first and design the project based on what they learn through that assessment.
Applications are accepted throughout the year and are reviewed as they're received.
Global Grant 2458184 “Let me walk again with prosthetics”
The Rotary e-club of Houston has donated $2,000 toward this global grant sponsored by the Rotary Club of Ciudad Juarez Oriente (D-4110) and the Rotary Club of Los Lunas (D-5520). This grant has been approved by Rotary International in the amount of $40,800 USD. This grant was introduced to our club by Salvador Gonzalez. He is a member of our club and lives in El Paso, Texas.
Isis Meijas - "I got married!" Congratulations to our Past President, Isis!
Chopin Kiang - On the mend - still recovering from several hospitalizations but doing better. May you continue to become stronger and healthier!
Lynette Wilke - Invited to speak to Rotarians in India about Certification of Rotary Youth Exchange Program and How to Build a Successful Rotary Youth Exchange Program. She will be traveling with PDG Sonny and Rashmi Sharma.
Dick Robie - Supported Harvest for the Hungry at their 4th fundraiser. "In Texas, 1 in 7 people, including 1 in 4 children, struggle with hunger everyday. Together, we can make a difference by providing fresh and free produce to struggling families within our community." - Feeding America Several of our club members have volunteered at Harvest for the Hungery in the past. It is located on 61 acres, in Freeport, Texas, where farm-to-table fruits, vegetables, honey, eggs, fish, and other healthy foods are grown. Every year, Harvest for the Hungry secures thousands of pounds of healthy farm-to-table food that goes to local communities and partners that serve the residents in Brazoria, Fort Bend, Harris County, and others.
Anais Watsky - Selling raffle tickets (need not be present to win) for the 7th Annual Charity Golf Tournament benefitting Hope Center Houston. Drawing date is September 23 at 6:00 pm. $10 each or 6 tickets for $50. Hope Center provides resources for men and women experiencing homelessness. The program nurtures the body with breakfast, lunch, laundry, showers, and clothing, while assisting with medical and mental health needs. Life-skills classes, counseling, AA, and referrals to support efforts to transition off of the streets are offered along with prayers, Bible study, and chapel to encourage and support spiritual needs. Services also include a medical clinic, county health services, mail service, Wifi and computer access, allowing guests to conduct job searches and connect with family. Hope Center is located at 821 Peakwood, Houston, Texas 77090.
Protus Onyango - Requests donations for his nonprofit organization, Lantern for Light Foundation. Currently building a Digital Library in Sega, a rural village in Kenya. The construction is already 90% completed and a shipping container will soon be sent with laptops or desktop computers (must have internet capability), tablets or kindles, leadership books, entrepreneurial books, and spiritual books.
ML Brookshire - Recently contacted by BBC World Service for an interview about Clubhouse Ghana to create a documentary. This nonprofit's mission is "Ending social and economic isolation for people with mental illness by growing the number and quality of Clubhouse rehabilitation programs worldwide."
Valerii Iakovenko - Participated in a roundtable discussion on "From Detection to Action: Drones and Agriculture in the United States" and "Fleet of millions: Ukrainian secrets of mass production of drones" at the Commercial UAV Expo with the first Ukrainian Pavilion to participate in this world's largest UAV industry event in Las Vegas.
In her late 20s, Angela Lee Duckworth left a demanding job as a management consultant at McKinsey to teach math in public schools in San Francisco, Philadelphia and New York.
After five years of teaching seventh graders, she went back to grad school to complete her Ph.D. in psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, where she is now an assistant professor in the psychology department. Her research subjects include students, West Point cadets, and corporate salespeople, all of whom she studies to determine how "grit" is a better indicator of success than factors such as IQ or family income.
What others say
“Angela Lee Duckworth's research validated and furthered my beliefs in the keys to success for individuals, teams and a business. While intelligence is required, Angela demonstrated that the determining factors for success were perseverance, hard work and a drive to improve.” — Shabbir Dahod, Forbes
Following this talk, you may opt to go to ted.com and search for this talk to take a survey: How much grit do you have?
In 1892, at Stanford University, an 18-year old student struggled to pay his tuition fees. He was an orphan and, not knowing where to turn for money, came up with a brilliant idea. He and a friend decided to host a musical concert on campus to raise funds for their education. They approached the great pianist Ignacy J. Paderewski. His manager demanded a guaranteed fee of $2,000 for the piano recital. An agreement was reached, and the boys started working to make the concert a success. The big day arrived, but unfortunately, they hadn't managed to sell enough tickets. The total collection was only $1,600. Disappointed, they approached Paderewski and explained their difficult situation. They gave him the full $1,600, plus a check for the remaining $400. They promised to pay the check as soon as possible. "No," said Paderewski. "This is not acceptable." He tore up the check, returned the $1,600, and said to the two boys, "Here is the $1,600. Please deduct any expenses you have incurred. Keep the money you need for fees. And give me what remains." The boys were astonished and thanked him profusely. It was a small act of kindness, but it clearly marked Paderewski as a great human being. Herbert Hoover was one of the first graduates of Stanford University in 1895.
Why would he help two people he didn't even know? We all encounter situations like this in our lives. And most of us only think, "If I help them, what will happen to me?" Truly great people think, "If I don't help them, what will happen to them?" They don't do it expecting something in return. They do it because they feel it is the right thing to do.
Paderewski later because the Prime Minister of Poland. He was a great leader, but unfortunately, when WW I broke out, Poland was devastated. There were over 1.5 million people starving in his country, and there was no money to feed them. Paderewski didn't know whom to turn to for help. He asked for assistance from the U.S. Food Administration. He heard that there was a man named Herbert Hoover, who later became the President of the United States. Hoover agreed to help and quickly sent tons of grain to feed the starving Polish people. A calamity was averted.
Paderewski felt relieved. He decided to travel to meet Hoover and thank him personally. When Paderewski began to thank Hoover for his noble gesture, Hoover quickly intervened and said, "You shouldn't thank me, Mr. Prime Minister. Perhaps you don't remember, but many years ago, you helped two young students go to college. I was one of them."
While the facts of the above story can't be verified, the gist of the story remains. Probably the concert tickets were only $2.00 and the largest off campus concert hall would only hold a maximum of 400 people. See an article from National Archives Hoover Heads about Hoover and Paderewski written on February27, 2019 by Thomas Schwartz, Ph.D. , posted in Herbert Hoover, Musicales, Uncategorized. It seems apparent was some facsimile of the story is based in reality according to recollections from Herbert Hoover, Mrs. Hoover, and George Akerson, Hoover's assistant. Herbert Hoover shared this memory at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 with M. Paderewski, Prime Minister.
The world is a wonderful place. What you sow, you reap. Please help others as best as you can. In the long run, you may be helping yourself. The universe never forgets anyone who sows a good seed in others, never.
Nothing in nature lives for itself. Rivers don't drink their own water. Trees don't ear their own fruits. The sun doesn't give heat just for itself. Flowers don't spread fragrance for themselves. Living for others is the rule of nature. And therein lies the secret of living.
We all buy groceries and now our dollars spent at Kroger's will return a portion to our Rotary club. We have become a part of the NPO (Non-Profit Organization) Kroger Community Rewards Program.
Visit http://www.kroger.com. Once logged into their Kroger account, search for ROTARY E-CLUB OF HOUSTON, TEXAS USA either by name or BG564 and then click Enroll. New users will need to create an account which requires some basic information, a valid email address and a rewards card. If you previously participated in this reward program, you may now change your choice to Rotary e-Club of Houston.
*Customers must have a registered Kroger rewards card account to link to your organization. *If a member does not yet have a Kroger rewards card, please let them know they are available at the customer service desk at any Kroger
NOTE: REMEMBER, purchases will not count for your organization until after your participants register their rewardscard. Participants must swipe their registered Kroger rewards card or use the phone number that is related to their registered Kroger rewards card when shopping for each purchase to count.
The monies earned here will be deposited into our club foundation account to be used solely for service projects.
MAY 1-4, 2025 at the Texas A&M Hotel and Conference Center in College Station
OUR DESTINATION: TEXAS A&M HOTEL AND CONFERENCE CENTER
Overlooking Kyle Field, the Doug Pitcock '49 Texas A&M Hotel and Conference Center is located on the beautiful and historic Texas A&M campus. Housed in a striking glass tower across from Kyle Field and near the Memorial Student Center, the hotel and conference center provides stunning accommodations.
Go to the Rotary District 5890 website to "Register to Attend District Conference" and "Link to Hotel Room Reservations"
Hotel Room Rates:
$159 (King), $169 (Double Queen), $219 (Suites)
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Texas A&M Hotel's Reveille's Canine Pals - this is a dog friendly hotel for $50 non-refundable deposit.
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District Conference Registration Fees:
$299/pp - April 29, 2024 -Jan 31, 2025
$399/pp - February 1, 2025 - May 1, 2025
Spouse/Guest of Rotarian (non-Rotarians) Price: $195/pp (no additional discounts allowed)
District Conference Registration Includes:
Welcome Reception at George Bush Presidential Library
Five (5) District Conference Meals
Multiple Hospitality Suites with Free Cocktails & Mocktails nightly!
Events includes "First Friday in Bryan" - Live music, family-friendly activities in Historic Downtown Bryan.
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