Message from the President - 06/21/2013
Message from the President,
An excerpt from the White House Website:
"The White House honored 10 U.S. Rotary club members in May of 2013 from across the country as Champions of Change for their volunteer work to improve the lives of others. Rotary club members are grassroots volunteers and successful business leaders who want to give back to make the world a better place, and embody what being a Champion of Change is all about."
Here are the 10 projects that were recognized:
1. Clean Water and Hygiene Education, Honduras - Carolyn Crowley Meub of Rutland, Vermont heads Pure Water for the World, which she transformed from a small Rotary club project to into an effective international charity that has brought clean water and sanitation to thousands of families in Honduras and Haiti.
2. Children's Safe Water Project, Dominican Republic - Retired CEO Terrence Allen of St. Joseph, Michigan and his wife Liz devote their volunteer time to the Children’s Safe Water Project in the Dominican Republic, which provides clean water to thousands of families in the Dominican Republic.
3. Project Medishare, Haiti - Noelle Galperin of Coral Gables, Florida spearheaded her club’s Haiti recovery efforts in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake.
4. Village Bank Program in Malawi - Dr. Richard J. Kemme of Greeley, Colorado uses his background in orthopedic surgery to train orthopedic surgeons in the southeast African nation of Malawi.
5. Educating women and girls and enhancing health care training in Jalalabad, Afghanistan - Fary Moini of San Diego, California has led her Rotary club in a series of successful projects to increase educational opportunities for girls and young women and enhance the training of health care professionals in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
6. Polio immunizations, India - Anil Garg of Simi Valley, California has led multiple teams of Rotary volunteers to his native India to immunize children against polio.
7. Webb Elementary School Scholarship, Arlington TX - A tireless advocate for higher education in his local community, Jim Fulgham of Arlington, Texas has been a driving force behind the Rotary Scholarship Program at Webb Elementary School. Focused on helping children from disadvantaged families, the program provides a scholarship to every sixth-grader who goes on to finish high school and enroll in college.
8. Mobile Food Pantry, Anchorage AK - David Kester of Anchorage, Alaska and his Rotary club have been instrumental in the success of the Mobile Food Pantry of Anchorage, which has provided more than three million pounds of produce, dairy products and other perishable foods to thousands of Alaskan families in need over the past six years.
9. Warren Easton Charter High School Recovery, New Orleans LA - Henry Lowentritt of Metairie, Louisiana led his Rotary club’s effort to renovate and reopen historic Warren Easton High School after it was nearly destroyed by the flooding that followed Hurricane Katrina.
10. Coal Pit Learning Center Expansion, Henrico County VA - Fred Thompson of Manakin-Sabot, Virginia led his Rotary club in the expansion of the Coal Pit Learning Center, which provides enriched pre-schooling opportunities to children from low-income families.