District 7120 Water Committee Meeting

District 7120 Water Committee Meeting, Rotary Room, Clifton Springs Hospital August 19, 2011 Paul Minor, Canandaigua, chair. Special Guests, Jim ad Susan Bodenner of the Safe Water Team from Rockford, Michigan The Bodenners are members of the Rotary District 6290 World Community Service Committee and the Rockford Rotary Club. Jim Bodenner is Vice Chair of the Rotarian Water and Sanitation Action Group. Sue Bodenner is the president-elect of the Rockford Rotary Club.

Paul announced that a survey has been sent to all 64 club presidents in District 7120 to learn what they are doing as far as a club water project. Only 4 surveys have been returned.

Susan Bodenner was our guest speaker. She met Bob Hildreth in the Dominican Republic and a family who had used the bioidsand water system. There was a lot of excitement about the filter. They learned about a little girl named Marisol who seemed to be wasting away until her neighbor got a water filter and invited Marisol’s family to use water from it. After drinking the filtererd regularly, Marisol slowly regained her strength. The Bodenners agreed to contribute $400 they had from their Rotary club to help purchase additional filters, and then came home and got other clubs to go to Dominican Republic on a trip. “It was good for the project and good for world community service. It raised awareness of the foundation and what it can do.” Susan made several suggestions for our committee SUGGESTION 1: Get an annual trip going to allow Rotarians to see for themselves the difference they can make by sponsoring a water project. Hook up with Rotary Clubs in other counties or districts. You could sign on to the Bodenner’s trip if you want. (During a later trip to DR, the Bodenners met Judy Bennett and Paul Minor from Canandaigua club).There are three entry points to DR where projects are under way. It is a good idea to plan your trip to arrive during a project fair the Rotary clubs in DR host, It is expensive for DR Rotary Clubs to host waves of visiting Rotarians. SUGGESTION 2: World Community Service is not just water. Like polio, the safe water project won’t get done in our lifetime. Be alert for other, shorter term projects.

SUGGESTION 3:Have a water conference or attend theirs on Sat. April 14. They attract 150-200 people. It is open to everyone. Has evolved into good partnerships for Rotary. They talk about what’s wrong, and what is working. The morning session has presentations by World Health Organization, Communicable Disease Center, USAgency for International Development, etc. Afternoon sessions deal with the science of water technologies. You don’t have to use the biosand technology. There are other technologies that are also effective. – sand, concrete, plastic. Three District Governors contributed $500 each toward the cost of the conference, which cost $50 per participant. SUGGESTION 4: District Simplified Grants can have a major impact. The district’s water committee can match grants which are also matched by DSGs. (Biosand filters cost $115 each.) Clubs can apply for DSGs to match their contributions. Bodenner’s district committee, Thirsting to Serve, matches district grants. SUGGESTION 5: Challenge each club to buy at least one filter. Have a water person in every club, who serves on the district water committee, and participates in an international trip. . Paul: The district needs a conduit so clubs can contribute to their choice of water projects already under way in the district. (Seneca Falls’s Malawi project, Finger Lakes Christian Fellowship’s Ghana project, Canandaigua’s Dominican Republic/Haiti project.) Clubs need to be able to identify with a specific project, buy in, take ownership. We need a newsletter to inform clubs what other clubs gave, where the money went, upcoming trips Rotarians could take. DGN Ellen - There has to be a mechanism so clubs receive credit toward their Paul Harris awards when they contribute to a water project, and also so they receive recognition for their contributions. Norma – We need to find out what clubs are interested in doing, what support they want the district committee to provide. The committee should be an in-out conduit, a central point - for sharing information about what other clubs are doing as well as sending out information clubs need. Gary Francis: Committee members should plan to make presentations to other clubs. Don’t wait for the survey to come back. Talk to club members in person and collect information during the meeting. Paul has CDs that can be used in presentations to clubs PDG Jim Holden: We need to pin down specifics. Making presentations about specific projects usually result in participation. $500 check – which can be matched equally by the Foundation. Ask for money in April, when clubs have funds they’ve earned through projects during the year. Make sure we have a 501(c)3 (not for profit) corporation to receive tax-deductible contributions. DG Norma: Water is a popular subject. It is pretty easy to sell. NEXT MEETING: 4 PM SEPTEMBER 21, AT CLIFTON SPRINGS HOSPITAL ROTARY ROOM. Representatives from all Rotary Clubs are welcome to attend.

NOTES: Seneca Falls Rotary is sponsoring Wine, Water and All that Jazz on Sunday, Sept 18, 1-6 p.m. at Goose Watch Winery, Route 89, Varick. Tickets $20 each available from Seneca Falls Rotarians. Proceeds benefit Malawi project. Finger Lakes Christian Fellowship in Seneca Falls is selling three-bottle packs of Lighthouse Salad dressing for $12to benefit their Ghana water project. Lighthouse Foods is donating $40,000 worth of salad dressing product with 100% of the processes bused to purchase Hydraid Biosand Water Filters. The purchase of one carton of 8 gift packs ($120 including shipping) will fund one filter and provide safe water for a family for more than 10 years. Contact Pastor Jerry Graziano, [email protected]. Tel. 315-651- 0260. Clubs can order cases online at www.thirstingtoserve.org to support their own project. PP Doris Wolf or DGN Ellen Hughes from Waterloo have a sample box of the salad dressings. Waterloo Rotary bottles of Start With Water for $1 each at its various club activities this year: Fly In Breakfast Oct. 2, Halloween Pumpkin Express, and other events. Judy Bennett of Canandaigua Rotary has cases of water your club can purchase for $9.60.Contact her at [email protected]