Naugatuck Rotary - Naugatuck Rotary Newsletter

As most of you know Michael and Ellen Steir lost their daughter Jill. One of Jill's passions was Broadway and so they have chosen "Rosie's Broadway Kids" as a way to keep her passion alive. Anyone wishing to make a donation in Jill Steir's memory may do so at www.rosiesbroadwaykids.org

Jeanine LeVasseur has Duck Race tickets for sale!!! They are $5.00 per ticket and $2.50 comes back to our Rotary Club for every ticket sold. So SELL THOSE DUCKS!!

Milt Grele wants marchers! The Memorial Day Parade will be held on May 25th this year. Line up starts at 8:00AM in Union City. The Parade goes off at 9:00. It's a great time! Please let Milt know if you can march.

Today was the last day at the club for our Students. They both thanked us for the opportunity to learn about Rotary and are thankful that Rotary exists in Naugatuck.

Guests

Students Deborah DaSilva and Joe Iannotti

Upcoming Speakers
5/6       John Aresta - GSE Team to make a presentation
5/13      Brian Barrett
5/20      Anne Butler
5/27      Jeff Chipokas - Gary Toole, Connecticut Community Investment Corporation
6/3       Mary Connolly
6/10      Peggy Dufresne
6/17      Barbara Csanka/Richards
6/24     Annual Meeting
7/1        Joe DaSilva
7/8        Ray Dowling
7/15      Geoff Drawbridge
7/22      Deb Corso
7/29      Club Assembly

Birthdays and Anniversaries

Happy Birthday to:

Jack Tatagian 4/29

Cathie Mauritz 5/1

Debbie Corso 5/13

Happy Anniversary to:

Cathie Mauritz 5/4

Tony Purcaro 5/1

Membership Anniversaries

None this week

Our Speaker Today

Today was Club Assembly and President John Ford brought us up to date regarding Polio eradication.

The US$200 million funding agreement between Rotary and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation marks another milestone in Rotary’s 20-year legacy of polio eradication work.

Rotary, a volunteer service organization of 1.2 million men and women, made a commitment to immunize the world’s children against polio in 1985 and became a spearheading partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative three years later. The other partners are the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and UNICEF.

Rotary’s primary responsibilities include fundraising, advocacy, and volunteer recruitment. To date, Rotary has contributed nearly $700 million to the eradication effort, an amount that will grow to more than $850 million by the time the world is certified polio-free.

With nearly 33,000 clubs in over 200 countries and geographical areas, Rotary reaches out to national governments worldwide to generate crucial financial and technical support for polio eradication. Since 1995, the advocacy efforts of Rotary and its partners have helped raise more than $3 billion in vital funding from donor governments.

Rotary clubs also provide “sweat equity” on the ground in polio-affected communities, which helps ensure that leaders at all levels remain focused on the eradication goal. Over the years, Rotary club members have volunteered their time and personal resources to reach more than two billion children in 122 countries with the oral polio vaccine.

Thanks to Rotary and its partners, the number of polio cases has been slashed by more than 99 percent, preventing five million instances of childhood paralysis and 250,000 deaths. When Rotary began its eradication work, polio infected more than 350,000 children annually. In 2007, fewer than 2,000 cases were reported worldwide.

But the polio cases represented by that final 1 percent will be the most difficult and expensive to prevent for a variety of reasons, including geographical isolation, worker fatigue, armed conflict, and cultural barriers.

That’s why it’s so important to generate the funding needed to finish the job. To ease up now would be to invite a polio resurgence that would condemn millions of children to lifelong paralysis in the years ahead.

The bottom line is this: As long as polio threatens even one child anywhere in the world, all children – wherever they live – remain at risk.

Absent Members Today

Barbara Csankz, Jose DaSilva, Mike Elser, Jonathan Farmer, Tracey Kelly, Jane Lobdell, David Mulhall, Tony Purcaro, Rupi Rupwani, Bruce Steinway, Rebecca Zandvliet

Upcoming Club Events

Memorial Day Parade!!!

Annual Dinner Meeting - 6:00PM June 24, at the Waterbury Club Holmes Ave, Waterbury

Happening Around the District and RI

May 1-3 2009 District Conference, Newport, Rhode Island

May 15, 2009 GSE Farewell Brunch/Memo of Club visit due to DG

June 21 - 24 2009 International Convention, Birmingham, England

AREA CLUBS FOR MAKEUP AND INFORMATION LINKS

Silvermine Tavern - Norwalk - Monday 12:15 pm

The Inn at Newtown - Newtown - Monday 6:15pm

John J Sullivan's Restaurant - Ansonia - Tuesday 12:15 pm

The Waterbury Club - Waterbury - Every other Tuesday 12:15 pm