The Eugene Airport Rotary Club held its annual breakfast on May 19 to award $26,500 in scholarships to twenty-three local high school and college students. These scholarship monies were raised at this year’s auction thanks to the generous support of our club members and friends. “The 23 scholarship recipients were chosen from a group of 31 applicants,” said John Alvord. The Rotary Club chose the students based upon a variety of categories including dedication to school service, leadership potential, community service outside of school, financial need, and grade point average. While grade...

This week’s Photo Friday highlights two sustainable clean water and sanitation efforts of Rotarians in the Dominican Republic. This photo shows a dripping faucet outside La Ermita school in Moca, Dominican Republic. The school has been rebuilt, repainted, and resupplied by Power Trips, an organization founded by Judy Warrington, past president of the Rotary Club of Oakville, Ontario, Canada. The project also provided bio-sand water filters so children would have at least one place to get clean water in the area. The image below features a woman who uses the water from heavy rains to wash...

The 2011 District Conference was a great success. Rotary International President, Ray Klinginsmith, visited the conference on the final Sunday. In his address to the audience, Mr. Klinginsmith expressed, “…adding the fifth Avenue of Service will facilitate our quest to make the youth and young adult programs even Bigger, Better, and Bolder in the future.”   The Group Study Exchange (GSE) teams from Peru and Italy had a chance to visit with RI President Klinginsmith. Both teams at the District Conference provided Rotarians a great opportunity to learn about their country....

This week’s Photo Friday is of a Rotary International sign recently displayed in Lillis Business Complex at the University of Oregon. These guiding principles are the Four-Way Test of the things we think, say, or do. The test, which has been translated into more than 100 languages, asks the following questions: Of the things we think, say or do Is it the TRUTH? Is it FAIR to all concerned? Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned? For more of Rotary’s guiding principles, please click here.

This week’s Photo Friday features a new pump provided by the International H2O Collaboration at a launch ceremony in Ghana in May. The International H2O Collaboration is a partnership between Rotary International and the U.S Agency For International Development (USAID). Launched in 2009, the International H2O Collaboration works to implement long-term, sustainable water, sanitation, and hygiene projects in the developing world. Villages in four regions of Ghana are being equipped with ventilated pit latrines, showers, and boreholes featuring hand pumps and mechanized pipes through the efforts...

At this week’s meeting our club recognized the fourth graders of Irving Elementary School, who raised $500 for Polio Plus through a penny drive held at school. This precocious group challenged us to match their efforts and Airport Rotarians rose to the occasion. We not only matched it, we raised $1516 to send Rotary International for Polio Plus. This donation wouldn’t be possible without the fourth graders of Irving Elementary School and other Rotarians, who helped us reach our goal. We thank you for your tremendous and selfless service in the fight to eradicate polio. “We cannot...

Airport Rotary members Mary Lou Finigan and Ed McDunn gave a Polio Presentation to a group of fourth graders at Irving Elementary School on Tuesday, March 8. The fourth graders, along with their parent organizations, held a penny drive raising about $500 for our club.    

Incase you missed it, prior to the Oscar’s Red Carpet Live show on Sunday, February 27, 2011, ABC News aired this piece showing Rotary’s effort to eradicate polio. This piece does a nice job of sharing our story of why Rotarians are so engaged in the eradication of the disease.

In this photo, one Rotary volunteer gives an infant just a few doses of vaccine that can help prevent diseases for a lifetime. This photo and more are available in a photo gallery on www.gatesfoundation.org. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation released its 2011 Annual Letter that highlights the progress in the fight to eradicate polio. Gates and Rotary International have kept polio eradication a top priority. “Everywhere I go to learn about polio,” Gates said, “I see Rotary members helping out with the hard work.” In the Annual Letter, Gates acknowledged his foundation...

On Monday, January 31, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation invites you to watch a webcast about the extraordinary progress in the fight to eradicate polio. The webcast will air on www.gatesfoundation.org at 6:30 am PST, after which it will be available in its entirety on the website. The webcast will present a powerful case for the value of vaccines. Gates, along with other global leaders, will discuss what the past can teach us about protecting children around the world from polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases. ABC World News anchor Diane Sawyer will moderate the event. Rotary’s...