Bulletin September 6 (Sep 06, 2014)

Stories

Let's Play Together Video

I am a Rotarian in Georgetown, ON, and we have a project that I’d like to share with you. Many people in Georgetown have seen us out and about selling raffle tickets for a Honda. What we are really selling is a dream – a fully accessible playground that is safe for all children and families. Several years ago, our Rotary Club decided to create a play space for children, and we raised close to $200,000 to develop an area of the Dominion Gardens playground with surfaces and equipment especially designed for children with physical limitations. Our project now is to finish that job by replacing the woodchips with rubberized surfaces. Why is the Rotary Club of Georgetown committed to completing the universally accessible playground? Because all children should be able to play together – regardless of the physical abilities.

Please enjoy this one minute video, filmed at the playground, to illustrate the need and support the cause - Let's play together video

National statistics tell us that 3.1% of Canadian children have a physical disability. Georgetown has an estimated population of 7,250 children under the age of twelve, indicating that we have approximately 224 children in town with a physical disability. We want to provide a safe physical space with equipment designed for ease of access. We believe these children deserve a safe place to play with other children – after all, it’s better to play together. In fact, the video I have included with this email is about Chase Galea, a 7 year old boy in our area who was born with quad Cerebral Palsy. He is typical for his age in that he loves to play, race around, cool off on the splash pad, and make new friends.

This is my direct appeal to seek your support to help Rotary finalize the Universally Accessible Children's Playground (UACP) that requires the installation of a rubberized ground cover in place of wood chips that basically impedes the pushing of wheel chairs, maneuvering with canes, as you can see from the video.

We need to complete the playground...so our car raffle is back...bigger and better than ever. Your donation will go a long way towards our goal, you’ll feel better about helping Chase, and other children like him, and you could win a new car – talk about a win, win, win!

Win a 2014 Honda Civic EX (total value $26,901.23)

o 4-door sedan

o automatic

o loaded

o winner may negotiate with Georgetown Honda for a different vehicle (no cash value)

Honda Civic EX draw date: Saturday October 18 at 2:00 p.m. at Georgetown Honda

Get in on the action...buy your tickets here: http://rotarygeorgetown-on.ca

· Only 750 tickets will be sold (and each ticket has an Oil Change special rate coupon!) at $100 per ticket or 3 for $250 – fantastic odds but even more important – for a really good cause!

I would be pleased if you would forward this request on to your email contacts and Facebook friends. Thank-you for your assistance in helping us help the children in our community.

Written by Susan Housel

Honda Draw is Only TWO Weeks Away!

Buy your tickets at: http://www.rotarygeorgetown-on.ca/Stories/win-this-car-build-a-local-playground

Win this car! Build a local playground!

Get a ticket for a chance to win this Honda Civic Sedan and support the completion of the Universally Accessible Children's Playground at Dominion Gardens Park in Georgetown, Ontario. Tickets are 1 for $100 or a 3 pack for $250.

Click here to purchase your ticket today!

Registration Open for District Conference

Visit the District Conference website at http://rotary7080conference.com/

RSS Feed

Giving voice to children who might otherwise live in a silent world
Misheelt Batjargal and her fellow club members are giving a voice to infants and toddlers in Mongolia who would otherwise live in a silent world. As part of a large-scale community project, the Rotary Club of Ulaanbaatar Peace Avenue, Mongolia, is equipping hospitals with screening devices to test newborns’ hearing. Batjargal, an ear, nose, and throat physician, says screening to detect hearing loss is not routine nationwide in Mongolia. She estimates that more than 200 hundred children in the country lose their hearing each year. But Batjargal believes this is preventable. Early screenings...
Polio's Retreat
As photojournalist Allison Kwesell walks through the narrow streets of an Indian village, familiarity sets in. She visited here four years ago, when she first met Samir and his family. He was two years old then and had recently contracted polio. Kwesell approaches the front porch of a home when she hears an older woman yelling “Samir! Samir!” She runs toward the voice, wondering if she’ll recognize the boy. She sees six children playing chase on the dry earth, the dirt forming clouds around their feet. From afar she notices a young boy, not unlike the other barefoot children in the backyard...
Rotaract award winners celebrated for their life-changing projects
The village of Kumbharwadi is one of many in a drought-prone region near Mumbai, India. Until recently, its residents had access to only one well with drinkable water. During the summer months, the well runs dry, and the women and girls of the village travel three to four hours a day to search for water. Enter Project Boond, undertaken by a Rotaract club, a Rotary club, and the Watershed Organization Trust to provide clean drinking water and sanitation facilities in Kumbharwadi. Nikunj Pherwani, 2013-14 president of the Rotaract Club of Hassaram Rijhumal College of Commerce and Economics in...
Young writers get published with the help of Rotary
In Jamaica, 11-year-old Jordan Allwood reads his classmates a story about a lonely puppy who finds a new family. The puppy grows into a big dog, enjoys walks along the beach, and survives a frightening autumn day when he is caught in a trap before being rescued by his family. Jordan's story is one of hundreds that were written by children ages 7-11 for a writing contest organized by the Rotary E-Club of the Caribbean 7020 and supported by clubs in 10 Caribbean nations. The best stories, including Jordan's, were published in "The Butterfly StoryBook," produced by the club and sold through...
Clubs breaking down barriers to clean water in Ghana
When Marty Hatala, a member of the Rotary Club of Boaz, Alabama, first traveled to Ghana in 2010 to volunteer at a local orphanage, she saw how local communities struggled to find clean water. Though at least 80 percent of the country's population has access to improved water sources, according to UNICEF, 5 million Ghanaians still use water from unsafe sources. That leaves a significant part of the country's population susceptible to a range of diseases. Worldwide, one out of every five deaths among those under the age of five is caused by water-related diseases. Hatala's experiences in Ghana...