With World Water Day on March 22nd, Rotary has declared March as Water and Sanitation Month. Except for the inconvenience of not being able to water our lawns in the summer we take water for granted. However, at least 3,000 children around the world die each day from diseases caused by unsafe water, which is what motivates Rotarians to build wells, install rainwater harvesting systems, and teach community members how to maintain new infrastructure. While much of our work is in far off lands, there were 135 drinking water advisories in effect in 86 First Nations communities across Canada excluding British Columbia, which has a different monitoring and reporting system. A good way to find out what Rotary is doing to ensure access to clean water and sanitation in developing countries is to check out the Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group (WASRAG). This group has an excellent newsletter. Remember, Water doesn't just keep us alive it gives us everything that makes life worth living. - Water.org
We have much to be proud of this month - The Day of Dialogue continues to get significant recognition by RI. In a report sent to the Board of Directors and senior leaders, the Day of Dialogue is highlighted as the best initiative in North America-Zones 24 & 32: The Rotary Day of Dialogue gave voice to Rotary members’ ideas on how to transform Rotary. More than 120 Rotarians gathered from nine districts, as well as Rotaractors and Interactors, to participate. A comprehensive report with text of the presentations, photos of the Day of Dialogue, and links to the (downloadable) videos are available at: https://sway.com/uxBF7K1UDj9XzN6h.
The Hugh Boyd Interact students were featured in the RI/Rotary Foundation Annual Report for their work at Refilwe Orphanage near Johannesburg South Africa and for their award winning video, ‘Our Best Day in Interact’: The Interact Club of Hugh Boyd Secondary School in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, has built a strong tradition of bringing positive change to communities locally and globally. (Page 13 of: https://www.rotary.org/en/annualreport/2014-15 )
The Rotary Club of Burnaby has chartered the first Community Corps Group in the District, the Province and Western Canada. The Burnaby group of young professionals will become one of 8,520 RCC groups worldwide. Kudos to President Azim and his Board for achieving this milestone!
The Rotary Club of Prince George, Yellowhead raised $78,000 at its recent Taste of India event. This is the highest total in the event’s six-year history. Congratulations to all on such an accomplishment.
While the amount of travel has lessened, the role of DG continues to be fun-filled and exciting. Claire and I are continuing our visits to Rotaract clubs and have now met with the New Westminster and Burnaby clubs. In Burnaby we got to experience Rotaract in action when we attended a community dinner prepared from scratch and served to some 70 appreciative customers. While I have never seen so many black beans, the enchaladas and banana bread were delicious and it was a treat to work beside President Thomas Turniawan and his culinary crew.
A small group of Rotarians visited RYLA South at Camp Elphingstone over the Easter weekend and we experienced first hand the magic of RYLA. Congratulations to Gina Neumann, Tanya Hall and their intrepid band of Rylarians for providing over 90 Grade 10 – 12 Interact students with a weekend they will never forget. While we older folk may have slowed down the games, nothing could have dampened the enthusiasm that ran through that camp. Well Done RYLA! I suggest everyone mark their calendars for next Easter and plan to visit the camp – it’s worth it.
For those of you who tweat, Rotarian Bryan Kelly of the Tsawwassen Club has a treat for you. Through his company NimbleQuotes.com Bryan is offering Rotarians free access to Rotary Quotes, which can be used to spread awareness and share with our community the good Rotary does and how we live our motto of Service Above Self. Sign up takes 3 minutes. Details including full instructions and an extensive list of answers to questions asked by Rotarians are here: http://bit.ly/1kAnr1R.
Membership is still a major priority for us. It is always a privilege to be asked to induct a new member when visiting a club. It was especially pleasing when the RC of Burnaby invited me to induct Anshu Arora. The last time I saw Anshu was at his graduation when as his school principal at Burnaby South I presented his diploma. It’s not every day a DG gets to induct a former student into Rotary. We are back on the positive side of the ledger. The February report from RI showed that District 5040 was up 25 members from July 1st. I am inducting two new members at the Cambie Club on Tuesday and three in Squamish on Thursday. I even got to induct Carol from Pender Harbor at RYLA last weekend. At this rate we will stay ahead of the game.
Plan to take advantage of the many opportunities coming up to Celebrate Rotary. 290 Rotarians and 33 Rotoractors have already registered so for the conference and we still have a month to go. The committee is working diligently to put all the last minute details in place so that we can ensure everyone has a great time. If you are able, I urge you to take advantage of the RLI courses being offered on Thursday, April 28th. The Youth Conference starts Friday April 29th and clubs are encouraged to register their interact students. Fees for the conference, RLI and the youth conference go up on April 1st, so take advantage of the discount and register now.
April 2nd is the North West Foundation Dinner in Kitimat. Through April and May, there are Foundation Grants Seminars and District Assemblies in Prince George, Terrace, Quesnel, Williams Lake and Sechelt. May 14th is the date of the Great Polio Walk organized by the Rotary clubs in Burnaby, New Westminster and Vancouver Cambie. The walk starts at Westminster Quay and you can register on line a via this link.
We have 22 Rotarians heading to Seoul for the International convention May 28- June 1st and so it goes…. I look forward to presenting our district awards at the conference and trust that you all have your nominations in to PDG Gord Dalglish.
Enjoy Rotary and we’ll see you in Whistler!
Cheers, John
John l. Anderson
District Governor 2015-16
Rotary District 5040
Membership Matters
We had 2 Membership Matters presentations in March – Burnaby Deer Lake and Bowen Island. We also gave a membership presentation at the District Assembly on March 19th. We discussed the following questions:
How can we get more new members?
What should new members look like?
Do we train our new members to become club leaders?
Why does everyone need to be involved in membership?
If you have questions for Tom please contact him at tom@tascosales.ca.
Please don’t forget to ask your new Rotarians the Three Magic Questions: 1. Why did you join Rotary? 2. What excites you about Rotary? 3. How did Rotary find you?
Have a look at a Youtube version of our Membership Matters presentation:
Rotaract Impact
Our highlights for what happened in March - and what to look forward to in April:
Rotaract celebrated World Rotaract Week in March. They did a social media campaign from March 6th to 13th that featured each of the eight Clubs. Just in that week, over 5,000 impressions were made on Facebook! Always great to see the work of Rotary and Rotaract being widely shared.
DG John and his wife Claire visited the Burnaby Rotaract Club during their hands-on Community Dinner project. "Big Cheese" John helped grate cheese for the Mexican Fiesta - the feature was enchiladas. He also addressed over 50 community members who were invited to dine that night.
Join the Rotaract Club of Vancouver UBC for their annual spring fundraiser. This year it's called "https://www.facebook.com/events/1362068590485336/Meals for MOSAIC" and will be at the Regal Beagle on April 9th. Proceeds will go to supporting refugees and immigrants through the non-profit organization MOSAIC.
The Rotaract PACE Roundtrip committee has likely contacted your Club about sponsorship - please let them know if you are able to support the project! They are excited to launch applications next month.
The March District 5040 Conference 2016 newsletter is online. Update on keynote speakers, Rotary Jeopardy coming to conference 2016, New Audain museum opens in Whistler, registration goes over goal of 300, just days left to save $25 on registration and Much More - See more at: . - Read more...
With summer just around the corner, the 8 Rotaract Clubs of District 5040 as well as Clubs from other Districts (Victoria) are very excited to be planning the 6th annual Pacific Canada Experience (PACE). This year’s trip will run from August 25th to September 4th. Read more ...
Congratulations to District Governor Nominee, Don Evans who received The Caring Canadian Award from His Excellency David Johnston, Governor General of Canada at the Chan Centre, UBC on Friday March 4th. Read more...
One in two girls wish they were someone else. Local day camp that aims to build girls’ confidence gets a boost from Rotary. The Rotary Club of Squamish donated a cheque for $3200 to the Howe Sound Women's Centre in support of the Girl's Camp for young girls. Read the full story from the Squamish Chief HERE.
It's time to place some attention on one of Rotary's amazing programs - Rotary Peace Fellowship. Our district have been successful in identifying outstanding individuals, most of whom were successful in receiving either the Masters degree program or the Professional Certificate program. Read more...
Leadership, team work, communication and membership development were key areas of discussion at the first in a series of District 5040 Assemblies. - Read more...
With World Water Day on March 22nd, Rotary has declared March as Water and Sanitation Month. Except for the inconvenience of not being able to water our lawns in the summer we take water for granted. However, at least 3,000 children around the world die each day from diseases caused by unsafe water, which is what motivates Rotarians to build wells, install rainwater harvesting systems, and teach community members how to maintain new infrastructure. While much of our work is in far off lands, there were 135 drinking water advisories in effect in 86 First Nations communities across Canada excluding British Columbia, which has a different monitoring and reporting system. A good way to find out what Rotary is doing to ensure access to clean water and sanitation in developing countries is to check out the Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group (WASRAG). This group has an excellent newsletter. Remember, Water doesn't just keep us alive it gives us everything that makes life worth living. - 
We have much to be proud of this month - The Day of Dialogue continues to get significant recognition by RI. In a report sent to the Board of Directors and senior leaders, the Day of Dialogue is highlighted as the best initiative in North America-Zones 24 & 32: The Rotary Day of Dialogue gave voice to Rotary members’ ideas on how to transform Rotary. More than 120 Rotarians gathered from nine districts, as well as Rotaractors and Interactors, to participate. A comprehensive report with text of the presentations, photos of the Day of Dialogue, and links to the (downloadable) videos are available at: 
The Rotary Club of Prince George, Yellowhead raised $78,000 at its recent Taste of India event. This is the highest total in the event’s six-year history. Congratulations to all on such an accomplishment.
New Westminster and Burnaby clubs. In Burnaby we got to experience Rotaract in action when we attended a community dinner prepared from scratch and served to some 70 appreciative customers. While I have never seen so many black beans, the enchaladas and banana bread were delicious and it was a treat to work beside President Thomas Turniawan and his culinary crew.
Rylarians for providing over 90 Grade 10 – 12 Interact students with a weekend they will never forget. While we older folk may have slowed down the games, nothing could have dampened the enthusiasm that ran through that camp. Well Done RYLA! I suggest everyone mark their calendars for next Easter and plan to visit the camp – it’s worth it.
Membership is still a major priority for us. It is always a privilege to be asked to induct a new member when visiting a club. It was especially pleasing when the RC of Burnaby invited me to induct Anshu Arora. The last time I saw Anshu was at his graduation when as his school principal at Burnaby South I presented his diploma. It’s not every day a DG gets to induct a former student into Rotary. We are back on the positive side of the ledger. The February report from RI showed that District 5040 was up 25 members from July 1st. I am inducting two new members at the Cambie Club on Tuesday and three in Squamish on Thursday. I even got to induct Carol from Pender Harbor at RYLA last weekend. At this rate we will stay ahead of the game.
Plan to take advantage of the many opportunities coming up to Celebrate Rotary. 290 Rotarians and 33 Rotoractors have already registered so for the conference and we still have a month to go. The committee is working diligently to put all the last minute details in place so that we can ensure everyone has a great time. If you are able, I urge you to take advantage of the RLI courses being offered on Thursday, April 28th. The Youth Conference starts Friday April 29th and clubs are encouraged to register their interact students. Fees for the conference, RLI and the youth conference go up on April 1st, so take advantage of the discount and register now.
April 2nd is the North West Foundation Dinner in Kitimat. Through April and May, there are Foundation Grants Seminars and District Assemblies in Prince George, Terrace, Quesnel, Williams Lake and Sechelt. May 14th is the date of the Great Polio Walk organized by the Rotary clubs in Burnaby, New Westminster and Vancouver Cambie. 
We have 22 Rotarians heading to Seoul for the International convention May 28- June 1st and so it goes…. I look forward to presenting our district awards at the conference and trust that you all have your nominations in to PDG Gord Dalglish.
