The Rotary Foundation transforms your gifts into service projects that change lives both close to home and around the world.
Since it was founded more than 100 years ago, the Foundation has spent more than $4 billion on life-changing, sustainable projects.
With your help, we can make lives better in your community and around the world.
Our mission
The Rotary Foundation helps Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace by improving health, providing quality education, improving the environment, and alleviating poverty.
For as little as 60 cents, a child can be protected from polio.
$50 can provide clean water to help fight waterborne illness.
$500 can launch an antibullying campaign and create a safe environment for children.
Click on the red donate now box below to provide an additional one-time donation and/or setup recurring donations.
Clubs Recognized for 2020-2021 Giving
Help us in recognizing, congratulating, and thanking the following clubs of District 5610 for their giving to The Rotary Foundation in RY 2020-2021.
TRF Giving Banner Award: Marshall Sunrise, Centerville, Gregory, and Brookings
EREY Banner Award: Marshall Sunrise, Centerville, Gregory, and Brookings
Rotary District 5610 congratulates Marshall Sunrise on the 2020-2021 Annual Fund per Capita Award for achieving the highest annual fund per capita of $4,217.01 in giving, Rapid City Rushmore for $379.07 per capita in giving, and Sioux Falls North for $262.22 per capita in giving.
Polio Plus Awards: 1. Marshall Sunrise 2. Minneota 3. Marshall Noon 4. Rapid City Rushmore 5. Hot Springs 6. Rock Valley 7. Sioux Falls South. Marshall Sunrise gave $1,920 per member.
WHAT TYPES OF ROTARY FOUNDATION RECOGNITION EXIST FOR CLUBS?
100 Percent Paul Harris Fellow Club: Rotary Clubs in which 100 percent of all dues paying members are Paul Harris Fellows receive special recognition from the Rotary Foundation. Qualifying Rotary Clubs receive a special club recognition banner and join an elite group of clubs. Once a club reaches 100 percent PHF status, the District Governor or Rotary Foundation chair must request the recognition from The Rotary Foundation. This recognition is a one-time-only award, but the intent is that the club will maintain its membership at the 100% Paul Harris Fellow level.
100 Percent Foundation Giving Club Banner: This banner is awarded to clubs that achieve an average of $100 in per capita giving and 100 percent participation, with every dues paying member contributing at least $25 to any or all of the following during the Rotary year: Annual Fund, Polio Plus Fund, approved global grants, or Endowment Fund.
100 Percent Every Rotarian Every Year Club Banner: Rotary clubs must achieve a minimum Annual Fund contribution of $100 per capita during the Rotary year, and every dues paying member must personally contribute at least $25 to the Annual Fund during the year.
The Trustees of The Rotary Foundation also present club recognition banners each year to the three Rotary Clubs in each District with the highest per capita in Annual Fund Giving. 100% Paul Harris Society Club Banner: This recognition is awarded to clubs in which every dues-paying member has contributed a minimum of $1,000 to the Annual Fund, the Polio Plus Fund, or an approved global grant during the Rotary year.
Will your club be recognized by The Rotary Foundation this year?
NOVEMBER Message - District Governor Doug Lind
Happy November, 5610 Rotarians!
As we dive into the second trimester of our year, it's important to reflect on where we are at in our annual plan in terms of meeting our annual goals. I know that several of our clubs have reason to celebrate their accomplishments thus far this year, in membership growth, foundation giving, and service projects, while some of us still have some work to do to meet our goals. I want to sincerely thank all of you who were able to attend the District "Celebration" in Deadwood, and I hope you all left the event feeling as inspired and motivated as I did! Many kudos to the planning committee, for hundreds of hours of work and time commitment to make the event successful! The speakers, breakout sessions, and venue were all outstanding! Now, it's time to buckle down and do the good work of Rotary! As we've all heard so many times before, the more hands doing the work, the quicker the job will go...It's easy to understand how important it is to pay constant attention to our membership numbers, and to be persistent in working to achieve and even exceed our goal of nine percent membership growth! As we enter into "The Holidays", it's important that we keep our club goals front and center, and to keep working on doing the good work of Rotary. If we all do our best to keep growing in the last two months of the calendar year, we will certainly be in a great position to start the new year! Our membership is currently in a positive growth position, and I'm confident that we will continue to improve our numbers. Thanks to Carmen Hansen, District Membership Chair, we now have a District-wide representation on the District Membership Committee, and they are more than willing and excited to help you develop your membership growth plan!
I'm so pleased to announce the appointment of our new District Rotary Foundation Chairman, IPDG Dan Little. Dan has great knowledge and a huge passion for The Rotary Foundation, and I look forward to working with him in helping Club Boards meet their club goals for Foundation giving, and sharing his extensive knowledge about TRF. He will be sharing more of his thoughts, strategies, and ideas in the near future, via the District Newsletter, and upcoming in-person and virtual meetings.
For those of you who were not able to attend the District Celebration, you may not have yet heard about the new award just started this year, which is the Governor's Outstanding Rotarian of the Quarter. This award honors a Rotarian who I feel has gone far above and beyond his or her call of duty in advancing our District and making Rotary a stronger and more viable organization. The Governor's Outstanding Rotarian of the Quarter for the first quarter of this Rotary year is Kay Norton. Kay has served as our District Trainer for the past 18 months, and recently took on the job of interim District Chair for Public Image. She has been instrumental in developing a new public image committee that is hard at work in helping clubs develop their own public image committees and strategies. Kay has also been a huge help in supporting and assisting clubs that struggled with re-starting their in-person meetings after the pandemic made such meetings impossible for several months. THANK YOU KAY, for your outstanding commitment and your amazing work!
It is my goal to have vice chairs serving in every district leadership committee by March, 2022. If you or a Rotarian you know are interested in serving on the District Leadership team, please contact me, DGE John Schneider, or Nicole Rawden. Our leadership team is a group of truly dynamic and caring people that are so fun and exciting to work with, and taking the next step in district leadership will not only help our district but will also help you grow and develop as an individual and a Rotarian!
Having now completed my official club visits (except for one), I can say without exception that our District is blessed with clubs that are all amazing in their own way! The past four months have been a whirlwind, but have definitely created many lifetime memories for me, and I eagerly look forward to the next 8 months of doing everything I can to help you all make our District and Rotary International everything we all hope for! Have a wonderful blessed Thanksgiving Holiday with your friends and family, and keep on doing the good work of our great organization!
Doug Lind
District Governor 2021-2022
Rotarian of Distinction 2021 Award Recipients
The Rotarians of Distinction Award is presented to individuals who through service to their Rotary club and community have distinguished themselves, even among all Rotarians who strive to place service above self. The recipients have traveled different paths in their Rotary service, but those paths have all resulted in a record of service that identifies them as ROTARIANS OF DISTINCTION. 2021 Recipients: Verl Scheibe, Herb McClellan Jr., Nancy Moose, Matt Pedersen, Casey Berndt, Brad Preheim, Mary DeVany, Bruce Young, and Bruce Kalin. Click on the image above for photos.
2021-2022 Roger Kozak Service Above Self Award Presented to Dr. Willis C. Sutliff
Dr. Willis C. Sutliff was awarded the 2021-22 Roger Kozak Service Above Self Award at the District 5610 celebration conference in Deadwood on the evening of October 15. It was presented to him by Past International Rotary Vice President Greg Podd, PDG Ed Jacobson, and the four former winners of the award.
Sutliff has served District 5610 and it's Rotarians for over ten years as
District 5610 Polio Plus Chair. During this time he has given interesting
and informative presentations at District Conferences, changing content as
it suits the occasion. He is passionate about Polio eradication and
enthusiastic about raising funds to defeat the disease.
Willis is a member and past president of Rapid City Rushmore Rotary Club.
He is very active in the club on the International Projects Committee and
has worked hard to encourage Global Grants and Local Grants. He is
currently serving on the District's the End Human Trafficking Committee.
He and his wife, PDG Pat Suliff have hosted many Youth Exchange Students through the years, attended several Rotary International Conferences and traveled on and hosted several Rotary Friendship Exchanges. He and Pat are TRF major donors.
Willis is a retired Pediatrician who practiced for 40 some years in Rapid
City and helped start Black Hills Pediatrics. As part of the local hospital
board he helped the hospital move forward and add new services. He has a
degree from UC Berkeley in Public Health, spent 3 years in the Army in
Germany and has served on American Academy of Pediatrics Committees.
Over the years, Willis has been active in his local community through his
church and Habitat for Humanity. He is currently on the Starting Strong
Board and the YFS Board where he will serve as president in 2022-23. He
also serves on several YFS committees.
Willis and Pat have 5 children and 10 grandchildren.
Past Kozak Award Winners:
2016-17 - Larry Lyngstad, Pierre-Fort Pierre
2017-18 - George Twitero, Rapid City Rushmore
2018-19 - Pat Sutliff, Rapid City Rushmore
2019-20 - Chuck Lindemann, Marshall
2020-21 - No Award (Covid Pandemic)
2021-22 - Dr. Willis Sutliff, Rapid City Rushmore
District Governor Award for Rotarian of the Quarter Presented to Kay Norton
The first District Governor Award for Rotarian of the Quarter is presented to Kay Norton she is a Rotarian who has gone above and beyond and has proven to be extraordinary in her service above self. This is a new award that will serve to honor one individual each quarter who has exhibited these attributes. Congratulations Kay!
Kay Norton has been a Rotarian since 1990, first joining the Macomb (IL) Rotary Club. In 2005 she became a charter member of a second club in that community, the Macomb Centennial Morning Rotary Club. She served that club as president from 2008-09, and also served as the Public Relations Chair for District 6460. Now a member of the Brookings Rotary Club, where she is the Public Image Chair, Kay is the District 5610 Trainer and Interim Public Image Chair. She is a Paul Harris Fellow.
Kay worked in the advertising and public relations arena for several decades, having owned a successful marketing agency for 22 years. She recently retired from 13 years as a college and university English teacher. She is a business communications consultant and facilitator for several organizations, and serves as the Board of Directors President for the Brookings Area Habitat for Humanity affiliate.
She and her husband, Don, the current president of the Brookings Club and District 5610 Grants Subcommittee Chair, have been married for 43 years and are the parents of two sons, Don and Christopher. They have been singing together for more than 45 years, and perform frequently for area organizations and residents of senior facilities.
Yankton Rotary’s 100th Anniversary Gala Event
On November 1, 1921, Rotary International signed the Charter which established the Yankton Rotary Club. Exactly one-hundred years and one day later, the Rotary Club of Yankton celebrated it’s centennial anniversary with a gala event. The Event was held at the River’s Edge Restaurant in “Old Town” Yankton. Attending the Gala were approximately seventy people including past Yankton Rotarians, current and future Club Rotarians, and Rotarians representing Clubs from Centerville, Le Mars, Rapid City Rushmore, Vermillion, and Wagner. During the ceremony, recognitions were given to sixteen Paul Harris Honorees, and to active members with over fifty years of “Service Above Self”. Yankton Rotarians recognized for their fifty-plus years of membership were Mike Healy, Jim Nyberg, and Ken Jones. For the Gala, Current Yankton Rotary Club President Rich Burns served as Master of Ceremonies, with presentations given by Jim Nyberg, Daniel Flahie, Mike Healy, Keith Kube, Ken Jones, Rotary’s District 5610 Governor Doug Lind, and past South Dakota Lieutenant Governor Matt Michels. It was a wonderful event, a great way to spend an evening with friends, and an awesome way to start another one-hundred years of “Service Above Self”.
Rotary Youth Exchange Update
and Application Deadline
After a two year of hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rotary Youth Exchange is poised for a comeback in Rotary Year 2022-2023. While that may still seem far away, there are several important deadlines for students in District 5610 looking to participate in a future exchange.
Outbound Students
District 5610 will being accepting club nominations of potential outbound students for the 2021-2022 Rotary Year starting September 1. Students must be 16 to 18 ½ at the time of departure (typically August 15 or thereabouts) and in good academic standing at their school. Clubs should interview students and make recommendations to the district by the middle of October, after which the district will interview students and select finalists. Students will then submit a complete application by December 1 to Central States Rotary Youth Exchange for placement.
District 5610 is committed to host at least three inbound students in 2022-2023. If your club is interested in hosting a student, please send me an email at Patrick.Morrison@usd.edu. I can provide information on responsibilities, expected club costs, and the like. For those of you who remember the headache of the past trainings and paper forms, you will be happy to know that our transition to Central States Rotary Youth Exchange multidistrict has made this process much easier – and digital. As a reminder, it is not a requirement to send a student to host a student, so all clubs are eligible to host.
Call for Volunteers
Lastly, we are looking for Rotarians interested in joining the 5610 RYE team. If you have any Rotarians interested in helping out, please let myself or Doug Lind know.
Sincerely,
Patrick Morrison | Chair, District 5610 | Rotary Youth Exchange
“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire” – Attributed to W.B. Yeats
How Do We Grow Rotary? Ten Tips to Grow Rotary
1. Make Membership a Top Priority.
2. Create a list of all the great things about your club.
3. Create and keep a list of potential members.
4. Be willing to change.
5. Look to young Rotarians for fresh ideas.
6. Talk about Rotary wherever you go.
7. Make a list of club-member’s responsibilities
8. Celebrate when you get a new member
9. Embrace diversity
10. Emphasize service
Bonus - Do something and have fun.
Whiteclay Arts Makerspace Rotary Global Grant Project News Report for District 5610 - November 2021
GRAND OPENING RECAP SUNDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2021 Over 50 people attended on a beautiful fall day, full of fellowship, tours and interaction! Food, snacks and refreshments were served all day. Artists sold hand-crafted items under the new canopy entrance. During the afternoon presentation, we awarded 4 toolboxes to artists present. PDG Ina Winter awarded Rotary Foundation Paul Harris Fellow to Jon Ruybalid, owner of the Makerspace project. Rotary Foundation Coordinator for our zones, Art Zeitler and Carol were on hand to inspect the grant process. The star quilt raffle earned $925 for the artists at the Makerspace. Nadine awarded the quilt to Braniff Smith, businessman from Hot Springs, SD and he was in the audience! He was thrilled. Watch the NewsCenter1 interview: https://www.newscenter1.tv/whiteclaywelcomes-makerspace-and-newfound-hope-for-local-artists/ To Read more click here: Whiteclay Global Grant News Release #6
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