Youngest Club President in District (Aired August 13, 2023)

             

Radio Rotary interviewed Todd Bowen, president of Wappingers Rotary and, at 21, the youngest club president ever in District 7210. Bowen, originally from Pine Plains, got his start in Rotary
when his family moved to Wappingers Falls, putting Bowen into Roy C. Ketcham High School, where he joined one other male student and 28 young women in the school’s Interact Club, a Rotary-sponsored service organization Bowen was recruited to be Interact’s secretary, which led in the following years for him to become president of the club (twice). He spearheaded the group’s raising $1,000 to finance a ShelterBox. By the end of his second year leading the club, it had grown to 140 members. While attending Mount St. Mary College in Newburgh, Bowen joined Wappingers Rotary in 2018 Today he works at the charitable organization Habitat for Humanity while maintaining important roles in the club’s Housing Support project, the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA), and trying to start a Rotary Satellite club. Bowen is also active at the District Level, currently as Executive Secretary of District 7210.

Learn More
Rotary Club of Wappingers Falls: https://portal.clubrunner.ca/2259
Habitat for Humanity of Dutchess County: https://habitatdutchess.org/
Rotary Interact: https://www.rotary.org/en/get-involved/interact-clubs
ShelterBox USA: https://www.shelterboxusa.org/
Rotary Satellite Clubs: clubrunner.blob.core.windows.net/00000050026/en-ca/files/sitepage/membership/satellite-club-guide/Guide-to-Satelite-Clubs.pdf

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September 26, 2023 · Posted in Housing Assistance, Rotary Club Projects, Youth  

Friends of Guirgho (Aired August 6, 2023)

     

New Paltz Rotarians Robert Rich and Pascal Guirma, along with Pacal’s brother Victor, return to RadioRotary to report on the progress of Friends of Guirgho in improving the school and other facilities in the Burkina Faso village of Guirgho, a rural settlement about 60 km from the capital of Burkina Faso. Burkino Faso (formerly Upper Volta), the ancestral home of the Guirma brothers, is a landlocked nation in West Africa. When France controlled this part of West Africa. French Jesuits started a boarding school, but few natives would attend. Finally, the Emperor had his second
son, known as Bila Victor, sent to the school, signaling it was safe to attend. One of Bila Victor’s sons, Frédéric Guirma, educated at the school, became the first ambassador from Upper Volta to the United States and later the ambassador to the United Nations. Two of his sons, Victor and Pascal, remained connected to the ancestral village of Guirgho. Visiting the village they saw the need for a better school and for other modern improvements. Rotarians from New Paltz pitched in to help. The Friends replaced ancient desks with modern ones and added latrines to the school. One of their most complicated projects was bringing computers to the school since there was no electricity until they introduced solar power.

Learn More
Friends of Guirgho: https://www.friendsofguirgho.org/
New Paltz Rotary Club: https://www.newpaltzrotary.org/
Burkina Faso: https://www.britannica.com/place/Burkina-Faso
Ambassador Frédéric Guirma: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frédéric_Guirma

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September 26, 2023 · Posted in International Programs, Rotary Club Projects  

Millbrook Library Serves Village and Beyond (Aired July 2, 2023)

             

 

Millbrook Rotarian Courtney Tsahalis, Director of the Millbrook Library, visits Radio Rotary to discuss how the modern library is much more than books to lend. Although this refers to such services as Internet access, audio and video resources, books online, and even physical objects to lend, in the case of Millbrook Library there are community services beyond those. In partnership with Millbrook Rotary, the library houses a community refrigerator where those needing perishable foods can take from what is available. The library also houses frequent programs, including regular music events, children’s story times, and more.

Learn More
Millbrook Library: https://millbrooklibrary.org/
Millbrook Library on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MillbrookLibrary/
Mid-Hudson Library System: https://midhudson.org/

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August 17, 2023 · Posted in Arts & Letters, Education, Rotary Club Projects  

The Rotary “Day of Service” (Aired on April 9, 2023)

              

Fishkill Rotary Vicki Kessler joins co-hosts Jonah Triebwasser and Sara Claitor-O’Conner to present the Rotary Day of Service, an idea developed by Robert Friend of the Madison (CT) Rotary Club, who previously had created the Million Mask Project for Rotary Clubs to donate face masks during the covid epidemic. On one day each year (May 20 in 2023) all the Rotary clubs that are participating will perform an act of community service. Participants this year include Rotarians from more than 500 Rotary clubs and 14,000 Rotarians across 5 states and 3 countries, from Connecticut to Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and New York in the United States, plus the countries of Bermuda and Brazil—Bermuda because it is joins part of New York State in Rotary District 7230, and Brazil as one of the countries with members in the Eclub of District 7210.

Learn More:
Rotary 2023 Date of Service: https://rotarydayofservice.org/
Rotary District 7210: https://rotarydistrict7210.org/
Fishkill Rotary: https://www.fishkillrotary.org/
Robert Friend: https://rotarynepets.org/page/robert-friend-2024

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May 12, 2023 · Posted in Events, Rotary Club Projects  

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