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African Adventure
Under the leadership of President Mark, the new year began on July 8 with a presentation by our member Veronique Cordier, who described her "African Adventure". Veronique spent a month in Ghana and brought back amazing photos and stories of the daily lives of Africans as they struggle with hunger, disease and other challenges.
Scholarship Lunch
Tuesday May 27, 2008
Over $92,000 in scholarships will be awarded at one of the most anticipated meetings of the year. Students and their parents know that they have been chosen for an award - but none of them know the amount...
Interact and EarlyAct
The members of the Westfield Rotary Club are not the only Rotarians in Town. Groups of active youths at Westfield HS, McKinley Elementary School and Jefferson Elementary School provide leadership in their schools for projects that make a difference - both here at home - and around the world.
At our May 27 meeting, the WHS and McKinley students told the Rotary Club of their work this part year.
Westfield HS Interact
Not only do members of this club provide essential volunteer help to the guidance office and tutoring elementary school students, they raise school spirit and raise funds through Sweatshirt and Sweatpant sales. Their donation of over $2,000 will provide the funds needed for both the education and the materials to provide clean water for the students in a large school - and their families.
McKinley
The circus is coming! The circus is coming! The Zerbini Family Circus will visit Westfield on Friday, June 13. The show begins at 7:00 p.m. on the Edison Intermediate School field. Tickets are $10 for children and $15 for adults. Call McKinley School at 908-789-4555 for tickets!
The circus's first show during school hours will be an opportunity for the students to share their reward for reading over 16,000 books with students from Harlem who otherwise would not see a performance.
McKinley's EarlyAct fundraising will help pay for the transportation and tickets for the NYC students,
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Group Study Exchange
Westfield Rotarians attended the InterCity meeting hosted by the Elizabeth Club to meet with the Group Study Exchange Team from Italy (see picture below)
Rotary Foundation’s Group Study Exchange (GSE) program is a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for businesspeople and professionals between the ages of 25 and 40 who are in the early stages of their careers. The program provides travel grants for teams to exchange visits in paired areas of different countries. For four to six weeks, team members experience the host country's culture and institutions, observe how their vocations are practiced abroad, develop personal and professional relationships, and exchange ideas.
In a typical four-week tour, applicants participate in five full days of vocational visits, 15 to 20 club presentations, 10 to 15 formal visits and social events, two to three days at the district conference, three to four hours per day of cultural and site tours, and three to four hours per day of free time with host families.
This Tuesday May 13
Rotary Foundation Annual Report
Rotarian Byron Miller wins "Service Above Self" Award
Byron Miller won the prestigious "Service Above Self" Award. Only 150 of these are awarded worldwide, out of 530 districts. Rotary District 7510 has only previously received 2 of these awards in it's history, so Byron is the third. This award is partially for his outstanding work with the "Pure Water For the World" where he is arranging water filters to be installed in poverty stricken areas of Central America. But the hard part of winning this award is that the recipient must demonstrate leadership in his profession, and volunteer work in his community in addition to Rotary. Byron has been Rotarian of the year for the Westfield Rotary Club, and has the respect of his peers and colleagues.
Westfield Rotary Recognized for Outstanding Work
The Westfield Rotary Club won First Place for the District Public Relations Award. Past District Governor Michael Hart is the club publicity chair.