Questions or comments about health & hunger projects?
Contact Kate Johnson, (413) 427-6223, k.johnson@schoolsofwestfield.org

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October, 2008

 Dear Rotary Club Presidents of District 7890:

I am personally writing you as the District coordinator for our Community Health, Education and Wellness Committee. This committee includes a group of Rotarians that are focused on Water, Literacy, Polio, Health and Hunger projects and programs for the community and the world at large.

As Rotary International President D.K. Lee stated at the RI Convention: "Our job is to work together, one club with one another, to do what is needed. Our job is to Make Dreams Real. We will turn those dreams of a safe and happy childhood - a childhood that becomes a long and healthy life - into a reality because all of the world's children are OUR children. And our job is a simple one. It is saving lives with our hearts and our minds and our souls. And if every one of us does this job well, at the end of our year, we will all have achieved something wonderful."

President Lee has challenged us in many different forms - through our strengths, our weaknesses, our readiness and willingness to embrace these words and make them genuine. Did you know that the most common causes of childhood death are probably very common to you and I - pneumonia (30%), diarrhea (27%) and malaria (13%). So, what can WE do to minimize 80% of these causes? Please, read on.

The idea here is not quantity of giving but quality. I recognize our clubs are blessed with talents and gifts beyond comparison. I also know that Rotarians have the biggest hearts of any other organization I know. I urge you to reach outside your comfort zones and explore these opportunities. Here are some ideas that you may want to consider that will address health, hunger, polio, water and literacy in your local, national and international venues:·

• Promote giving blood in your club and community - www.ourblooddrive.org

• Invite speakers to present pertinent programs at a club meeting.

• Organize a community health fair with your local library - www.worldhealthfairs.org

• Volunteer to serve at a local soup kitchen - www.alleviatehunger.org

• Conduct a project in which every new mother at a local hospital receives information about good health, nutrition or literacy.

• Sponsor a contest in your local schools where children write, draw or use some type of supplies to present their solutions to hunger needs.

• Implement a campaign to distribute insecticide treated mosquito bed nets to save mothers and babies from malaria - www.remarag.org; www.malarianomore.org; www.malaria.org.

• 33 Days of Change for finally eliminating polio in the world - www.rotarypoliosurvivors.com

• Identify water projects that currently exist and support one - www.wasrag.org

If I can personally assist you in any this year, please do not hesitate to contact me. We are here to serve you so you can serve others that are less fortunate.

Very sincerely yours,

Kate Johnson, RN Southwick Rotary Club
k.johnson@schoolsofwestfield.org