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11/15/23
Rotarians around the world chose projects that truly put service above self. Here are just a few that we’re highlighted in The past month:
In Bowling Green, KY, a tornado and subsequent electrical fire destroyed the African American Museum. The Rotary Club acquired a $10,000 disaster relief grant from their district to donate to the museum. In addition, a dozen local rotarians attended workshops on archiving and helped the museum restore its artifacts.
In Jamaica, the Rotary Club of Kingston learned there is a shortage of housing for people with limited mobility. With donations from the Rotary Club of Naples, in Florida, the club was able to refurbish a housing complex. They were able to raise the heights of toilets, add support bars in the restrooms and install new countertops, sinks and kitchen cupboards to improve accessibility.
In Portugal, the Rotary Club of Almancil International is dedicated to serving the needs of youth, especially those with autism spectrum disorders and Down syndrome. Members sponsor activities such as surfing lessons and animal therapy. Recently, they raised money to build a sensory room at a local school. The sensory room includes state-of-the-art music, sensory lights and a soothing waterbed that helps to calm students, improve visual and auditory skills and regulate their behavior.
At the same time, we unequivocally condemn the horrific attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians and are appalled at the number of people who have been injured, killed, and kidnapped.
As the war between Israel and Hamas intensifies, we remain deeply concerned about the potential for further escalation as well as the loss of life and the humanitarian crisis that is occurring in Gaza. We denounce the violence against innocent civilians and support upholding international humanitarian law.
Peacebuilding is both a cornerstone of Rotary’s mission and one of our areas of focus. At our core, Rotary is a common ground for people to come together – across nationalities and religions, cultures and histories – and connect around their shared belief in a better tomorrow. That connection is what humanizes us in times of conflict and builds a foundation for lasting peace.
Rotary remains committed to working with our members, partners, and communities to find long-term, sustainable solutions that support peace and development in the region and elsewhere.
Matt presented to the club on The Science of Pain:
Pain is a necessary and essential part of life. It's a good thing…really!
Pain is a complex phenomena meant to act as a temporary deterrent to potentially harmful stimuli.
Pain is absolutely context dependent and a subjective experience.
The longer pain exists, the less likely it is directly attributable to a specific pathology/injury.
Physical changes within the brain occur with chronic pain (pain in existence >3 months) that can perpetuate the pain experience.
An elevated sensitivity to a region can be modified in many ways. Physical therapists use several modalities for treatment, education and movement are the primary.
The brain is plastic - we can readily make changes in its wiring, resulting in reduced pain levels.
Matt Fackner https://www.willowgrovept.com/
THE ACADEMY
The SETI Institute & Kutztown University
Established with: SETI Education Staff, & District Rotarians
Complete with: State of the art labs & equipment, a planetarium, observatory, dorms & cafeteria for the students.
STEM-based education delivers more than science and mathematics concepts. The focus of STEM curriculum on hands-on learning with real-world applications helps develop a variety of skill sets that our modern world depends upon. 21st-century skills include media and technology literacy, productivity, social skills, communication, flexibility, and initiative. Other skills attained through STEM education include problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, curiosity, decision-making, leadership, entrepreneurship, acceptance of failure, and more. Regardless of the future career path these children consider, these skill sets go a long way to preparing them to be innovative and positively contributing members of society. We seek to deliver an immersive STEM curriculum that sparks intellectual curiosity and a love of lifelong learning. STEM is critical to building a more secure future based on science, humanity, and understanding commensurate with Rotary International.
Our guest speakers today were Lisa ( HHS Faculty) Evan and Billy HHS students who attended this year's academy. The them of this year's academy: Astro Biology, search for Mars. Some of the things the students researched: the size of the solar system; tested different hypotheses; DNA testing ; Mars Rover (square wheels?). They did have evening Movie Night but the Movie usually connected to the pregram . One movie was "Hidden Figures". To learn more about the program go tohttps://stemyea.com/index.html
Introduction to Mars
Mars in the Night Sky
Scale of the Solar System
Planetary Features
Rift valleys, hydrology, volcanos, lava tubes, craters, atmosphere, temperature
Life on Mars
Getting to Mars
Mission Briefings and Objectives for projects
Energy
Communication
Food/medical/water
Transport
Hatboro Rotary President, Lisa Grace presents Donna with a $500 check for Operation HomefrontSpeaking to us today is Ella Warden recipient of Hatboro Rotary 2023 academic scholarship. Ella will be attending Yale University beginning in Aug majoring in computer sciences. Ella served as Interact President during her junior and senior years at H-H (following in her sister's footsteps). Ella has participated in Rotary events especially Lobster Pot. During her tenure as President of Interact, she started a program of making cards for young cancer patients who were hospitalized. The children loved the cards and put them on their walls in their hospital rooms. Ella is an avid rower and rows at Whitemarsh Boat Club. She was accepted to go train at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Facility in California. Not only will she compete for Yale University, but she has also been competing with Team USA on the U19 US Team. After intense training in Chula Vista, the team travelled to Florida to participate in the CanAmMex regatta (United States, Canada, and Mexico). The two races she participated in both received Gold Medals. Presenting Ella her first check for $6000 is Scholarship chairman Jonathan R. Ella has a bright future ahead of her and we look forward to hearing of her accomplishments. (Permission to use Ella's photo on this page was granted by her Mother)  Ella And Scholarship Chairman Jonathan R  Ella in Chula Vista |
Rotary Moment 7/12/23
Just like Hatboro Rotary welcomed our new president, Lisa Grace, Rotary International welcomed new president Gordon McInally. Gordon is a retired dentist from South Queensferry, Scotland. His theme for the 23-24 Rotary year is “Create Hope in the World”. Gordon explained that the goal is to restore hope to help the world heal from destructive conflicts and to help achieve lasting change.
He has 3 presidential initiatives:
Prioritizing mental health. Gordon feels passionately about this initiative, especially after losing his brother to suicide in 2014. To prioritize mental health, Rotary Clubs can thinking about ways to 1. Erase any stigma associated with discussion of emotional well-being, 2. Raise awareness of mental health needs, and 3. Improve access to mental health services.
Building peace through virtual exchanges. Gordon believes that Rotary has a long history of promoting peace through connections. Covid-19 has given us many ways to build connections through innovative technology and we can use virtual platforms for peace building throughout the international Rotary community. Gordon sees virtual platforms within our Rotary Youth Exchanges and Rotary Friendship Exchanges as a great way to improve intercultural dialogue, awareness and understanding.
Empowering girls. Gordon will continue the initiatives started by past presidents, Shekhar Mehta (2021-2022) and Jennifer Jones (2022-2023) that focused on elevating the voices and unlocking the power of girls and women around the world. He encourages Rotary Clubs to keep finding ways to improve the health, well-being, education, economic security and agency of girls.
The Millbrook Society was founded in 1984 at the request of the late Mrs. Charles Harper Smith of Horsham Township, PA. The vision of Mrs. Smith and the Society's founders was to honor the legacy of Charles Harper Smith who was a renowned local historian, educator, and author. The original intent of the Society was to receive and hold in trust the land and buildings that make up the Kenderdine Mill tract called "Millbrook." They also were tasked with continuing the late Charles Harper Smith's work in the areas of preservation and education of local, state, and national history. Unfortunately, the only thing they obtained was the name "Millbrook". Although they did not obtain any land, the mission of the society has not changed. They continue to work for the preservation, protection and education of history. Currently they are planning to scan many very old documents to preserve the information for the future. All members of the Society are volunteers. What is their mission?
PRESERVATION…collecting and maintaining artifacts, documents, manuscripts, and maps.PROTECTION… archaeology, and recording and researching historical data on buildings and other assets.EDUCATION… presentations, programs, publications, reenactments, and related activities.
You may see members of Millbrook at Moland House on an Archeological Dig, participating in reenactments, history fairs. researching old homes and buildings in Hatboro, giving classes on the history of areas in Hatboro to school children and adults as well. Growing out of their current spaces, they will be moving to space in the Pennypack Community building in the near future. Many of their archives will remain in their spaces at the Baptist Church. Millbrook does interact with MANY other organizations (a listing is on their website.) As with many organizations, they are looking for new members as well as active volunteers to assist in their many projects.
Would you like to know more? Click the link to the website to see a list of events, publications, news of the society, other organizations and membership information. http://millbrooksociety.org/mbs/links.ashx
Rotary Moment 6/7/23
The Rotary International Convention was held in Melbourne, Australia in May. The convention was organized around this year’s theme “Imagine Rotary” and attendees participated in sessions that focused on promoting peace, protecting the environment, and eradicating polio. Next year’s convention will be held in Singapore and will revolve around the 23-24 theme “Sharing Hope With the World”.
At the convention, Rotary International President, Jennifer Jones, announced the recipient of the third annual Programs of Scale award. This year’s recipient is United to End Cervical Cancer in Egypt, an initiative to reduce the number of cases while raising awareness and improving women’s access to preventive care. The four-year program in and around Cairo will vaccinate more than 30,000 girls ages 9-15, provide cancer screenings for 10,000 women, and launch a public awareness campaign to reach 4 million people.
Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Gaby Morena performed at the convention. She also traveled to Guatemala with Rotary International President Jennifer Jones as part of Jones’ Imagine Impact Tour. Their trip to Guatemala included visits to the schools supported by The Guatemala Literacy Project (GLP). The GLP is one of the largest grassroots, multi-club, multi-district projects in Rotary. The focus is to improve education for underserved students in Guatemala. To date the program has served more than 278,000 students.
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