The Rotary Foundation with Jim Dwyer

Our meeting on November 25^th was the closing meeting in our Rotary Foundation Month, and it was a talk by Jim Dwyer about the work of the RI Foundation.

 

Jim is a member of the St. Cloud club, and he started by describing the park at Lake George in St. Cloud. This park is supported entirely by the club, has been totally updated, and has a series of music concerts for free each summer. Although there is no entry fee or ticket system, the park always end the year is the black, with donations from other groups and citizens helping support the attraction.

 

Jim went on to talk about some of the RI Foundation projects he has been involved with. His concentration was on a water project where the RI group had tapped a well in the mountains, designed and laid a pipe to bring the water to town, and had set up a series of water points in town. Because the kids no longer had to haul water for their families, attendance at the schools rose, and the graduation rates are thirty times what they were. In addition, kid illnesses and deaths dropped. The only bad (?) effect of the water system was that the country had to build additional schools to have room for all of the kids freed from the drudgery of hauling water.

 

Today is the end of RI Foundation Month for our club, and if you have not donated to RI, this will be the wrap-up of our drive. Remember that we are hoping to have this year be a 100% year.