Each member of Chiang Mai International Rotary Club donates to the Rotary Foundation through the Every Year Every Rotarian (EYER) program. The board decided a few months ago that the club will support this critical program by automatically donating on behalf of each active member. $100 USD will be donated on behalf of each member who has paid his / her dues for the full year. Donations for new members who have not paid a full year will be pro-rated. This program is club directed; member participation is automatic.
There is a new program called “The Power of Smart Change”. This program is club directed; participation is completely optional. District Governor Surasak was kind enough to give each member of our club a lovely Owl bank. The owls are the inspiration for a nice way to painlessly save a bit of money and then donate it to the Rotary Foundation. All you need to do is put your spare coins in the owl and then bring it to the meeting on designated days which for the rest of this Rotary year are: Tuesday, March 22nd and Tuesday, June 22nd.
Most members received their owls at the 5 January meeting. Those who could not attend may pick up their owl at the next meeting.
Maliwan has decided to name her owl น้ำใจ (good will), mine will be known as ใจกว้าง (generous). Will anyone else be so silly as to name a ceramic owl bank? I rather hope so. Let’s keep this light, have some fun, and do a bit of good. Personally each day when I feed ใจกว้าง, I am reminded of the immense good that Rotary does through the collective efforts of us all; the reason I joined this organization in the first place!
All Rotarians are encouraged to donate to Rotary. There is extensive information available on myrotary.org. As Foundations chair I will be preparing a paper explaining various options and methods. The bottom line is that while I’m here to facilitate as you may wish. Such personal giving will be self-directed; participation is completely optional.