Parting Thoughts – June 29,2022
Good Afternoon, Rotarians and Guests,
I have had the pleasure of serving as Club Outreach Director from July, 2019 until Friday. My term began with in-person meetings and all the activities that RCAA has supported. We had just returned to the Michigan Union with great fanfare, a lovely dinner in the Union Ballroom with John Hewko as our speaker. As we all vividly remember, our lives changed significantly in March, 2020.
I think the best word to describe these years in Rotary is RESILIENCE. I want to highlight what RCAA accomplished in the committees of Club Outreach

R –RESUMED – Under the capable leadership of Rosemarie Rowney we moved to a ZOOM format and resumed our weekly meetings. RCAA members learned to use ZOOM with great assistance from other members with expertise.
E – the ENERGY to make change in a very different environment.
Membership changed to rolling admissions, new member orientation bi-monthly, new member reception in August 2021 and 4th Friday at 4:00 began in Feb 2022
S – Service Above Self – RCAA efforts continued despite COVID
May 2020 Pandemic Response Fund was formed by IHPC
Thanks to the generosity of members, we raised 61,800 which was distributed to 13 local agencies to support their needs due to COVID
Spring 2022 – Funds for Ukraine from IHPC and our generous membership raised $7400

I for IHPC – Despite COVID, we continued to support global grants
NICU – Pune, India Ghana Clean Water
Sierra Leone Community Development Eastern India – Water and Sanitation
India – COVID Relief in June 2021 Solar Power in Clinics in Niger
Computers in Guatemala

L – for LOOKING at the issue of DEI and forming the Anti-Racism Committee in August 2020
This group has provided education through programming and discussion groups
Be sure to visit Embracing our Differences this summer

I – Installation of the Peace Pole in Gallup Park in June 2021 and qualifying as a Peacebuilder Club
E – Emergence of Districtwide Committees
RCAA Peace Committee was instrumental in formation of the District 6380 Peace Committee which meets monthly under the capable leadership of our own Marcia Lane in September 2021
RCAA ARC is active on the Districtwide DEIJ committee which began in Oct 2021 and Ebru Misirli Mansfield is very active

N-Robert S Northrup Awards –
John Drake received in Sept 2020 for his the Lingap Foundation which runs an orphanage for street children
April 2022
2021 – Manish Mehta – many humanitarian projects around the globe
2022 – Dr. Henry Maicki for his many years of work in Zambia to improve health and education
In this challenging world, it is so important to recognize those who make a difference.

C- Continuing to review policies
Emeritus Policy revised in 2022
Working with Youth Policy approved in Spring, 2022

E – Enthusiasm of RCAA Members
Look at all you have done despite COVID, some clubs struggled to keep going but we would not be stopped
Thank you to the Presidents with whom I served, strong leaders in challenging times:
Rosemarie – getting us on ZOOM to keep going while stuck at home
Joanne – who made us laugh through those dark days
Susan led us into the Hybrid era and was willing to do the hard work of policy review
Special thanks to all the dedicated Directors and Committee Chairs with whom I served and most importantly all of you, who stuck with us and accomplished so much!!
Thank you
Norma Sarkar