Tuesday, June 14 - 6-6:45 p.m. Hybrid - NEWLY remodeled Milwaukee Athletic Center in person OR Virtual via Zoom
Social gathering at 5:45 p.m. and adjourn at 6:45 p.m. to the rooftop of the beautiful Milwaukee Athletic Center
We are happy to be back in person for our Amigos club meeting! OR join us virtually! Afterwards we will go to the rooftop to enjoy camaraderie. Food and beverages available for purchase.
Our guest speaker for this meeting will be one of our own Amigos Rotarian, Robert Grede, who recently traveled to Poland to help Ukrainian refugees with some friends.
"Three Guys on a Mission" is the story of three American friends that went to Poland to make the Ukrainian refugee's situation just a little bit better.
We would like to see you in person for this meeting, however if you are not able to attend below is the Zoom link to join online. Masks are HIGHLY encouraged as many Rotarians have been reporting throughout the District and from the convention that they have gotten covid. Please consider wearing a mask.
Topic: Amigos Rotary - Hybrid Club meeting Time: Jun 14, 2022 06:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
One tap mobile +19292056099,,96493263442#,,,,*331580# US (New York) +13017158592,,96493263442#,,,,*331580# US (Washington DC)
Dial by your location +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) Meeting ID: 964 9326 3442 Passcode: 331580 Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/a5LgqzgJV
Tuesday, June 21 - 6-7:15 p.m. - Virtual via Zoom - Pre-register link below
Hate and Healing: The Path to Forgiveness - Pardeep Kaleka
The Rotary District 6270 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee encourages us to reflect on how certain groups are targeted by hate based solely on their skin color, birth country, culture, or religious beliefs.
This topic is relevant and important as we have recently witnessed mass murders, with one group in Buffalo targeted only because of the color of their skin.
In this session, we will hear from Pardeep Kaleka and how he turned the pain of the murder of his father and other religious leaders at the Sikh Temple on 5 August 2012, into positive healing action. Pardeep Kaleka is Executive Director of Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee, published Author of “The Gifts of Our Wounds,” and an Intervention Specialist who works with families and individuals involved in extremism. Pardeep is also an award-winning community columnist on mental health with the Milwaukee Independent and Licensed Trauma Clinician who works with victims, perpetrators, and communities impacted by violence. We will provide time for Q&A from our audience.
This event is open to all. Need NOT be a Rotarian to participate.
Ending Polio is Closer than Ever - Only 2 Countries Left But Just a Plane Ride Away Until Fully Eradicated
Rotarians and those not in Rotary can help make a difference!
Amigos Rotarians can receive Paul Harris Credit with a Commitment to at least $100 to Polio Plus each year.
It is almost like "FREE" Money to Help YOU Make a Difference!
ALL giving to Polio Plus is matched from the Gates Foundation. For every dollar we all give through Rotary, they will match with $2. AGAIN, need not be a Rotarian to Make a WORLD of difference!
See below, more information about the PolioPlus Society. If you have further questions, watch your email for an email from Rob Bassett or contact him at RobofRCMF@aol.com
Some may think we need to move on in our Rotary commitment to gift the world with the full eradication of polio. Sadly, the recent outbreaks in Israel and Malawi demonstrate that we cannot leave this partially done!
Today's relevancy is clear in these two recent episodes AND all we have done has also been relevant in COVID and Ebola outbreaks.
Amigos Rotarian Angela Rester is offering to match your giving to the Foundation and PolioPlus. Because of her own donations over the last 35 years, she can gift you points toward your Paul Harris Fellow. If you give $100 to the PolioPlus then she will give $100 (in points) to the Foundation Annual Fund that helps to support our receiving of District Grants and much more. This will put you $100 closer to the Paul Harris Fellow awarded when you have given $1000 to the Foundation through Annual Fund and/or PolioPlus.
This would ensure your becoming a member of The PolioPlus Society. DGN Don Griffing and our dear Rotary friend, Rob Bassett, are requesting that we all consider and act to become members of The PolioPlus Society. It is designed to provide an ongoing stream of contributions to the End Polio Now program, until such time as polio has been eradicated. Funds will be matched 2-1 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, effectively tripling the money donated by Rotarians.
DGN Don and Rob are requesting action quickly. President Marta Carrion (she's now a PolioPlus Society member along with PDG Angie Rester) is hoping that you will also respond. If you need further clarification or have questions, please send Angie an email with a number where you can be reached. Let's try to act quickly! This offer is good until June 28.
Additional information provided by DGN Don;
Funding ensures that 400 million children receive vaccinations annually and enables continuous monitoring to help eliminate sources of the wild poliovirus. This tracking is the “Plus” in PolioPlus and enables health professionals to locate sources of the virus and work with local agencies to eliminate them.
The systems established by the PolioPlus program have helped in controlling recent outbreaks of the COVID-19 virus, and the Ebola outbreak in Africa several years ago. PolioPlus has helped raise the standard of health in countries worldwide and continues to pay benefits even where polio has been eliminated.
After three decades without a case of wild poliovirus in Malawi, the recent detection of a case in the country’s capital kicked off a swift and urgent effort to stop the spread before further infection. In response to the case – linked to a strain originating in Pakistan, where wild polio remains endemic – Malawi’s Ministry of Health coordinated with specialized teams from the GPEI as well as neighboring governments to improve disease surveillance, mobilize communities, and launch a regional immunization campaign to protect over 20 million children with lifesaving polio vaccines.
You MUST go online to the Rotary District 6270 website and click on the link
Rotary District 6270 is excited to announce the start of the PolioPlus Society in our district. This is a district program to recognize those Rotarians, Rotaractors, and friends of Rotary, who have pledged to give at least $100 annually to the PolioPlus Fund of The Rotary Foundation, until the wild poliovirus is no longer endemic around the world. The goal of this PolioPlus Society is to raise awareness and provide recognition for Rotary’s goal of eliminating the disease from the planet.
We would like to invite you to consider and join the Rotary District 6270 PolioPlus Society by completing the pledge form on the PolioPlus Society page, https://rotary6270.org/sitepage/polioplus-society. Members of the Rotary District 6270 PolioPlus Society will receive a certificate and a specially designed PolioPlus Society lapel pin.
Quick Briefs - more to come
* Watch for future Park and River Cleanups - Dates to come
The Council on Resolutions meets online each year. Representatives from all of Rotary’s districts vote on resolutions proposed by clubs, districts, the RI Board of Directors, and the General Council or Conference of RIBI, as well as urgent enactments proposed by the RI Board. The RI Board will consider all resolutions that the Council adopts. Adopted urgent enactments amend Rotary’s constitutional documents. Learn more about the Council on Resolutions.
The Council on Legislation met successfully last week in Chicago.
Angela Rester, District 6270 Governor 1998-99 and Founder of Rotary Club Milwaukee Amigos After Hours is the District 6270 Council on Resolutions / Council on Legislation 2020-2023 Representative. Angie self-funded her opportunity to be an observer in 2007 and loves this "promise" of Rotary always being a "bottom-up" organization....plus she's an organizational structure and by-laws "nerd"!
Any Rotary club wishing a program on the Council on Resolutions / Council on Legislation is invited to contact Angie. Click here
Actions taken were reported at the District 6270 Business meeting on Friday, April 29.
To learn more about Ethnic "happenings" - events, history, reading suggestions, and more be sure to access the bi-monthly Ethnic News on-line publication. The May/June edition is available by clicking here.
Amigos Rotarian Rob Grede and Two Friends Bring Aid to Ukraine Through Rotarians in Poland with help from Rotarians and Friends in the States
Rob Grede, another Rotarian, and another friend couldn't sit on their couch and watch any longer.
Rob contacted Past District Governor Angela Rester to see how the Rotary Club Milwaukee Amigos After Hours might help if he and a couple friends were willing to go to Vienna and purchase medical supplies and then drive them to Poland for distribution to Ukraine refugees and to get to those in Ukraine needing the medical supplies. Rester utilized Rotary "family" connections and meeting the Council on Legislation reps in Chicago from Poland and Ukraine to get a contact to Rob and as they say, the rest is history.
Learn more about the generous outpouring of financial support from Rotarians and friends to purchase supplies and how Rotarians in Poland made sure the needed supplies got where they needed to go. Rob will be doing a presentation on Tuesday, June 14 at 6 p.m. at the Milwaukee Athletic Club (it will also be available via Zoom as a live event). You need not be a Rotarian to attend. See the event listing for details for in-person or virtually.
The Rotary Club of Jaroslaw Poland posted the following on their Facebook page.
We express our gratitude to the Rotary community for their support in the form of a medicine shipment we picked up at the end of May in Yaroslav (a Polish city on the border with Ukraine).
Territorially it was transferred to the Rotary Club Jarosław warehouse, where the cargo was stored for several days. For what the Rotary Club of Yaroslav special thanks!
Following this, the representative of the Women's Veterans Movement in Lviv, Христя Мавка alone, was able to pick up the medicine with her own car to distribute in various "hottest" destinations. For we currently have many unspoken needs and requests from our brothers and sisters.
Specifically, this cargo was distributed and delivered: to Rivne Hospital, where our military undergo treatment and rehabilitation, and to Bakhmut Field Hospital.
Thank you very much to our friends for their support!
Together for the Victory! And with faith in further cooperation.
Rob also received notification as follows -
Confirmation!
We received notice today that the medical supplies we delivered to the Jaroslaw [Poland] Rotary Club on 16 May have reached the front near Bahmut, in the Donbas Region.
Thank you to Maryna Guryanova of the Cherkasy [Ukraine] Rotary Club for coordinating the delivery.
On May 16, a valuable shipment of medicines was delivered to Yaroslav (a Polish city on the border with Ukraine) from Austria to help treat refugees, military and undocumented populations.
We accepted this shipment, along with a commitment that each box gets to exactly who needs it.
After negotiations with several carriers, the decision has been made to hand over the cargo to Жіночий Ветеранський Рух with which our Rotary club has long-standing ties and built trust (organization member or military or volunteer) carry medicines and provision themselves hot spots).
On May 21, the cargo was in lviv, despite the fuel crisis in Ukraine,- they managed to take it.
Currently there is distribution and adresna delivery from lviv to eastern Ukraine.
One separate suitcase was sent by us from Lviv to Cherkasy on May 17 by Nova Poshta and yesterday, most of it was transferred to military to our member of the Club Anna Nikolaeva who has been engaged in their security since the first days of the war.
We have a few more projects about which we will report to the extent of the news.
Rotarians in Action!!!!
Rotarians all over the world responded to the needs in Ukraine and to refugees. A Disaster Relief Fund was established and has already received $15 Million in contributions and MANY Rotarians around the world have opened their homes to refugees needing a place to call home as they fled Ukraine with little more than what they could carry. Read more about Rotarians responding to the humanitarian need below.
At Rotary, we are deeply concerned by the escalating loss of life and humanitarian hardship caused by the war in Ukraine. We’re using our deep networks and decades of experience to take swift action in the region.
Find out more about what Rotary is doing and how you can support relief efforts.
How we are taking action
Your donations at work
All donations to our Disaster Response Fund from 3 March to 30 April 2022 have been prioritized for use providing humanitarian aid to regions that are supporting Ukrainian refugees or other victims of the war.
Thanks to the generosity of donors around the world, we raised more than $15 million in contributions that are already helping provide people with essential items such as water, food, shelter, medicine, and clothing.
So far, 128 disaster response grants totaling $3.3 million have been awarded to support people affected by the war. The Rotary Foundation will continue to use the donations for humanitarian aid in and around Ukraine, and districts can apply for these grants until 31 December 2022.
Donations made to the Disaster Response Fund after 30 April will be available to all communities around the world that need assistance recovering from disasters.
Contact information and how to support local club and district-led efforts
Many clubs and districts have organized local humanitarian response initiatives in Ukraine and the surrounding region. Find out how to engage with Rotary clubs and districts, find contacts for hosting refugees, and more local efforts. You can directly support these local projects.
District 2232 (Ukraine) formed a committee to help victims of the war in Ukraine. They identified urgent medical supplies to help injured civilians. Download the list of needed medical supplies (PDF).
Learn how Rotary is responding
Rotary and Rotaract clubs in Europe and around the world are working with members nearby to provide information, transportation, medical equipment, and shelter for refugees.
Czech and Slovak Rotary members open aid corridor into Ukraine
by Arnold R. Grahl
Within a day of Russian troops entering Ukraine in February, Rotary clubs in the Czech Republic and Slovakia were using their connections to gain access to a strategic railway hub that has allowed them to shuttle critical supplies into Ukraine and help refugees get out.
The city of Košice, Slovakia, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the border with Ukraine, is home to a rail terminus where east meets west. For decades, the terminus has received trains carrying raw materials out of Ukraine along wide-gauge rail lines. The cargo is then transferred onto train cars that run on the standard-gauge rail lines used elsewhere in Europe.
A number of multinational shipping companies use the hub. Rotary members realized quickly that they needed to be able to use it as well.
Martin Pitorák, president of the Rotary Club of Košice, is a former vice president of U.S. Steel Košice, which uses the hub. He and Michal Sláma, president of the Rotary Club of Pardubice, Czech Republic, were among Rotary members who were able to negotiate access.
“We acted very quickly,” says Monika Kočiová, a member of the Rotaract and Rotary clubs of Košice. “We were making arrangements while others were still knocking at the door.”
The hub is important because Ukraine’s extensive rail network, one of the largest in the world, serves parts of the country that are difficult to reach by truck.
Rotary was the first humanitarian organization to get permission to use the rail hub for relief supplies, Kočiová says, and clubs have sent trains full of medical supplies, nonperishable food, and hygiene products across the border. The Slovak government and the European Union have since designated the hub as a primary pathway for sending supplies by rail into Ukraine.
Supplies that arrive in Košice are unloaded and sorted by Rotary volunteers into warehouses before being moved into Ukraine. The Rotary and Rotaract clubs have also used more than 60 trucks and buses to carry 740 tons of supplies into the western Ukrainian region of Uzhhorod, just across the border. From there, they are distributed to locations around the country.
“It is great to see the power of Rotary at work in this time of need,” says Pitorák. “In addition to supplies, financial support is coming in from many parts of the world.”
Railway Helps
In addition to the use of the wide-gauge rail network, the Rotary and Rotaract clubs are part of an initiative called Railway Helps. Started by the owner of Gepard Express, a Czech passenger transportation company, Railway Helps is using passenger trains to bring supplies into Ukraine and refugees out.
So far, the initiative has brought more than 500 tons of supplies into Chop, a town in the Uzhhorod region. Trains returned to the city of Pardubice carrying more than 5,500 Ukrainian refugees.
Rotary members have helped raise funds, which have come from a variety of sources including a public fundraiser, district funding, and a contribution by the owner of Gepard Express. The participating railways have also absorbed significant costs and other organizations have waived fees.
Sláma continues to seek additional funds for Railway Helps, which is currently sending trains through Poland to Mostyska. The plan is to eventually build a waiting room and passenger station at Mostyska to speed up the flow of supplies and assist refugees leaving Ukraine.
Working with others
Coordinating with other entities has been crucial to the success of the efforts. The Rotary and Rotaract clubs have been working with Ukrainian government officials, including members of parliament, diplomats, and regional governors, as well as with hospitals in the cities of Kharkiv, Cherkasy, Uzhhorod, and Mukachevo.
Kočiová and Ivana Lengová, both members of the International Fellowship of Healthcare Professionals, oversee the purchase of medical supplies and the processing of medical equipment donated by companies in Europe. Lengová, a member of the Rotary Club of Košice Classic, helped secured equipment worth more than $730,000 from Siemens Slovakia, including four mobile imaging units and three mobile X-ray units.
“Because the fellowship includes members who work at Ukrainian hospitals, we have been able to react very quickly to changing needs,” Kočiová notes.
The clubs are also in regular contact with officials and volunteers at several Slovak-Ukrainian border crossings, coordinating accommodations and transportation for refugees.
Just four days after the war began, Kočiová spent time at the border.
“You could feel a lot of pain and see tears,” she says. “The refugees are broken, but they are very strong and proud. They were not asking for anything. Even the small children were not complaining.”
Kočiová was away from home on a business trip when the war began, but when contacted by a Ukrainian friend and fellow Rotaractor, she arranged for her to stay at her home.
“I arrived home a day later and saw her with just one small backpack containing all she had,” Kočiová says. “She is a high-level manager. Her mom was escaping along another route, and her sister yet another, and they were planning to meet up in Switzerland. When you imagine yourself in that situation, it becomes very real.”
Have you joined a Fellowship yet?
Don't know what they are? Awesome way to connect Internationally and locally with other Rotarians who share your interests or hobbies.
Rotary Fellowships are independent, social groups that share a common passion. Being part of a fellowship is a fun way to make friends around the world.
How do I join a fellowship?
Fellowships are open to Rotarians, family members, and program participants and alumni. You can contact a fellowship directly by using the information listed in the Rotary Fellowships directory. Or search our discussion groups to find Rotary and Rotaract members with similar interests.
Ask your district Rotary Fellowships chair for assistance. Reach out to district Rotary Fellowships chairs in other countries to build membership by emailing us.
Be sure you meet the criteria for a fellowship and apply for official recognition.
Explore our fellowships:
Interested in a particular subject? Visit the group's website or email it to learn more.
Did you know that our District now has a new Fellowship? Rotary Means Business - this was taken from the District 6270 home page -
"District 6270 has now officially become the first Rotary district in Wisconsin to be chartered under the Rotary Means Business Fellowship. Rotary Means Business encourages Rotarians to support the success of their fellow Rotarians by doing business with them, and by referring others to them. I am of the firm belief that the most honorable people to transact business with are people who abide by the 4 Way Test. So, to launch the Rotary Means Business Fellowship, we are planning an event that will be announced soon where Rotarians who are involved in business or interested in business can come to socialize and learn more about how to join the fellowship. We are also working on an Electronic Business Directory (in PDF format) for all Rotarians involved in various businesses to be able to have their businesses listed so that other Rotarians can reach out to them to transact business or refer business to them."
Rotarian and Cycling Fellowship member Angie Rester recently rode in the Penninsula Century Fall Challenge where she ran into the Rotarians from the Rotary Club Door County North who hosted one of the rest stops and fueling stations in the ride that starts and ends in Sister Bay. Cycling Fellowship members are also able to purchase the Rotary and End Polio jerseys made just for the Fellowship. Angie is available for presentations to clubs regarding Fellowships. She serves as the District Fellowship Chair. Click here to email her your request or questions.
Are you interested in serving on the District Committee for Fellowships? Meetings will be telephonically so you can join the committee from any place in the District.
Interested in a particular subject? Visit the group's website or email it to learn more.
Did you know that Rotary does not require weekly attendance even though we generally meet weekly?
Did you know that our project and volunteer service counts as attendance?
Did you know that you can do a Rotary make-up by attending another club meeting OR by going on-line and read several "programs" and then apply for a make-up? Use these links to get started.
Social gathering at 5:45 p.m. and adjourn at 6:45 p.m. to the rooftop of the beautiful Milwaukee Athletic Center
Ending Polio is Closer than Ever - Only 2 Countries Left But Just a Plane Ride Away Until Fully Eradicated
The systems established by the PolioPlus program have helped in controlling recent outbreaks of the COVID-19 virus, and the Ebola outbreak in Africa several years ago. PolioPlus has helped raise the standard of health in countries worldwide and continues to pay benefits even where polio has been eliminated.
New PolioPlus Society in Rotary District 6270
The Council on Resolutions meets online each year. Representatives from all of Rotary’s districts vote on resolutions proposed by clubs, districts, the RI Board of Directors, and the General Council or Conference of RIBI, as well as urgent enactments proposed by the RI Board. The RI Board will consider all resolutions that the Council adopts. Adopted urgent enactments amend Rotary’s constitutional documents. 
Rob also received notification as follows - 
Rotarian and Cycling Fellowship member Angie Rester recently rode in the Penninsula Century Fall Challenge where she ran into the Rotarians from the Rotary Club Door County North who hosted one of the rest stops and fueling stations in the ride that starts and ends in Sister Bay. Cycling Fellowship members are also able to purchase the Rotary and End Polio jerseys made just for the Fellowship. Angie is available for presentations to clubs regarding Fellowships. She serves as the District Fellowship Chair. Click here to email her your request or questions. 
