From Our District Governor

Rotary Opens Opportunities

By Kirk Driskell

As the year begins, there are several things that I would like to address as it relates to the safety of members. I am absolutely confident that, while the current conditions will challenge our traditions, this year’s Rotary International theme “Rotary Opens Opportunities” will come to life in ways previously impossible as we navigate through the coming days. It will be a year of firsts, full of innovation and adaptation. While our year might look different, I am more than excited for the journey ahead, and I hope you can join me in this excitement. As we navigate what may seem to be huge obstacles, I challenge us all to see the year ahead full of huge opportunities. Sometimes opportunities are disguised as 500 pound Gorillas. Our District will be committed to providing as much information and support during this year as possible to our clubs.
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Opportunity to Serve During Pandemic

District Targets $500,000 Contribution to Feed Hungry During Pandemic

By Bob Hope

The novel coronavirus pandemic has left corporate kitchens dormant or grossly underutilized, while growing unemployment is driving the city’s food insecurity numbers to unprecedented levels. Feeding America and The Atlanta Community Food Bank estimate that 16% of people in the 29-county service area of the Food Bank will be food insecure this summer. And, with school out for the summer, 26% of children, 1 in 4, could go hungry. To address this staggering divide, The Atlanta Community Food Bank and Second Helpings Atlanta have joined forces to launch the Atlanta Community Kitchen Project. This first-ever public/private partnership in the region connects hunger relief agencies with commercial kitchens with a goal to provide five hundred thousand meals to Atlanta families in need this summer. And this unprecedented initiative is being funded in large part by the city’s top corporate leaders who comprise the Atlanta Rotary Club.
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Rotary International Awards

Congratulations PDG Bob Hagan, RI Service Above Self Award Recipient

By Jackie Cuthbert

PDG Bob Hagan has been recognized with Rotary International's highest honor for an individual Rotarian, the ROTARY SERVICE ABOVE SELF AWARD - for his enthusiastic support and hard work on behalf of Rotary's End Polio Now initiative, as well as his tireless efforts to support all things Rotary. The award is an internationally competitive award granted to a maximum of 150 Rotarians per year who are examples of Service Above Self. Congratulations Bob!
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District Awards

Congratulations to Sheffield Award Winners, Clubs of Year, Clubs of Decade

By Raymond Ray, Jr.

At our year-end celebration in Columbus, these Presidents were recognized as Sheffield Leadership Award winners

• Category 1: Joy Manbeck, North Fulton
• Category 2: David Schwiekerath, North Cobb
• Category 3: Ryan Swertfager, Carrollton Dawnbreakers, and Rene Smith, Americus
• Category 4: Gordon Owens, Roswell, and Kimberly Walden, Thomasville

We also continued our tradition of recognizing Clubs of the Year. And because it was the end of the decade, we recognized Clubs of the Decade. [more]

Awards

Thanks to Some Amazing District 6900 Rotarians

By Jim Squire

I wanted to take a moment to tell you about four very important awards at the District level - recognizing the work of Barbara Henigin from the Rotary Club of LaGrange,   PDG Claudia Mertl from the Rotary Club of Lake Spivey/Clayton County, Terry Rouse from the Rotary Club of Thomasville and Jaclyn Donovan from the Rotary Club of Moultrie.
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Your Rotary Foundation Dollars at Work Today in South Georgia

By Steve Stanfield

We shared in our last newsletter that District 6900 directed $6,400 of our District Designated Funds (DDF) from The Rotary Foundation to purchase food from food banks within the southern part of the District. Today, we'd like to show those dollars at work in our South Georgia communities. These photos are from the Food Pantry distribution in Americus and Sumter County. Notice the farmer's produce wagon, the prepackaged food boxes with 25 lbs of food (cost to us $3.95 each), donations by Bordon's Dairies. This is your Rotary Foundation money at work!
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The Rotary Foundation

Awards for 2019-20 Rotary Foundation Giving

By Cheryl Greenway

Thanks to the clubs and individuals who have supported The Rotary Foundation this year. We have been able to make a difference in the world and our communities because of your generosity and the hours many of you put into projects here and around the globe. Take a look at the giving for 2019-20.
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Rotary Foundation Award for Meritorious Service

Congratulations to Kathy Brandt!

By Jackie Cuthbert

The Rotary Foundation recognizes a special group of Rotarians around the world each year for their active service on behalf of the Foundation. A Rotary district may nominate one person to receive the Rotary Foundation Citation for Meritorious Service. It does not recognize giving, but actual personal service to the Foundation for a long period of time. It is the second highest award you may receive from The Rotary Foundation. And to be eligible to receive the highest Foundation honor, you must have received the Citation for Meritorious Service.

This year, District 6900 nominated Kathleen Brandt to receive this high honor from The Rotary Foundation for her many years of work on the Global Grant Scholar program. The program focuses on finding scholars who will make a long-term difference in the world. Kathy has served on the district scholarship committee for 11 years - as Chair since the 2011-12 Rotary year. [more]

Awards

Clubs Recognized for Membership, Projects, Fund-Raising and Operations

By Raymond Ray, Jr.

All of the Rotary Clubs of District 6900 achieved great things in 2019-20 ... in membership growth, projects that made a difference in their communities, the world and their clubs. After reviewing all the reports of great work submitted, the District recognized a number of clubs for their accomplishments in many categories. [more]

Serving During the Pandemic

Rotary Clubs Make a Difference in Their Communities

By Jackie Cuthbert

Editor's Note: See how the Rotarians in Barnesville, Fayetteville, North Cobb, Henry County and North Columbus have served their communities during the pandemic. We captured these stories from the Club pages on Facebook. Read on to see 1) when it's OK to get your hands dirty and 2) how clubs are feeding the community.
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Awards

DG Bestows Special District Service Above Self Awards

By Raymond Ray, Jr.

DG Jim Squire recognized the several individuals at the club and district leadership team levels with District 6900 Service Above Self Awards for their "outstanding contribution of time and resources in prominently promoting Rotary International and the Rotary Foundation's goals of world understanding and peace." [more]

Serving During the Pandemic

Keeping Families Connected

By Jackie Cuthbert

The Rotary Club of Pelham was able to donate a dozen tablets to Pelham Parkway Nursing Home to help residents communicate with family during these unprecedented times. The Rotary Club of Roswell donated four iPads to Wellstar North Fulton Hospital so patients who can’t have visitors can stay connected to family.

Sharing Our Stories

Thomasville Creates a Video Message, "Rotary People of Action"

By Kim Walden

A few members of the Rotary Club of Thomasville's Public Image team met before the start of the last Rotary year to begin thinking about how they would approach the task of creating awareness and understanding of Rotary in the community. One of the tools we discussed was a video that would showcase Rotary’s impact and influence in this community and around the world. We envisioned that such a video would be used as part of Rotary Club, Interact, and Rotaract members’ presentations at area schools, the local Chamber, other community events, fundraisers and Family of Rotary events. In short, we wanted to share it widely! And now we'd like to share it with you.
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GRSP Update

New District GRSP Leaders, Awards, Thanks and Thoughts from an Alumnus

By Lynn Clarke

This program is one-of-a-kind. We have been bringing nations together since 1946. The program began with only four scholars, and now we are proud to say that we have more than 3,600 alumni from all over the world. The program’s purpose is to broaden the understanding of world peace by offering ambassadorial scholarships to international students for one year of cultural immersion and study in Georgia colleges and universities.

Each year, students from all over the world make friends in the United States and other nations and learn about differing cultures and lifestyles. Georgia Rotarians believe “Peace is Possible” and through GRSP promote international goodwill through friendship and understanding.

The students become adopted members of a Georgia “host family,” living on-campus at the school they attend. This is an ambassadorial program, not an exchange! This will be the first time in nearly 75 years that we will not have students, but we intend to keep the dream alive. This program has never been more relevant than now with negative information about the United States circulating around the world.
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Club News

Atlanta Rotary Reaches Out to Community for Positive Change

By Bob Hope

Consistent with our purpose and heritage, the Rotary Club of Atlanta looks to engage with our communities in thoughtful leadership to help bring positive change. Following the tragic deaths of individuals like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, our club formed an exploratory committee to outline initial steps for our response to racial and economic injustice. Our work will expand into a broader, standing committee, and we hope many of you will get involved in what will be a long but productive journey. Even as we develop our plans, we want to be visible now and begin dialog. To that end, we will be releasing this letter to the media over the next few days. It was approved by the Board of the Atlanta Rotary Club on June 11.
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Serving During the Pandemic

Clubs Honor First Responders and Health Workers

By Jackie Cuthbert

See how the Rotary Clubs of South Cobb, Newnan and Thomaston-Upson all took time to say thank you to first responders and hospital workers.
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From Facebook

Serving Before and During the Pandemic

By Jackie Cuthbert

While the Rotary Club of Paulding County supported the Paulding 4H UGA Extension, the Jackson-Butts County Rotary Club helped seniors celebrate Valentine's Day before the pandemic, the Rotary Club of Polk County helped to support the police K-9 project and the Rotary Club of Fayette Daybreak presented a check to the Royal Animal Refuge for funds raised during a pre-pandemic wine tasting event. [more]

Serving During the Pandemic

Americus Year-End Party Supports Local Businesses

By Angela Smith

Each year, the Rotary Club of Americus holds a year-end celebration with its annual Trip Raffle, complete with drawings for door prizes and trips for the top three winners. Though the event is normally held in person as a highlight and in celebration of the Rotary year, used to reflect on the projects that were accomplished and the friendships developed, it was decided that this year’s event would need to be virtual out of an abundance of caution for all members. Necessity is the mother of invention and if the pandemic has taught any lessons, creativity reigns supreme…the event took on wings of its own and became an event the club would not soon forget.
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From Facebook

Happy Rotary New Year!

By Jackie Cuthbert

Unique photos and stories from the year-end celebrations of the Rotary Clubs of Atlanta West End and Meriwether County - taken from their Facebook feeds. [more]

From Facebook

Celebrating a Changing of the Guard

By Jackie Cuthbert

Congratulations to all the Immediate Past Presidents and all of the incoming Presidents as our new Rotary Year get underway! We captured the pictures above and below this article from Facebook ... and here are the stories that go with each numbered picture.
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From Facebook

Rotary and Rotaract Join in Atlanta Metro and Columbus Changing of Guard

By Jackie Cuthbert

Both the Rotary Club of Atlanta Metro and the Rotary Club of Columbus shared their year-end celebration with local Rotaractors. One was totally in person; the other featured some online connections. [more]

Club News

Happy 60th Birthday to Lake Spivey/Clayton County Rotary

By Ron Swofford

During its June 10 Zoom meeting, the Rotary Club of Lake Spivey/Clayton County experienced an event unique in its 60-year history - a virtual birthday party. This well-attended meeting, with fellow Rotarians facing each other and only a computer screen apart, included DG Jim Squire leading the group in a chorus of “Happy Birthday” and PDG Claudia Mertl providing a beautiful virtual birthday cake, which all in attendance feasted on without absorbing any calories.
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From Facebook

Recognition for Rotarians and Community Leaders

By Jackie Cuthbert

LaGrange Rotarians and the local community recently gathered to celebrate fellow Rotarian Dr. Bob Copeland, who was honored by Wellstar for his years of serving the community's health needs by the renaming of its Georgia Heart Clinic at West Georgia Medical Center as the Copeland Heart Clinic. "We couldn’t possibly be more proud of our own Rotarian Dr. Bob Copeland for a life dedicated to service above self! Thank you for all you continue to do for our community and huge congratulations!"

We also collected stories from Facebook about the Rotary Clubs of Milton, Bremen, Dallas, Lake Spivey/Clayton County, Carrollton Dawnbreakers and Johns Creek North Fulton recognizing individual Rotarians and community leaders for their service. 
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