December 2015 / January 2016 • Issue 006
CARRICKFERGUS PRESENTS INTERACT CHARTER See page 4
KILKENNY SCOOPS NATIONAL AWARD
YOUNG CHEF WINNER
See page 7
See page 15
Rotarian Sydney Reports On India Trip Carrickfergus Rotarian Sydney Johnston is one of a group of just six people who make up the United Grace Mission Northern Ireland.
Brenda Houston, President of the Rotary Club of Carrickfergus with Rotarian Sydney Johnston on his return from India
Rotarian Sydney , along with John Boyd and their wives have just returned from an annual visit to India to support, oversee and advance the work of the mission there. The mission works largely in remote rural areas establishing small churches and education centres and supporting locally recruited pastors and personnel to advance their work in the care, education and personal development of disadvantaged young people. He reported on the Mission’s plans for a new home complete with hydro pool specifically designed for children with cerebral palsy. It is the first of its kind in India and is being sited in a univer-
sity campus in Kerala at a cost of £150,000 raised entirely through the voluntary efforts of the six members of United Grace Mission NI. Rotarian Sydney described their visit to a leprosy colony and (thanks to British Airways allowance of an extra 48 kilograms of luggage) the gifts they were able to bring which included food, medicines, spectacles and clothing. He also explained how they used the opportunity to teach craft skills to the members of the colony. He painted a vivid picture of India as a place of colour, chaos, smells and noise. Carrickfergus Rotary Club President Brenda Houston expressed the pride and admiration of the Club for Sydney’s work and congratulated him on an excellent presentation.
The Rotary Foundation is one of the best! It is almost regarded with amusement and certainly with no level of expectation. I refer of course to the fact that the good works the world’s Rotarians happily achieve are rarely reported as a global news story. Not so this month, for we see a report on CNBC’s website showing The Rotary Foundation to be included in the list of top 10 charities which have changed the world in 2015, No. 5 to be precise. This is a welcome accolade for a project whose importance is often overlooked. Foundation is Rotary’s own charity, aptly named for as all buildings rely on a solid foundation for strength and stability, so does Rotary. What we call The Rotary Foundation today was initiated in 1917
By Dale Orr - Editor by RI president Arch C Klumph with an initial deposit of $26.50 and made it’s first contribution of $500 in 1929 to the International Society for Crippled Children. Since then the Foundation has grown dramatically … 1947: The Foundation established its first program, Fellowships for Advance Study, later known as Ambassadorial Scholarships. 1965-66: Three programs were launched: Group Study Exchange, Awards for Technical Training, and Grants for Activities in Keeping with the Objective of The Rotary Foundation,
which was later called Matching Grants. 1978: Rotary introduced the Health, Hunger and Humanity (3-H) Grants. The first 3-H Grant funded a project to immunize 6 million Philippine children against polio. 1985: The PolioPlus program was launched to eradicate polio worldwide. 1987-88: The first peace forums were held, leading to Rotary Peace Fellowships. 2013: New district, global, and packaged grants enable Rotarians around the world to respond to the world’s greatest needs. Since that first donation of $26.50 in 1917, the Foundation has received contributions totalling more than $1 billion, a truly solid Foundation.
Talented Teen Wins In Dundalk Dun Lughaidh student Annie McAleer pipped her rivals at the post during the Dundalk Rotary Youth Leadership De-velopment Competition. The 17 year from Castlebel-lingham won the title, spon-sored by the Ballymascanlon Hotel and Dundalk
Credit Union, after her wide range of leadership experience was acknowledged. Annie was confirmed as the local winner at the schools lunch in the Ballymascanlon on Monday. The mid Louth teen de-scribed how her involvement in a range of initia-
tives give her an insight into leadership roles. ‘During Transition Year I took part in the Pope John Paul II award and in doing so got involved in my local parish as a Minister of the Word. Along with reading at mass, I have also helped out with the annual St.
Rotarian Donald Gordon President Rotary Club, Dublin makes a presentation to Minister Paschal Donohoe T.D.
Euromeeting 2015 A Great Success On the weekend of 2nd-4th October 2015, The Rotary Club, Dublin, hosted some fifty Rotarians from Belgium, Cyprus, France, Germany, Sweden and the UK. The event was brilliantly organised by Past President Paul Loughlin and his hard-working team of supporters. At the official opening on Friday evening, the visitors were warmly welcomed by Paschal Donohoe T.D. , Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. Afterwards they were homehosted by Dublin club members. On Saturday evening a Gala Dinner was held in the historic Slane Castle. The 2015 Euromeeting Award of €2,000 was presented to ‘The Dining Room’ a recently established Dun Laoghaire charity that provides meals for upwards of ninety poor, homeless and lonely people four times a week.
Some of the Euromeeting Guests from Jonkoping Rotary Club in Sweden at the Gala Dinner in Slane Castle.
Vincent De Paul Christmas hamper appeal.’ Annie was also a speaker at the Soroptomist International public speaking competition, and was awarded the Mary Barrett perpetual trophy for communication. ‘I competed in the Trinity college debating team where I was thrilled to have ranked highly as an individual, and during the summer months I helped out at a petition
sign-ing that sought to reverse the cuts made to the lone parents allowance. Annie was also a project co-ordinator for the St. Vin-cent De Paul Youth for Justice project, and acted as public relations manager for a local group. Delighted to have been crowned the Dundalk Rotary youth leader, Annie now goes forward to the regional com-petition which takes place this year in Drogheda.