A big THANK YOU to every Rotarian in the District for the success of our recent District Foundation Celebration Event on May 22,2021. Our 21st annual Foundation fundraising and recognition event was a big success.
The recognition of the Clubs and the "People of Action" District Grant project video went very well. This year, we also added a second video with a very good update on our District Global grant projects.
On May 22, at our Foundation Celebration we raised approximately $70,000 for the Annual Fund/Share through Rotary Club sponsorships, individual ticket registrations, silent auction proceeds and raffle ticket sales. The final figure will be determined after expenses.
The winners of the raffles were all District Rotarians. Linn Mills of Kansas City Club won the Florida Condo, Paul Gibson of St. Joseph South Side won the Big Cedar Lodge, Karen Van Sickle of St. Joseph South Side won the Crystal Bridges and David Gale of Lee’s Summit won the Diamond Earrings. Congratulations to all of them.
We also had over 50 nice items for the Silent Auction. This was our first time to use an online bidding system. It all went well. Going forward we will be able to expand the uses of this software for additional Rotary events.
In summary, it was a great event. There were a few glitches which we are sure to learn from for future events. We apologize to those who had difficulties getting online for the Celebration. We will be distributing video segments soon for you to view or use for a Club program. Your next opportunity to participate in The Foundation Dinner is November 5, 2021 at the Kansas City Hotel to honor the ’20 -’21 year’s award winners and to raise even more money for the Foundation.
Thank you to our amazing Foundation Celebration committee and all who helped plan and execute this event.
P.S. There is still time to make a contribution to the Foundation before this year ends. If you go online this month, you can donate at my rotary.org under the Foundation tab. Thank you for your Foundation contributions. They make many of our projects possible. If you have questions, please contact Foundation Chair Kim LeSage or myself.
Don Gladhart
District Governor 2020-2021