RID 3250 on a giving high
This is their maiden contribution to TRF for 1,150 Rotarians across 56 Rotary clubs in our district,” says Sushil Poddar, past president of RC Patna Samrat, RID 3250, as he relates how the feat was achieved.
During his installation event, DG Bipin Chachan expressed a desire to make the district a ‘100 per cent Giving’ district; DRFC Rajan Gandotra encouraged all Rotarians to contribute a minimum $25 to the Foundation. To set the tone, he motivated club presidents to start by transferring “just $1 initially to experience the wonderful feeling of contributing to our Foundation.” This small step also helped them overcome their fear of online transactions. “Most of us are not tech-savvy or confident about online transactions. Not many clubs are even registered on My Rotary,” says Poddar. With newfound confidence and enthusiasm, the new presidents set the ball rolling on July 1 by transferring $25 to TRF, and motivating their teams to follow suit.
By July 26, the district Rotarians had made an Annual Fund contribution of over $85,000 to the Foundation.
RC Patna Samrat hosted the installation event, presided over by PRID Ashok Mahajan, with PRID Kamal Sanghvi serving as the installation officer. To mark the programme, the club assisted five marginalised men procure electric autorickshaws, providing them income-earning opportunities. The men got the vehicles, each costing Rs1.5 lakh, through bank loans. “Our club provided the seed money of Rs2.5 lakh for the five vehicles. The beneficiaries will repay the balance of the loan in instalments from their earnings, and the club will monitor this,” says club president Devraj Ballabh.
DG Chachan also announced five district projects — sponsoring paediatric heart surgeries; 1,000 cataract surgeries and corrective spectacles for 500 people; prosthetic limbs; and free cancer treatment for people under 18. Various vocational training programmes will be provided to women throughout the year.
The event also saw 54 Rotarians contributing a total of Rs27 lakh to ‘Rotary Grant’, a scheme introduced by Chachan to support small clubs that lack the financial strength to do global grant projects. Rotarians were requested to contribute a minimum Rs50,000 to the grant to help smaller clubs participate in the district projects. The giving Rotarians will be recognised as ‘district patrons’ at a special event.
