Merrimack Valley Rotary Club

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Rotarians Learn How To Get Free Advice For Their Business Needs

Are you a small business owner? Do you need advice? You can't afford to hire a consultant? How about free advice! That is what a recent speaker at the MV Rotary is offering! Peter McGarry, of SCORE, represents a non profit organization consisting of retired business people who consult small business on all aspects of running their business.

SCORE is a national organization that has local chapters in many areas of the United States.

They offer

A face to face consultations with a business professional who can answer questions.

An on site evaluation at the place of business.

A team of SCORE counselors to provide specialized assistance in a wide range of business areas.

SCORE also offers more than 6,600 local business workshops each year across the United States. Peter is from the local chapter in Lowell Massachusetts and can be reached at 978-459-9899. To find a SCORE Counseling and Resource Office elsewhere in the United States, go to http://www.score.org/.

On the SCORE site you can also Ask SCORE a question about your business and you will get an answer withing 48 hours. There are also dozens of online guides (available in both English and Spanish) with proven, practical tips on a variety of small business topics including templates for business plans, loan requests, and more. You can also reach SCORE by calling 1-800-634-0245.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Rotary Belief and Goal: Peace Is Possible.....

“Love is mightier than hate. Give it one half the advertising that
hate has had and there will be no more war”.
Paul Harris, Rotary Founder

Rotary clubs provide emergency shelter, aid to thousands in Myanmar

As the humanitarian crisis worsened in Myanmar’s delta region after a powerful cyclone hit on 3 May, a response team of four specially trained volunteers moved into devastated areas on Thursday to distribute more than 800 ShelterBox containers.

ShelterBox, a grassroots disaster relief organization supported by Rotary clubs around the world, was among the first charities to reach cyclone victims. Desperately needed aid from many other international groups had been stalled at the border for days by Myanmar’s military government.

More than one million people have been left homeless by the disaster, and 100,000 are feared dead, the United Nations reports.

The team will work in cooperation with local groups in Myanmar to line up transportation and determine where the shelters will do the most good amid the massive devastation.

The first deployment of ShelterBoxes will benefit more than 10,000 survivors. Each container provides a tent, stove, water purification kit, blankets, tools, and other necessities to help a family of 10 survive for six months. Some include two 10-person tents, doubling the usual shelter capacity.

With no Rotary presence in Myanmar, Rotarians’ direct involvement in the relief effort will be limited. But Beth Palmer, executive director of ShelterBox USA, has noticed a spike in online contributions and says her phone has been “ringing off the hook” as Rotary club members have called to donate. ShelterBox offices in Australia, Canada, and Germany have reported a similar increase in contributions.

Tom Henderson, a member of the Rotary Club of Helston-Lizard, England, and the founder of ShelterBox, says 224 containers left Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday. Another 220 boxes have been sent from Melbourne, Australia, and 400 are en route from ShelterBox headquarters in Cornwall, England.

ShelterBox was launched in 2000 as a project of the Helston-Lizard club and quickly garnered support among Rotary clubs worldwide. To date, the nonprofit has raised US$29 million and delivered aid to over 40 countries in response to more than 70 disasters. Each complete ShelterBox costs $1,000 to sponsor, and Rotary clubs provide about half the charity’s funding.

Learn how you can donate to ShelterBox.

Rotary Is For People Who Believe In Unselfishness, Peace, Truth, Fairness, and High Ethical Standards

Rotary Motto;
Service Above Self!

A One-Sentence Definition of Rotary
"An organization of business and professional persons united worldwide, who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations and help build goodwill and peace in the world."

The Object of Rotary
The object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:

The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;

High ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; and the dignifying by each Rotarian of his occupation as an opportunity to serve society;

The application of the ideal of service by every Rotarian to his personal, business, and community life;

The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world of fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.

The Four-Way Test

Of the things we think, say or do

Is it the TRUTH?
Is it FAIR to all concerned?
Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Help Rotary Rid The World Of Polio

New Web site encourages donations from the public to end polio

The general public is invited to help eradicate polio by contributing to Rotary's US$100 Million Challenge through a new "mini" Web site, www.rotary.org/endpolio. Launched on 4 April, the three-page site urges people "to become part of history by donating to the global effort to wipe out the crippling disease polio." It also explains the Gates Foundation challenge grant, describes funding needs, and provides an overview of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.