Marty Helman, District Foundation Chair, was our guest and speaker on October 18. Marty thanked our Club for our growing commitment to the Rotary Foundation. She also recognized our participation in a District grant with My Place Teen Center last year and our current District grant that will supply a trauma bag for Cuatro Cayos, Guatemala.
 
She provided a polio update. Mike McGovern believes we are now counting down to polio eradication in months rather than years.  While there have been a few new cases reported in Nigeria, a country that had been polio free for almost two years, they believe these are isolated cases and there are mechanisms in place to continue vaccinations and prevent a resurgence. The number of cases in Afghanistan and Pakistan are fewer than last year at this time, and environmental tests are free of polio.
 
Marty then spoke about how we might leverage ongoing work in Cuatros Cayos to develop a global grant.  Global grants with a minimum of $30,000 are much larger than district grants and have more oversight.  Global grants must be sustainable, involve knowledge transfer, source materials locally, and create a source of income that will allow for ongoing maintenance of whatever is installed.  The good news is that by partnering with other clubs in our district, in the US, or other parts of the world, and with a local Guatemalan club like Los Atomos, a single club might only need to provide $1500-$3000 to support a Global grant. Bill and Jason will be working on a plan for a Global grant during the upcoming trip in February when they will have an opportunity to make connections, identify costs and action items.
 
Finally, we asked Marty to sign a book to be donated to the Baxter Memorial Library.
 
Dr Wayne Lopez, President Jason Beever, Pres-Elect Bill Chadwick 
and District Foundation Chair Marty Helman