Governor Lew’s Message It was with great sadness that I had to report to everyone that our dear friend District Governor Elect Jim Dyer passed away unexpectedly on January 11th. I had been with Jim at two District Meetings that day and he was so excited about going to San Diego for the Inter-national Assembly and being with all the District Governors Elect from around the world and all the Senior Rotary Officers for a week of training. The several hundred Ro-tarians and friends that attended Jim's services was a testament to Jim and the way he followed “Service Above Self” as his guide in living his life. We will all miss his smile, his laugh, the twinkle in his eye and the hop in his step. Thank you Jim for setting the example for a life well

lived. Thank you Sharen for sharing Jim with us and please accept our sin-cere condolences.

February is “World Un-

derstanding Month.”

Many of us got an early

start on Rotary's Theme

for February by attended

the Peace Forum in Hono-

lulu, Hawaii. Rotary Inter-

national President Sakuji

Tanaka’s theme for the

whole year is “Peace

Through Service.” These

themes are well known by

us in District 5280 as so

many clubs participate in

projects with other clubs

around the world and we

utilize the Rotary Founda-

tion to assist in funding

our projects. It is amazing

J ULY 2012 The New Rotary District 5280 February 2013

Note Worthy 2

Remembering Jim Dyer 3

Club Happenings 4-6

World Understanding 7

Got Rotary Friends? 8

Sandy Donations 8

Join Lew in the Run! 9

INSIDE THIS ISSUE :

the leverage clubs can gain by

partnering with an overseas

club and obtaining grants

from the Rotary Foundation.

Peace through Service and

World Understanding are

themes Rotarians in District

5280 live every day!

Governor Lew and Kathy cordially invite you to the 2013 District Conference

Santa Barbara, a locale rich in character and charm, is the destination for this year’s Rotary Dis-trict Conference. Save the date and plan to join us at Fess Parker’s Resort. You can visit the Rotary District 5280 Reservation Site for Fess Parker’s Resort (shown below) and reserve your room at this time. Additional information about the program and the conference registra-tion form will be available soon.

Dates: May 02-05, 2013

Events planned include:

Thursday - Wine tasting excursion in the Santa Inez Valley

Friday - Opening plenary sessions and famous evening Hospitality in the Plaza del Sol

Saturday - Plenary sessions, local service projects, and Governor’s Celebration

Sunday - Celebration of Life and passing of the Governor’s Pin

The conference will allow you plenty of opportunities for relaxation, good times, and fellowship.

Reservation site for resort accommodations:http://doubletree.hilton.com/en/dt/groups/personalized/S/SBAMCDT-ROT-20130502/index.jhtml?WT.mc_id=POG

PAGE 2

District Grant Applications for 2013-2014 Available Online Applications for 2013-14 district, global, and packaged grants are now available online. Rotarians seeking grants from The Rotary Foundation can now apply for and manage them online as part of the launch of the new Rotary grants model, formerly known as Future Vision. Under the new grant model, districts must be qualified through the online system in order to apply for grants. Clubs may sub-mit global and packaged grants applications only after they are qualified by their district. In addition, all reporting for existing Foundation grants, such as Matching Grants, must be current before you can apply for a new grant. Online training about the new grants model is available via the new site. The new section of Rotary.org makes it easier and faster to apply for Foundation grants, receive funding, and report on grant-funded activities. The site streamlines information into one location, where Rotarians can learn about grant requirements, qual-ify, and get training and reference materials by topic and role. Rotarians are required to sign in to the Rotary Grants site to access all the content and to find the information that’s relevant to them. Rotarians with a Member Access account can sign in with their Member Access ID. Creating a new account is open to any Rotarian. The grants site offers a preview of the digital experience to come with the redesigned Rotary.org, launching this summer. The site will make it easier for Rotarians to find information, conduct Rotary business, connect with fellow Rotarians, and promote club and district events. Visit the grants site now at www.rotary.org/grants. If you have questions about the new grant model or the site, please email contact.center@rotary.org.

Ron Burton, RI President Elect, unveiled the RI theme during the opening plenary session of the 2013 International Assembly in San Diego, California, USA, the annual training event for incoming district governors. “If we really want to take Rotary service forward, then we must make sure that every single Rotarian has the same feeling about Rotary that each one of us here has today,” Burton said. “We need to make sure that every Rotarian has a meaningful role to play, that they’re all making a contribution, and that their contribution is valued.”

Burton said the July launch of The Rotary Foundation’s new grant model, Future Vision, makes it an exciting time to be a Rotarian. He said the new grant model, which has been used by about 100 pilot districts since 2010, represents a new era for the Foundation, and will help Rotarians get excited about Rotary’s ability to change lives. “It takes everything that is wonderful about Rotary and raises it to a new level — by encouraging bigger, more sustainable pro-jects while providing increased flexibility for local projects, both of which address the needs of the community being served,” he said. Burton asked the incoming district governors to take the lead in helping their clubs through the transition, with the assistance of their district Rotary Foundation chairs, who also attended the assembly this year. The training sessions are focusing heavily on equipping these leaders to go back to their districts as experts on the new grant model. Before the assembly, Burton asked each of the incoming governors to make a donation in their name to The Rotary Foundation in order to demonstrate leadership by example. At the assembly, he announced that all 537 governors-elect had complied; along with donations from all RI Board members and Foundation Trustees, the contributions totaled US$675,412. “Now, I have to believe that some of this is money that The Rotary Foundation probably would not have received had I not asked. And I think that this is an important lesson” he said. “If you want somebody else to do something, you can just sit around and wait for them to get the idea, or you can ask.” Burton applied that lesson also to membership development, which he insisted is the responsibility of every Rotarian. He told the audience that although he had been an active member of the Key Club, a youth program of Kiwanis International, he went on to join Rotary simply because the Rotary Club of Norman, Oklahoma, invited him to. “You have to ask,” he said. But Burton emphasized that the job doesn’t end when a new member joins: “It’s not done until that new member is engaged in Rotary, inspired by Rotary, and uses the power of Rotary service to change lives.” The 2013-2014 theme logos can be downloaded at: http://www.rotary.org/en/MediaAndNews/Multimedia/Graphics/Pages/RILogos.aspx

“Engage Rotary, Change Lives” in 2013-14

T HE NEW ROTARY D ISTRICT 5280 PAGE 3

Remembering Our Friend Jim Dyer

Jim Dyer joined the Santa Monica Rotary Club in 1986 serving as the president from 2006-2007 and in true Jim

fashion, he served on nearly every committee, sat in every chair, and assisted in practically every board. On the

District level Jim saw to it that he worked on every committee he could before he was elected to serve as the

District Governor in the upcoming Rotary year 2013-14. He had planned every facet of the year with his keen

and calculating brain; it would have been a joy to see his plans come into fruition. Jim never had an idle bone in

his body and upon "retiring" he still managed to work as a professional consultant, continued to donate his time

to District Leadership positions, excelled as a ShelterBox Ambassador, and most passionately, he was a devout family man, devoted to his beloved wife Sharen, his children, and grandchildren. As was the Jim Dyer way he

did this with all his heart. On his District Governor application under hobbies he modestly wrote, family, Ro-

tary and computers.

District Governor Elect Jim Dyer wore many hats in his lifetime including loving husband, father, grandfather,

friend, humanitarian, marketing executive, computer systems wiz, ShelterBox Ambassador, volunteer, and

Rotarian. In my experiences with Jim he was always a great listener and really took the time to absorb everything he could about you, the

project at hand, or even the tiniest details. Jim really cared about other people and showed great compassion, humor, and fairness in all that he did. There is no doubt in my mind that Jim was one of a kind. In our loss I am slightly comforted in knowing that he is undoubt-

edly continuing to do good on the heavenly side and will likely rise quickly thought the ranks of angels who look down upon us.

Jim was an official ShelterBox Ambassador for the greater Los Angeles area and was recognized by President Obama with a Presidential

Volunteer Service Award in March 2012 for his volunteer efforts during 2011 to provide shelter, warmth, and dignity for survivors of natural and other disasters worldwide. Jim and his wife Sharen instantly fell in love with the concept of ShelterBox during their trip to the

Rotary Convention in Copenhagen in 2006 and two years later he had become a ShelterBox Ambassador for the LA area. ShelterBox

started as a project from one Rotary club in the U.K. and in Jim’s words, “it was incubated out of Rotary but has become a separate stand

alone effort”. The dedication and enthusiasm that Jim has shown for ShelterBox can be seen in this January 9, 2012 video interview clip provided by Mel Powell, president of the E-Club of The Greater San Fernando Valley. If you are not acquainted with this Rotary affili-

ated project, please do watch the You Tube video located at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXKBBfbPIeE so you can see just why

Jim was such a huge supporter of this project. A single shelter box costs $1,000 to sponsor and as a sponsor you will receive a certificate

with a serial number which allows you to follow that box on the website and see where your sponsored box ends up. I’m sure that donat-

ing a ShelterBox in memory of Jim Dyer would be a wonderful tribute to his memory and his dedication to “Service Above Self”.

The family has asked that in lieu of flower/gifts that you instead make a donation to The Rotary Foundation in Jim's name. Donation in-

formation is located on the District website at:

http://www.clubrunner.ca/portal/story/StoryDetail.aspx?accountid=50010&sid=18538&stid=District

You are already truly missed Jim and your memory will forever live in my/our hearts. Thank you for being a joy to work with and for

being my/our friend.

Sincere thanks to Emily “EM” Blair Charnelle, District Office Administrator, for these eloquent thoughts!

PAGE 4

The Westchester Club hosted 37 Rotary Youth Exchange students (and their chaper-ones) from all 6 New Zealand districts for 3 days. The Club arranged for them to go to Venice Beach, Disneyland/CA Adventure, and Universal Studios during the day. One of the nights they were hosted at Westchester's meeting (see attached where the students are singing the NZ national anthem) and another evening they were hosted by the Westchester, St. Bernards and El Segundo Interact clubs. D5280 inbound and former Youth Exchange students also joined them that night. A NZ student from D9910 (Auckland and north), James Cherrington will be hosted by the Westchester Club for the next 12 months.

Clubs & Interactor News...

The District Interactors volunteered on January 5th at LA FOOD Bank. Governor, Grace Hwang and over 40 students from interact clubs all over the District delivered food that had been collected in the various food drives over the holi-day's. University High interact club collected over 1,100 lbs. The Interactors then enthusiastically volunteered for the morning where they repacked 50,000 lbs of carrots and pears to be distributed the follow-ing week to some 640 agencies the Food Bank serves.

The Rotary E-Club of The Greater San Fernando Valley celebrates International Mother Langauge Day (21 February) as we demonstrate world peace and understanding by teaching children in local schools how to say HELLO, PLEASE, PEACE, THANK YOU, and LOVE in different languages. The kids love it, the teachers love it, our Club members love gathering the translations (43 languages and counting), and a couple of years ago Rotarian Magazine loved it enough to put us in World Roundup! Your Club can do this project in your area schools, too (and it doesn't have to be on 21 Feb). For example, if you ever want to say "thank you" in Slovene to Anze Kopitar, leading scorer for the Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings, just say "Hvala!" (Anze himself is the one who provided the Slovene trans-

PAGE 5 T HE NEW ROTARY D ISTRICT 5280

More News...

On Dec.22nd approximately 60 Interactors met at the Hacienda Hotel to sort through thousands of toys donated for the children of Tecate Mexico. Each year an event is held in Tecate where each child is given a toy, some paper and pencils, fruit, a drink, a tooth brush and toothpaste. Sometimes the toy that they receive from this event is the only toy they will get for Christmas, as the area is very poor. District 5280 Interactors were asked to collect toys and bring them with them so we could pack them up for boys or girls and age groups. The Hacienda provided hot chocolate and cookies and all who attended had a fun time.

PAGE 6

Playa Venice Teacher Mini Grants

Playa Venice’s normal Wednesday meeting was cancelled in favor of a joint gathering on January 11th with the LAX Coastal Area Chamber of Commerce’s Education Committee and local school principals to present the 2013 Teacher Mini Grants Awards. They met at Playa Vista's Center Pointe Club and were hosted to a delicious breakfast by Playa Vista’s Sibyl Buchanan. Gwen Vuchsas opened the meeting with a short history of the Grants, which is a program she modeled based on one similar at the Alhambra Rotary Club. Grants of up to $200 to individual teachers or $400 for two or more teachers, were given to the highest rated applications as judged by five or more readers, until the funds ran out. She started in the 1993 by giving out $1800. Through

dedication and a passion for education the program has grown significantly since. Funding comes from Playa Venice and sponsors who have a like passion for education and giving back to the community. The Los Angeles Commer-cial Realtor Association (LACRA,) Equity Offices, Howard Hughes Center, Superbtech, Inc, Rotary District 5280, The Jim Bunch Memorial Fund/Travelodge, Donna Lassman, Howard Pollack and Westchester Rotary were just some of this year's supporters. Last year a new feature was added, asking teachers what would be on their "wish list" for needed supplies. Actual donated supplies by LACRA members and Rotarians were distributed to eight schools who submitted lists. More schools got the hint this year with fourteen schools writing up their wants. LACRA members made cash donations at their holiday party totaling $1600 which allowed Gwen and Gail Goldstein to go on a post holiday shopping spree at Office Depot (who also helped out with discounts.) These were added to actual supplies donated from a wide variety of sources and our mem-bership. The boxes were handed out with the Grants.

This year there were 142 applications submitted, with the top 84 being funded at twenty schools for a total of $19,375. Among the presenters were District Governor Lew Bertrand and good friend of Playa Venice, Senior Assistant District Governor, Linda Black from Culver City. What impact have these grants had? One barometer was young professionals who have come into the local workforce having been the recipients of Grants during their school years, like the Chamber of Commerce’s own Rachel Horning. Another might be when the daughter of a former grant winner, wins for the same school where her mom Lynn Allen taught, like Lindsay Allen. This year the program touched 4,077 students for an average cost per student of $4.84. If a purchase can be used for more than one year, the number of students goes up and the cost per student goes down. That doesn’t even take into account the fourteen boxes of supplies distributed. Dollars go a long way in the Teacher Mini Grant program! Each principal, without fail, registered their deep apprecia- tion for what the Club and their supporters accomplish. Many hands lighten the load. Although the meeting ran a little longer than sched-uled, those principals who could were great sports about hanging in until the end to have their photo taken with Governor Lew. Principals, supporters, or-ganizers, Rotarians and presenters all have the Club’s extreme gratitude for making a day chocked full of "Rotary moments." The Club also thanked pho-tographers Don Culton and Judith Ciancimino for me-morializing the program!

Center left President Jim Vuchsas next to District Governor

Lew Bertrand. Far right event Chair Gwen Vuchsas

PAGE 7 T HE NEW ROTARY D ISTRICT 5280

February is World Understanding Month

Rotary International Fellowships, with an S, are separate but RI-approved groups of like-minded worldwide Rotarians, spouses, and Rotaractors who share a common interest, pro-fession, or hobby. Make friends all over the world by joining one or more! If you are al-ready a member of any of these Fellowships, or you would like more info, please e-mail D5280 Fellowships Chair Mel Powell at rotarymelpowell@aol.com.

February is World Understanding Month. So go understand the world already! Rotary Home Exchange has a simple motto: “Home Exchange is the vacation alternative where you stay in my house and I stay in yours.” You can host each other, or just trade at the same time for a swapped-out vacation. See their website for details. http://www.rotarianhomeexchange.com/

Another great option is the International Travel and Hosting Fellowship. “The mis-sion of ITHF is to stimulate and facilitate connections and cultural sharing throughout the Rotary world by contact, hosting, visiting and travel.” You can meet Rotarians all over the world, host some right here locally, and expand your Rotary horizons. http://www.ithf.org/

One element in common wherever you go is an environment. Everybody has one. If you’re interested in yours, consider the Environment Fellowship of Rotarians. “The Environment Fellowship of Rotarians (EFR) unites all Rotarians, their spouses, and Rota-ractors who are very interested and/or have a vocation related to the Environment. Inter-est in the environment can be general or specialized, including contributing towards build-ing an environment of peace and sustainable development.” http://www.envirorotarians.org/

Rotary: a world of fun, friends, and opportunities for service.

Save the Date

Feb. 4 Arts, Speech, Music Dance Application Deadline

Feb. 22 P.E.T.S.

Mar. 9 Arts, Speech, Music and Dance Contest

Mar. 9 Camp Pendleton Trip

Mar. 12 Quarterly Breakfast

Mar. 23 Ethics Forum: Rota-ract Team Competition

Apr. 6 RYLA

Apr. 13 Don’t Miss The Boat

May 2-5 District Conference

Rotary District 5280

Office 8939 So. Sepulveda Blvd. Ste.

210

Los Angeles Ca 90045

Phone: (310) 670 9792

Fax: (310) 670 9795

Rotary5280.0rg

Office@Rotary5280.org

Emily Blair-Charnelle,

District Office Administrator

Got Rotary Friends?

Governor Lew sends warm thanks and con-gratulations to all the District Clubs who par-ticipated in easing the pain of Hurricane Sandy!

The following Clubs have advised us of their donations.

Westwood Village Rotary Club Foundation has sent a donation of $10,000 for Hurri-cane Sandy Relief, The Foundation has also agreed to match donations by members for this relief up to an additional $10,000.

Northridge/Chatsworth Rotary Club sent their Tuesday Happy Bucks contribution of $77 to the Walter D. Head Foundation for relief.

Downey Rotary Club sent a donation of goods.

Granada Hills Rotary Club sent a donation of $2,250

LA5 has collected $5,000 to be donated.

Playa Venice Rotary sent a donation of $1.400

LA Cedars sent a donation of $200.

Lomita-Torrance Airport Rotary sent a donation of $2800

District Hurricane

Relief Efforts

For updates on disaster relief go to:

Http:/nynrotary.org/disaster-relief