District Governor Kevin Crouse, March 2014
DG Kevin's March Message
John Cooper, President of the Rotary Club of Niagara Falls, NY,
a strong literacy supporter, presents a cheque for TRF to DG Kevin.
March is Literacy Month
“Acquiring literacy is an empowering process, enabling millions to enjoy access to knowledge and information which broadens horizons, increases opportunities and creates alternatives for building a better life." Kofi Annan
The following is the Rotary E-Club of SOWNY’s description of the importance of increasing Literacy Awareness in our clubs: “Rotary has designated March for Literacy Awareness. It's such an important topic that Rotary has made SUPPORTING EDUCATION one of our Six Areas of Focus. Sixty-seven million children worldwide have no access to education and more than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate. Rotary's goal worldwide is to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy. Like all Rotary clubs, the E-Club is developing options to support literacy in our community and possibly abroad to support this mission. We have special guest speakers this month providing information on literacy programs and we invite all our Rotary E-Club members and Rotarians everywhere to join us online or view the recorded programs once they are posted to our Learning Library.
Rotary E-Club of SOWNY is featuring two special guest speakers this month who will share their organizations work on literacy that engages Rotary Clubs in District 7090.
- March 6th @ 7PM, we welcome Jeff Conyers, Executive Director of The Dollywood Foundation
- March 20th @ 7PM we welcome Anne Ryan, Executive Director, Read to Succeed Buffalo
Click on the speaker events to the left of page and register today to join us online!
See more at: http://www.rotaryeclub7090.org/#sthash.lqLhzwPp.dpuf.”
Literacy is crucial to the success of individuals in both their career aspirations and their quality of life. It is more than a basic reading ability. It is an indication of how adults use written information to function in society. Clubs in our district use a variety of projects to increase literacy in their communities. Brantford Sunrise supports “Strong Start”, “Imagination Library” and “Kids can Fly”, Lakewood Chautauqua provides youth reading materials for the local library, Striders tutoring and scholarships, Hamilton promotes “Telling Tales” and summer reading programs, Hamilton A.M. has developed a Mohawk College partnership and a literacy program at local schools, Clarence promotes the Breakfast of Champions, mentoring and job shadowing programs, Orchard Park provides a $5,000 scholarship program, Olean provides dictionaries for third graders, and helps build primary and secondary schools in Southern Sudan, Ellicottville donated $50,000 to build a new library, replaced computers and ran a summer reading program for kids, Falconer gives new books to kids for Christmas, and provides cassettes and a reading program for seniors who are sight impaired, Lancaster Depew provides scholarships and a Breakfast of Champions for local students, Waterdown has provided dictionaries and literacy support at home and abroad, St. Catharines South supported 7517 kids in 27 schools on a Bullying project, Grimsby supported a Rotary Medalist program and provided funds to cover school fees of orphans in Africa, Flamborough a.m. supports a Literacy Awards Breakfast and scholarship programs at home and abroad.
“The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.” B.B. King
P.S. Don’t forget - March 30 is the deadline for award applications.
Yours in Rotary,
Kevin Crouse
District Governor
Best of Friends District 7090