BRANCHBURG ROTARY ANNOUNCES $40K GLOBAL GRANT IN NEPAL
Submitted by PDG Tulsi Maharjan (trmaharjan@gmail.com)
 
 
Branchburg Rotary Club, in partnership with the Rotary Club of Dhulikhel, announces a special global grant project will be conducted at the Scheer Memorial Hospital in Banepa in Nepal.

This is a 150-bed general community hospital at Banepa village, 16 miles from Kathmandu. It offers many Emergency Medicine, Endocrinology, OB/GYN, Surgery, and Urology.  The hospital prioritizes treating women, children, and the needy.
The area it serves, Kavre District, is prone to accidents – due to two highways passing through it – and natural calamities, like landslides during monsoon. Many victims of accidents and natural calamities come to the hospital in critical conditions. 
 
However, with an increase in accidents and natural calamities and aging of its equipment, the hospital has had to refer more and more patients to expensive private clinics. Some die on their way to the clinics. Many have to sell their property to pay for their treatment.

This new global grant of $40,096.85 will help to upgrade old hospital equipment as well as train staff using the new equipment. 
 
 
MADISON ROTARY'S NEXT SPEAKER: "NET ZERO" FOOTPRINT HOMES
Submitted by Lois Bhatt (lois.bhatt@gmail.com)
 
Members of the public are welcome to join the Rotary Club of Madison on Thursday, January 20, to learn about passive house construction.  Mr. Mike Bianchi will review the key technologies – and challenges – involved in creating a house that has a true “net zero” energy footprint.  Mr. Bianchi and his wife are long-time conservationists, and recently completed the construction of a fully “passive house” that qualifies as a zero-energy residence. In the process Mr. Bianchi became an expert in the various technologies that are required to create a true zero-energy home.
 
The Rotary Club of Madison currently meets via Zoom on Thursdays from 7:45 AM to 8:45 AM.  Interested guests should visit the Club’s website at madisonrotarynj.org for log-in details and for more information about Madison Rotary.
Madison Rotary members actively engage to eradicate food insecurity in our community, to empower youth and to partner with other local organizations to enrich the Madison community for all. The Rotary Club of Madison will celebrate its 100th Anniversary in 2023.
 
Please note that Rotary meetings, speakers, or speaker schedules, are potentially subject to change. Please visit the Rotary website at madisonrotarynj.org for any updates to the schedule and other meeting details. 
 
 
SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL INTERACT CLUB IN ACTION
Submitted by PDG Tulsi Maharjan (trmaharjan@gmail.com)
 
 
Somerville High School recently regrouped their Rotary Interact club. The goal of the Interact club is to foster leadership, collaboration, community service, and international understanding between students and the global community.  Through the different activities of the club, students will learn how to collaborate with a diverse student body and community in order to accomplish common goals. 
Rotary Interact club provides students with an opportunity to participate in fun, meaningful service projects while developing leadership skills and meeting new friends and Rotary mentors.  The Interact Club is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Branchburg.
 
According to club advisor Aida Wahba, “Interact club has already started several community and International projects.  Their biggest project was to collect school supplies for “Gift of Hope Project in Nepal”
 
The Interact club has also sponsored two orphans in Nepal with each student donating funds for this adoption project. 
 
As 2019-2020, Rotary International President Mark Daniel Maloney theme said, “Rotary Connects the World.”  Yes, Somerville High School Interact club will be signing a sister club agreement with a club in Nepal to celebrate Rotary International’s 116 anniversary.          
 
 
WESTFIELD ROTARY INDUCTS TWO NEW MEMBERS
Submitted by Dr. Michael Hart (drmhart@yahoo.com)
 
 
The Rotary Club of Westfield, NJ inducted two new members: Stephan Specht and Mark Wright. Rotary is a business networking and service club for successful business people who wish to “give back” to their communities. The Westfield Club has 47 members, and there are 1.3 million Rotarians in 33,000 Rotary clubs in 166 countries worldwide.
 
Last year the Rotary Club of Westfield awarded $117,400 in college scholarships to Westfield students, and donated $31,400 in community grants to local charities. The main projects for the club are helping homeless veterans and feeding the food insecure in the area. The club does many other projects, such as buying medical supplies for a clinic in Nigeria and collecting used bicycles to send to the third world.
 
Stephan Specht is a Rotarian transfer from Germany. He received his Diploma in Business Administration at the University of Passau, Germany. Since April of 2021 he has been Head of Accounting & Controlling at Siemens Financial Services, Inc. in Iselin (NJ) and Head of Accounting Platforms at Siemens Financial Services responsible for the accounting of Siemens Financial Services, Inc. and Siemens Bank GmbH, Munich.
 
Stephan is married to Anja, and they have three children The entire family relocated from Garching to Westfield on last summer.
 
Stephan joined Rotary in Germany in May 2014 as charter member of the Rotary Club of Garching-Ismaning and is currently an honorary member. He served as president in 2016- 17 with the Motto “Rotary Serving Humanity”) Next, he was treasurer of the Rotary Club of Garching-Ismaning Foundation from 2016 to 2021. The Rotary District appointed him to be Treasurer of District 1842 (South East Bavaria incl. Munich) for two terms 2019-20 and 2020—21. He is a Paul Harris Fellow plus one.
 
Mark Wright was born and raised in Vermont, he is the son of a Rotarian dentist and a high school math teacher. From 1985-1990, his family hosted six Rotary Exchange Students at their home, each for a full year. This was quite an experience and, most importantly, it set the stage for his own Rotary Exchange year in Hannover, Germany. This was a fantastic year as he not only learned the language and culture, but also met his wife – Bianca. Mark studied German and Electrical Engineering at the University of Vermont and, among other things, led the on-campus ROTEX group in supporting in- and out-bound exchange students from Vermont Rotary District 7870.
 
Mark worked as an engineer for two different small companies and enjoyed multi-year experiences in both Belgium and Japan. In 2001, he received his MBA from Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania, after which he joined BASF, a German chemical company where he currently leads the global marketing team for catalysts.
 
Mark and Bianca have three daughters. They love gardening and spending as much time as possible outdoors. Bianca runs her own small landscaping architecture business and is active in the Westfield Green Team and they both help out with their daughters’ various activities.
 
The Rotary Club of Westfield, NJ meets three times per month, Twice by Zoom remotely, and once in person. In addition, the club does approximately one to two service projects per month. Guests are always welcome. For more information visit the website at www.westfieldrotary.com, or Facebook “@westfieldnjrotary “, or email secretary Dr. Michael Hart drmhart@yahoo.com.
 
 

PRINCETON ROTARY CLUBS HOSTS NONPROFIT & VOLUNTEERS CONFERENCE
Submitted by Steve Portrude (Steven.Rotary@Harwillexpresspress.com)

The Princeton Rotary Club will host the Princeton Community Works event on January 24-26. 

The keynote will be The Trenton Circus Squad with the squad talking about what they want to share forward and what they think adults need to know when working with kids.

The workshops are excellent and in each engage and connect session, there is an opportunity to have a 30 minute meaningful discussion with 6 people.

We are charging only $20 so that all levels of organizations and volunteer groups can participate. For more information, https://www.princetoncommunityworks.org/
 

PHILLIPSBURG ROTARY CLUB REPORTS GENEROUS DECEMBER 
Submitted Debbie Shelly (debbiejim01@gmail.com)
 
Phillipsburg Rotary Club donated four (4) $100 Target gift cards to the families who were displaced and who lost everything just weeks before Christmas. Our club also continued its tradition of buying gifts for families in need donating to 5 families which included children and parents. Our third donation went to the Mayfield Rotary to assist the Kentucky tornado victims. 
 
 
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