Each year, the Albany Rotary Club holds a major auction evet as a fundraiser for the Gift of Life of District 7190. This year, the event is scheduled for noon to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, December 11. All are invited.
The venue is the Joseph E. Zaloga American Legion Post #1520 at 4 Everett Road, Albany. There will be silent auctions, raffle auctions, and a live auction.
Items range in all shapes and sizes and dollar amounts. Payment is to be made by check or cash, with checks made payable to “Gift of Life 7190.”
Tickets can be purchased online for $25, with a December 3 deadline. Admission at the door is $30. Reservations are required for this event so the Legion Post needs a headcount to prepare enough food.
If you’re looking for an effective way to get rid of old clothes, drapes, sheets, etc., in a more constructive way than simply tossing them in the trash, may we suggest one of the Gift of Life dropoff boxes?
The one closest to our SRC meeting venue at Quigley’s is behind the Mobil station just off Exit 10 of I-90 — near the Top Form facility. However, the childhood medical relief organization has numerous locations throughout District 7190 for its clothing donation bins. There are several in the immediate Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club area, but for those of you who live or work elsewhere — or want to encourage friends, relatives, and co-workers to drop off their unwanted items to help GOL, there are plenty of other options as well.
These bins are placed in conjunction with American Clothing Recycling Company, a Glens Falls business. (Note that other organizations use similar boxes, so please be sure the ones you use are specifically marked for Gift of Life.)
Here are the most convenient bin locations (the list may change from time to time):
In the immediate SRC area:
As noted above, behind the Mobil station on Miller Road, Schodack
Tractor Supply Store, Schodack Plaza, 1649 Columbia Turnpike, Castleton
Grace Agwaru, from Uganda, was the keynote speaker at the after-tournament dinner. In 1975, Grace was the first recipient of a District 7190 Gift of Life surgery.Gentlemen of leisure at Pinehaven CC before Monday’s GOL Golf Tournament dinner. From left: Roberto Martinez, Terry Brewer, Jim Leyhane, A.J. Amato. Robbie Donno, who founded the GOL in 1960.
Southern Rensselaer County had a strong presence at this year’s Gift of Life Golf Tournament, held Monday at Pinehaven Country Club in Guilderland.
Dean and Doris Calamaras, who were recognized as “Friends of GOL,” sponsored the post-tournament happy hour leading up to the awards dinner. Terry Brewer and A.J. Amato led foursomes, and Roberto Martinez and Jim Leyhane joined them for the dinner.
In addition, several SRC members were sign sponsors for the event, a major fundraiser each year for the District 7190 GOL.
If you’re weaning what’s stored in your closets and drawers as part of your spring cleaning project and have unwanted clothes you plan to get rid of, may we suggest one of the Gift of Life dropoff boxes?
The one closest to our SRC meeting venue is behind the Mobil station just off Exit 10 of I-90 — near the Top Form facility. GOL, the childhood medical relief organization, has many locations throughout District 7190 for its clothing donation bins. There are several in the immediate Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club area, but for those of you who live or work elsewhere — or want to encourage friends, relatives, and co-workers to drop off their unwanted items to help GOL, there are plenty of other options as well.
These bins are placed in conjunction with American Clothing Recycling Company, a Glens Falls business, with profits going to Gift of Life.
Here are the most convenient clothing bin locations (the list may change from time to time):
In the immediate SRC area:
As noted above, behind the Mobil station on Miller Road, Schodack
Tractor Supply Store, Schodack Plaza, 1649 Columbia Turnpike, Castleton
This angelic face belongs to Chinguune, who made the journey from his native Mongolia to Albany for lifesaving cardiac surgery supported by the Gift of Life organization.
He underwent the procedure at Albany Medical Center on Wednesday, September 6, and is reportedly doing very well as a post-op patient.
Veteran Rotarians are familiar with the work of Gift of Life (GOL), which our club has long supported financially and with members serving as District 7190 GOL board members. For our newer club members, you can learn more about GOL by clicking here.
Philanthropist Bill Gates (left) and RI President John Germ announce more global anti-polio funding. (RI photo)
As the world inches closer toward eradicating polio, Rotary International and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will spend nearly a half-billion dollars more in an effort to eliminate the disease over the next three years.
Bill Gates joined Rotary President John Germ to announce the pledge at the annual Rotary International Convention that concluded today in Atlanta. It drew nearly 40,000 Rotarians from around the world to a four-day schedule of workshops, panel talks, discussions and reports on Rotary’s various worldwide public service efforts — human trafficking, clean water, education and others. However, it was the latest commitment to polio eradication that made the biggest news.
Beginning July 1, the start of the 2017-18 Rotary Year, the Gates Foundation will match Rotary’s commitment to raise $50 million annually over the next three years on a 2-to-1 basis. That means another $450 million could be added to funds already committed to support efforts to eradicate the disease by 2020.
The matching program adds to a pledge made in 2013, when the Gates Foundation pledged to match Rotary contributions 2-to-1 up to $35 million each year through 2018. With this commitment, the two organizations together will have raised nearly $1.5
Click here to see our new video, “Making Polio History: A Pioneer’s Story.”
billion since 2007 to fight polio.
The money will fund both the administration of oral vaccinations in countries in which children still are at risk for contracting polio, and increasing disease surveillance efforts such as testing sewage water to detect where the virus could still be circulating in communities.
Polio, once found everywhere in the world, now is endemic in only three places — Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria. While the disease, which causes paralysis and even death, is is not curable, it is preventable. Elimination comes through a vigorous campaign of oral vaccine in conjunction with a series of booster doses that maintain the immunity.
Gale-force winds whip palm trees sideways on Madagascar.Marker locates Madagascar
A ShelterBox Response Team is deploying to Madagascar after Cyclone Enawo made landfall on the African island nation on Tuesday, with heavy rains and winds up to 170 mph.
At last count, at least five people have died and more than 10,000 people have been left homeless. Both numbers are expected to climb as a result of the Category 4 storm, the strongest cyclone to hit Madagascar in 13 years.
ShelterBox has available its extensive supply of shelter and emergency aid that can be mobilized as soon as response teams have assessed what is most needed.
The gale force winds and heavy rain are expected to cause flash flooding and mudslides throughout the rest of this week. Because most of Madagascar’s roads are dirt and are being washed out, reaching the hardest hit areas of the northeastern part of the island nation will be difficult.
According to the Malagasy Red Cross Society, an estimated 720,000 people have been affected by this intense tropical cyclone. A red alert has been issued for the northeast coastal area, advising residents to abandon houses on water edges, store drinking water, and seek safe shelter as the dangerous weather continues.
Communications in many areas are severed as a result of the storm so the full extent of damage is not yet known.
As ShelterBox is monitoring that developing situation, its emergency response efforts continue in other countries around the world.
• • •
Syria
Since 2012, ShelterBox has helped more than 9,000 families affected by the Syrian refugee crisis with emergency shelter. With the help of distribution partners Hand in Hand for Syria and ReliefAid, ShelterBox continues to deliver winterized ShelterKits to those who have been displaced by the Syrian conflict. In addition to emergency shelter supplies, these kits also include hats, gloves and scarves for adults and children, as well as kerosene heaters to protect against the harsh winter weather conditions. With an estimated 6.3 million people internally displaced in Syria, the need continues
Iraqi Kurdistan
ShelterBox continues its response by providing locally sourced ShelterKits, as well as ShelterBox tents, to families displaced by violence in Iraqi Kurdistan. In just the past few weeks, more than 42,000 people have been displaced.
Cameroon, Niger
Boko Haram terrorist violence in Nigeria has displaced more than 7 million people. ShelterBox continues to provide shelter and critically needed supplies to refugees arriving daily in Cameroon and Niger.
Somaliland, Mozambique
ShelterBox Assesment Teams have deployed to assess developing conditions in the two African nations. Somaliland is in a state of severe drought and warnings of famine have been declared. In Mozambique, Cyclone Dineo has caused severe flooding and thousands of families have been displaced.
Debbie and Chuck Rodriguez’s daughter, Becky Schmitt, shared this photo of her son Xavier intently working with the first installation of “Project Lego” items.
Xavier, who is undergoing chemotherapy in the Hartford, CT, area for treatment of leukemia, received the gift from the Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club last weekend and was very excited by the unexpected gift.
Jim Leyhane, who created the concept of ongoing gifts of different Lego sets for Xavier and his brother during Xavier’s treatment and recuperation, is the man to check with if you would like to help underwrite the effort.
Many Rotarians tend to think of Gift of Life as working exclusively to bring children to the U.S. for lifesaving surgery that is difficult or impossible to find in their own countries.
However, there is another side to GOL: medical missions abroad.
Currently, a District 7190 GOL effort is under way in tandem with partners Save A Child’s Heart, ICHF, the pediatric cardiac team from Albany Medical Center, Rotarians from Romania and elsewhere, and the Romanian Pediatric Cardiac Team at Grigore Alexandrescu Hospital in the capital city of Bucharest.
It is the first-ever pediatric cardiac surgery at the center. The patient, Mihai, and his mom quietly celebrate his successful surgery in the photo above. Below, the Capital Region team and GOL officials pose on the steps of Albany Med before the team departed for Romania.
The District 7190 team.
Here are some other on-site images of medical care given by the team, courtesy of team member Deb Edberg Boel, a registered nurse and daughter of SRC honorary member Russ Edberg.
NOTE: This originally was posted on July 20, but since we’re getting close to the event we’re repeating it for the benefit of all who might like to participate.
Save the date: The annual Gift of Life Golf & Bocce Tournament has been scheduled for Wednesday, September 21. And, this year it’s closer to Southern Rensselaer County than ever.
The venue for the 17th annual fundraiser is the Mohawk River Country Club in Halfmoon, Saratoga County, as opposed to its usual venue in Montgomery County.
Our club always has a foursome in the event — and two years ago won top honors — but with the increased size of our membership perhaps we’ll be able to add a golfing foursome as well as a bocce entry.
Not sure how to play bocce? Click here for a perfect “how-to” presentation.
The tournament is the year’s top fundraiser to help District 7190 Gift of Life in its ongoing efforts to provide lifesaving cardiac surgery for children from countries where such help is not available. So far, GOL has saved 200 such lives.
Jennifer Degenhart, tournament chairperson, has several suggestions on how to help the effort even if you’re not golfing or playing bocce. Among them:
• Acting as our host club or dinner sponsor (an awards dinner follows the events)
• Providing raffle items, gift certificates, items for our goody bags (Have any wine or liquor you’re not planning to consume, golf balls/tees/accessories you’ll never use? Pass it on and we can use it in a gift basket.)
• We’ve found that many places you frequent will provide gift certificates to charity organizations if you just ask.
Here are all the details. You can print out the entry form for your convenience of registering.
Each year, the Albany Rotary Club holds a major auction evet as a fundraiser for the Gift of Life of District 7190. This year, the event is scheduled for noon to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, December 11. All are invited.
As the world inches closer toward eradicating polio, Rotary International and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will spend nearly a half-billion dollars more in an effort to eliminate the disease over the next three years.
NOTE: This originally was posted on July 20, but since we’re getting close to the event we’re repeating it for the benefit of all who might like to participate.
Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club 