This week: July 28, 2017 - Sierra Kunkoski - "Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging
| July 28: | Sierra Kunkoski | - "Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging |
| August 11: | Lawrence Heillman | - AID in Bolivia |
NB Rotary Club and Rotary Club of Poona Downtown of India are submittig a Global Grant application to Rotary International to provide sustainable drinking water to a tribal village in the Borghar Area in Maharastra State of India. The purpose of the project is to ensure availability of water for farming and drinking throughout the year in one of the most neglected tribal villages of Ambegaon Taluka of Maharashtra, India.
Water is the essence of rural economy in India. Rain is the primary source of water for this hilly region. The construction of watersheds and plantations will raise groundwater level and prevent unhurdled run off of rain water and soil loss. The rainwater saved by this project will provide fodder and biomass to the community and increase the number of crops in a year. Throughout the year, it will give the community a dependable source of drinking water.
The availability of water will prevent the migration of people from rural to urban area to meet the necessity of their livelihood and it has the potential to the reverse migration trend. Since the watershed are to be built with continuous Contour Trenches,Water Absorption Trenches, Stone Bunding and Plantations on it’s border, it is expected that the life of the watersheds will be at least ten years making this a long term sustainable project.
NB Rotary Club’s commitment to the project is $10,000. Hat’s off to Bob Sanowane for fundraising 90% of the funds. To donate to the project, please send a check to the NB Rotary Rotary Charitable Foundation of North Bethesda, Inc.
In 2017-18, we’ll answer the question “What is Rotary?” with RI President-elect Ian H.S. Riseley’s theme, Rotary: Making a Difference. “Whether we’re building a new playground or a new school, improving medical care or sanitation, training conflict mediators or midwives, we know that the work we do will change people’s lives — in ways large and small — for the better.”
W. GREGORY WIMS – District Governor 2016-2017
Gregory Wims is a local businessman and community activist who founded the Victims’ Rights Foundation (VRF) in response to the senseless killings of three Washington, D.C. area women in 1996. Moved by the grace of God, Gregory is dedicated in supporting victims and their families of violent crimes and attacks. He was instrumental in forming and supporting the Sniper Victims’ Fund in response to the sniper attacks in the Washington, D.C. metro area in 2002.
In the grand scheme, however, he is really a man with a long volunteer career and a burning desire to bring comfort and aid to those in need. In the last 50 years, he has raised more than $1 million dollars, logged more than 900,000 miles, and volunteered more than 38,000 hours.
He began his volunteer career in 1969, when he was elected vice president of the State of Maryland Youth Commission. The next year, as president of that organization, he played a pivotal role in lowering the voting age from 21 to 18. In the 1970s, he served as the youngest person ever to be appointed by the County Executive as Commissioner of the Montgomery County Maryland Human Relations Commission. In that role, he worked with community officials to hire the first African American to the police department.
From 1974 to 1976, he was the first male Head Start teacher in Montgomery County, Maryland. In 1976, Gregory Wims became the first African American in Montgomery County to work for a member of Congress, the 8th Congressional District. In the 1980s, he led the Social Concern Committee at Goshen United Methodist Church and set up a prison ministry program. He also was the founder of the United Brothers, Inc., organized the first “gun turn-in” program in Montgomery County, and chaired the “Get Out to Vote” campaign.
In the early 1990s, Gregory Wims served as the membership chairman for the NAACP recruiting more than 1,000 new members. In 1994, he was elected president of the Montgomery County Chapter of the NAACP, and one-year later, he was voted President of the NAACP’s Maryland State Chapter. In that role, he led more peaceful demonstrations than any previous president and organized with Janice Washington, the first federal employment task force for the National NAACP. Gregory Wims is the Past President of the Bethesda Chevy Chase Rotary Club; Past Area Governor, Bethesda Rotary Clubs.
