Advancement of Women in Rotary

When you told people you joined Rotary, did anyone make a comment about it being an "Old Boys' Club"?  If so, that would not be surprising.  Joe Batory has written the story below so you can understand more about the evolution of Rotary over the years:

It was an “earth-shaking” moment in the Rotary world.

In 1977, the Rotary Club of Duarte (California) “dared” to admit women as members in violation of the Rotary International Constitution. As a result, the Rotary Club of Duarte had its club membership terminated by Rotary International (March 1978).

It then became a battle for gender-based equality to prevail. The California courts went back and forth for several years regarding a lawsuit by the Rotary Club of Duarte against Rotary International. But finally, the United States Supreme Court in 1987 ruled that Rotary clubs could not exclude women.

Very soon after, Sylvia Whitlock, of the Rotary Club of Duarte, California, became the first female Rotary club president. By 1995, eight women had advanced to positions as Rotary District Governors.

Indeed, the progression of women into leadership positions has been “rapid-fire.”

Look no further than 2010-2011 when our own Philadelphia Rotary’s Joan Batory became the Rotary District 7450 Governor. And our Rotary District 7450 has now had a number of other high achieving  female leaders as District Governors  including: Langhorne’s Sandra Costanza, 1999-2000; Longwood’s Bonnie Korengel, 2011-2012; Greater West Chester’s Dawn deFuria, 2017-2018;  and Conshohocken-Plymouth-Whitemarsh’s Renee de Coskey, 2023-2024 .

Topping this off, in 2022, Rotary named its first ever International President in Jennifer Jones (pictured below, with past club President Lisa Leonard, at the recent Rotary Zone training event in Toronto.  

Paul Harris, who founded Rotary way back in 1905, offered these prophetic words. “This is a changing world; we must be prepared to change with it. The story of Rotary will have to be written again and again!”

It took a while for this change to occur and it wasn’t easy… but here in 2023 Rotarians around the world are celebrating 46 years of “Women in Rotary.”

Peacebuilding through virtual exchanges

Peacebuilding through virtual exchanges

Rotary has a long history of working for peace through personal connections, but the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult to do that face to face. Inspired by what we learned from that time, Gordon encourages districts to incorporate virtual components into more of their programs, events, and activities. By using innovative technologies to make connections, we give more people the opportunity to experience our global community.

Adding or maintaining these components in Rotary Youth Exchanges, Rotary Friendship Exchanges, and other programs will:

• Give members and participants new ways to experience other cultures, make new friends, and broaden their global awareness

• Make participation more accessible to people with time, health, or financial considerations

• Build stronger intercultural communication and understanding, and ultimately foster more stable and peaceful communities

Resources for clubs and districts

Learn more about virtual exchanges:

• Rotary Youth Exchange

• Rotary Friendship Exchange

Honoring Legacy

Philadelphia Rotary has received some heart-warming messages we want to share with you. After seeing thank you letters from the recipients of the Kaji Scholarships, the children of Akira and Hideko Kaji sent the following to Joe Batory:

Son Ken Kaji, wrote: "I felt a sense of pride when I read the article about the 2023 scholarship awards in the Philadelphia Rotary newsletter. My parents (Hideko and Akira) lived for their research efforts. And so, it is fitting that their societal contributions were cemented by scholarships in their name for two worthy young people."

And their daughter Amy added: "Thank you so much for sending this along to us. This is a tremendous honor to have a Rotary Foundation Scholarship Award in honor of my parents. We are all touched and extremely grateful to you and all of the Philadelphia Rotarians."

Philadelphia Rotary participated in the Wawa Welcome America celebration

Philadelphia Rotary was well-represented at the big Independence Day parade in the city. It was an honor to participate in the Wawa Welcome America celebration held in the Birthplace of America, home of our great club.  

In addition to our club members, Rotary members and friends showed up from other clubs in our area, despite the hot and sometimes rainy weather. Thanks to Joan Batory, Joe Batory, Ken Myers, and District Governor Renee DeCoskey for organizing, Meghan Hughes for designing parade banners for the club and district, and Lisa Leonard for promoting the event and making this recap video: https://youtu.be/Yo2hFUAR-2Q. Thanks to all attendees and those who brought friends and family members. It was a great day!

Ligouri Service Project - Clothing Drive

Throughout the month of March, the Liguori Academy Interact Club, which is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Philadelphia, has been conducting a clothing drive for the needy. The students, under the direction of Liguori faculty member, Mary Theresa Killion, were able to collect a large quantity of usable clothing and footwear from classmates, staff and community supporters. The picture is of some of the Interact members sorting the donations. All of these contributions will be given to the Saint Francis de Paul Society, or another similar organization that serves the poor.

National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies at Rotary District 7450 Night with the Phillies

Celebrate the return of our National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies at Rotary District 7450 Night with the Phillies, Tuesday, July 18, 2023, 6:40 PM vs Milwaukee Brewers. 

Invite your friends and family to enjoy an exciting night of Phillies baseball with other Rotarians and friends of our District. Each ticket purchased includes a $10 donation to help eradicate Polio.

Here are your seating and pricing options:  

Section 241-242, scoreboard porch area, $30 per ticket and includes a $10 donation for Polio

Section 138, left field foul line, $47 per ticket and includes a $10 donation for Polio.  LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE IN THIS SECTION.

 RESERVE your Phillies tickets HERE (click the link, order your tickets – no payment needed online at time of ordering)

Welcome New Members

Shahmar Beasley (far right) is a community leader in the truest sense. His internship experience — with two Pennsylvania state representatives, a Philadelphia judge and a criminal defense attorney — is matched only by his civic engagement. Shahmar says of his motivation:

“Coming from a lower socioeconomic background, I know that it is not the norm for people in my community to receive the opportunities I have received. My goal is to expand the opportunities available to individuals from similar backgrounds, and to change their lives as others have changed mine.”

Dr. Rajesh Kumar (2nd from right) is an education consultant and a previous Rotarian in Pune, India. Rajesh has local affiliations with the Pyramid Club, World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, Geographical Society of Philadelphia. His reasons for joining the club is that he likes the philosophy of the club and it provides an opportunity to interact with like minded people.

Christopher Mapp (far left) is an International Logistics Coordinator at Jillamy Inc. His interests include sports, art, community outreach, and practicing Muay Thai. Chris is joining Rotary to help enrich my community and to network with like minded individuals.

Anthony Stover (not shown in photo) is a Community Relations Manager at the Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Philadelphia Region. Anthony is affiliated with the Board of Directors Germantown Friends School and the Board of Directors Kendall Crosslands. His interests for joining the Rotary is to help bring together the resources of both organizations and work together to better serve the community.
 

Kaylah Vereen (2nd from left) was interested in joining the Rotary to meet people in order to become more active in the community. She is a recent graduate from Lincoln University. In addition, Kaylah completed a program with the National Youth Leadership Forum: Law and CSI at George Mason University and volunteered at the Guggenheim Museum. Her passion is health and wellness to help others. She has expressed interest in getting involved with non-profit organizations to help bring wellness and hope to others for the betterment of the communities we serve.

Day at the Museum

Our club is fortunate to have Barry Kirzner as one of our members. On Saturday he led Rotarians on a personal tour of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Focusing on the American and Asian wings, Barry shared interesting and fun facts.  The history teacher and art lover combined his knowledge of both and helped attendees understand and appreciate each piece in a new way.  This outing was the second time Kirzner volunteered to be a tour guide for us. Last year he led a large group of Rotarians to Independence Hall and other historic locations in Old City.

Club Foundation Awards Grants: Focus on Youth

The Foundation Board of Directors have authorized funding of $7300 during their most recent meeting. 12 grant applications were submitted and reviewed and 4 were selected for investment.

Timoteo Sports in the amount of $1,500 has been approved for the purposes of supporting the cost of supplies and game-day labor for their current Volleyball and Basketball leagues and the Flag Football League. Timoteo does not simply have a mentoring program. It IS a mentoring program, which aims to develop young people of character, leadership and service through faith-based delivery.

FORDEC in the amount of $1,500 has been approved for the purposes of children's learning needs in the Bangkok school; FORDEC is a not-for-profit organization established in 1998 to provide basic reading and writing skills, one meal a day and basic vaccinations to street children in Thailand. During the pandemic, FORDEC has extended its activities to provide food and basic medical care for the families of its children.


Open Door Abuse Awareness Prevention in the amount of $1500 for after school program with 115 girls and 40 young men. (ODAAP), endeavors to prevent sexual assault and intimate partner violence. They empower youth advocates to be the agent of change in abuse through a trauma-informed lens, promoting healthy relationships.
 

Anderson Monarchs, our youth soccer partnership, was awarded a $2800 grant for the purpose of storage facilities for their equipment. Formed in 1995, the Anderson Monarchs are a sports-based youth development organization based in South Philadelphia. In the ensuing years, Monarchs programs have provided athletic and educational opportunities to thousands of underserved youths in Philadelphia.

The Board made the decision to focus on underserved youth programs in Philadelphia. The most impressive part of the review process was the intimate knowledge many board members possessed of the organizations funded.

Update on our District 7450 $25K Grant to Rebuild Moshchun Village in Ukraine

In Spring, 2022, our District Rotarians, led by a small Ukrainian Relief fundraising committee, raised and donated $100,000 to 6 Rotary Clubs in Poland and Ukraine to support their Ukrainian wartime projects one of those projects was the Rotary Club of Kyiv-City's project to rebuild Moshchun, a once-picturesque village outside of Kyiv that was almost totally obliterated by Russian forces. They received financial support from  Rotary clubs in several other countries, the Rotary members in our district, our Rotary International Foundation Disaster Relief Fund and nonprofit organizations.

The project's intent is to build modular housing for winter shelter, so that residents can return to their homes and have a decent life, including a roof over their heads, walls, and heat. Those modular homes will be replaced by permanent homes designed to the highest sustainable building standards.

The first modular house was installed in June, 2022 for Lyubov Topol, who lost her home and her only son when a bomb landed next to their house. Soon, more modular houses arrived for Topol's neighbors and other families.

The Ukrainian Rotary members guiding this enormous project  are inspired by the words of their  President Volodymyr Zelenskyy  "We used to say 'peace.' Now we say 'victory.'”. We should be proud that our donation is helping make this goal a reality for our Rotary brothers and sisters. 

We are currently raising funds to help the Rotary Club of  Wolstyn Poland buy medical supplies for Ternipol Hospital in Ukraine. Please contact PDG Joan Batory at joan@joanbatory.com if you would like to help.