Rotary Club of Lombard Newsletter

The Lilac Rotarian
April 21, 2009
Volume Fifty Two, Number 4

Members of the Rotary Club of Iguala, Mexico, unload donated medical equipment with the help of armed security for a new hospital in Teloloapan, Mexico. Bottom; The inside of the new hospital. Photos courtesy of Project CURE

U.S. and Mexican Rotarians have used a Rotary Foundation Matching Grant to supply a hospital in a poverty-stricken community in Mexico with more than US$1 million worth of medical equipment.

The Rotary clubs of Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico, and Denver, Colorado, USA, secured a $19,900 Matching Grant to help the hospital in Teloloapan, which had fallen into disrepair. The clubs collaborated with Project CURE (Commission on Urgent Relief and Equipment), a Denver-based organization that focuses on building sustainable health care infrastructures by collecting surplus medical supplies and donating them to developing countries.

Project coordinator Irina Bulkley-Hopkins, a member of the Denver club, reached out to fellow club member Doug Jackson, the CEO and president of Project CURE, to help solidify the project. After an on-site needs assessment, Project CURE volunteers, many of whom are local Denver Rotarians, collected medical equipment and delivered two 53-foot containers full of supplies to Teloloapan in July.

State health officials approved a government grant to repair the long-abandoned hospital building after receiving word of the Matching Grant for supplies. The 24-bed hospital now has an X-ray machine, ultrasound technology, and emergency medical equipment. It will provide emergency and general health care for more than 60,000 people in the community.
"This is a home run for Rotary in Mexico," says Jackson. "This is what Project CURE and Rotary live for -- to help those who are in need."

Access to medical care
Before the hospital reopened, the rural region of Teloloapan only had access to a small clinic with one doctor. The medical facility in neighboring Iguala was hours away by footpath and dirt road.
"I feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment because we helped thousands of people gain access to health care that was never available to them before," says Bulkley-Hopkins.

The project ran into a few snags along the way, she says, including one of the containers being held up in customs. After months of doubt about whether the second container would be allowed into the country, Jackson contacted Margarita Zavala, wife of Mexican President Felipe Calderón, who had worked with Project CURE on several other initiatives in Mexico. Zavala was able to help the container clear customs and reach the hospital in February, Jackson says.

"First Lady Margarita Zavala was thrilled to hear about our project and was eager to help in any way she could," says Jackson. "She is a great person to have on our side for future Project CURE and Rotary projects."
Bulkley-Hopkins said Iguala Rotarians did a tremendous job with logistics after the equipment arrived. Club members prepared required permits and organized meetings with local and state officials. The club also arranged for armed security guards to be present as the supplies were moved into the hospital.

"Accomplishing what we did in Teloloapan is a great example of how Project CURE and Rotary can work together and drastically improve lives. This is a great partnership, and I feel very fortunate to be associated with both," says Jackson. "We're going to save some lives and change the course of history for this community."

April Board Meeting Highlights - See the secretary.

Welcome To Our Speakers: On March 26th, our speaker was Dr. Manuel Duarte. On April 2nd , the Officers of the Club were the speakers, as we had BAH at Casey's. On April 9th, our speaker was Dave Bensema. On April 16th, Mary Barry was our speaker.

Honored Guests: On March 26th , Tony Invergo was our guest. On April 2nd, our guests were the attendees to our BAH with the Chamber of Commerce. On April 16th, our guests were Jean Johnson and Hank Thiele from Ludington.

Fines and Happy Fines: On March 26th, our finemaster, Brian was at it again, as he caught Jim B. walking in late. Ron, Jim B., Kathy and Dan W. paid pin fines. Ron paid for a picture fine as did Yvonne. Happy Fines were collected as Jim B. was happy that Chief Ed ran successful disaster drills at the schools and Ed also suggested that we check our homes for awareness. Kathy was happy to be back at club after her surgery. Yvonne was happy that her husband Tony was once again employed. Ed S. announced the birth of his 3rd granddaughter Annabelle. Congrats! Marge announced that her 8 year old grandson lost his first tooth. Brian forgot that Tom's birthday is tomorrow and he paid a fine for forgetting. So we passed the basket and sang happy birthday to Tom. On April 9th , Brian caught Doc and Connie walking in late. Our pinless members included Ed S., Gary S., Kathy (REALLY?), Bob H. and Bob W. Dan W. paid a photo fine. We had two realtors, Kathy and Brian seated at the same table, as were the two lawyers in the house, Connie and Dennis. Gary S. wife had successful spinal fusion surgery (ouch), Steve's son turns 19 on Monday and Jean's son will be 2 on Saturday. Ralph spent March in Florida and rambled off all of the snowbirds he ran into down there, including Ken Villano, Ray Livingston and Ed Reeder. On April 16th, Brian once again caught Ray and Pat for being tardy. Pin fines for Marge, Tom, Kathy and Doc were collected. Picture fines were paid by Ray, Dan W. and Yvonne. We had another two Bob's sighting, Bob H. and Bob W. Jim B. was happy that the LPD nabbed a person of interest who was trying to pick up children near one of the schools. A very responsible young lady from the school noticed the car that the party was driving at Mc D's and her mom alerted the police , who arrested him on the spot. Ralph was happy (as was the rest of club) that his grandson has returned safely from Afganistan/Pakistan border. Bob C. was happy that the last piece of steel was put in place at EMH. Bob M. announced his 49th wedding anniversary and was at the friendly confines for opening day. Ralph was also happy that his wife was in the other room , having lunch with her friends from high school from 60 years ago. Hmmm that would make her….. never mind.

Announcements: On March 26th, Bob C. announced the Elmhurst Hospital Chef Fest would be held this weekend and 87 restaurants will be in attendance. Dennis announced that he heard from Minnesota and that the well project in Haiti was up and running again and so far, 124 wells have been dug. On April 9th, Greg announced that he only collected $15.00 for food or five at the BAH, and anyone who didn't bring food that night, should see him. Dennis announced that at the BAH, he mentioned that the Recycling Extravaganza in the fall, would see our club collecting glasses and shoes in addition to the bikes and wheel chairs. Hopefully we can get the local High Schools to maybe participate by collecting shoes at school. President Jean mentioned that we had about 40 people at the BAH. Nice turn out. On April 16th, Kathy wanted to know, which members brought guests to the BAH and Dennis mentioned that he sent out notices to local organizations, about our new format for requesting funding.

Object of Rotary - or Be Reminded: the first regular (Thursday) meeting of every month is "Food or $5" as members will have the choice of bringing a food item to help supply for the Food Pantry or pay a $5 fine of to support First Things First. When a speaker is not scheduled on the first Thursday of each month, the time will be spent in quality fellowship and member to member interaction.

Weekly Raffle, On March 26th, Toms' table had the winning ticket and picked the 2 of clubs. On April 9th, Josh's table had the winning ticket and Josh picked the King of Hearts. So everyone at the table won $3.27. On April 16th, Jim B. table had the winning ticket, but President Jean forgot to bring in a new deck of card. So we'll have them draw next week.

Birthday Celebrations: Recent and upcoming birthday celebrations of note include.
April 21 Marge Topel
April 23 Ed Reeder
April 30 Art Karnatz
May 2 Steve Flint
May 6 John B. Brust
May11 Ron Mensching
May 17 George Goetshell
May 23 Bob Carter

Mark Your Calendars: Installation Dinner July 9th 6:30 The Carlisle

Check the Website: Take the time to visit the newly revised www.lombardrotary.com to see the latest edition of this newsletter as well as other information relating to our Club. If you have any additional features that you would like to see posted, please send it my way….thanks!

Board Meeting: The next Board Meeting is May 21st @ 11:15a.m.@Casey's Restaurant
 
 




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2004 Rotary Club of Lombard