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Executives & Directors
President
 
President Elect
 
Immediate Past President
 
Secretary
 
Director - Sergeant at Arms
 
Director
 
Director
 
Director
 
Chair - Club District Foundation Grants
 
Chair - Club Membership
 
Chair - Club Rotary Foundation
 
Co-Chair - Interact Club of Apache Junction High School
 
Co-Chair - Interact Club of Apache Junction High School
 
Bulletin Editor
 
Webmaster
 
Program Chair
 
Russell Hampton
National Awards Services Inc.
Sage
ClubRunner
Club Information
Welcome to our Club!
Superstition Mountain
Service Above Self
We meet Wednesdays at 12:10 PM
Gold Canyon Golf Resort
6100 S. Kings Ranch Road
Gold Canyon, AZ  85118
United States
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District Site
 
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Venue Map
Stories
GUESTS AND VISITORS
Visiting Rotarians today were Don Mintz and Len Hamm, both from the Calgary South Rotary club, George Hudson from the Burntisland/Kingholm (Scotland) Rotary Club and our speaker Terry Lubsen from the San Tan Crown Rotary Club.  Our guests were Gary Galinat from Pierre, SD and Gary Clem from Gold Canyon.
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS AND CLUB BUSINESS
1. George Hudson from the Burntisland/Kinghorn Fife Rotary Club (Scotland) exchanged trading banners with President Ed Shockley.
2. President Ed presented Terry Lubsen with a check for $500 to be used for the Sonora, MX microcredit projects.
3. Ron Knies spoke for Rodeo Chair Mike Cowan who was taking a much-needed rest from a very long weekend.  Ron thanked the 50 volunteers who participated - especially the spouses, friends and winter visitors - who made this fund raiser a success again this year. Sales were good ($25,000 gross?) but down some from last year due to cooler weather.The tip jar response was very strong.  More financial details later.
4. Bob Homann announced that there are lots of pictures of recent club events (Social, Golf, Rodeo) posted on the Club Runner home page. Check the right hand side at the top for a list and click on the album name to see the photos.
5. THE JOKER WAS FOUND!!  Ben Fellows drew the winning ticket and $10 and then proceeded to draw the joker. The pot was worth $464.50.  Congratulations Ben!
 
 
SPEAKER
Terry Lubsen is the chair of the Rotary Global Grants in the State of Sonora program.  All three AZ districts participate in this program.  Terry reports regularly on progress in the District newsletters.
Thirty to forty per cent of people in Sonora live at the poverty level. The microcredit program is one of the most successful poverty reduction programs available worldwide.  Rotary global grants and donations from individuals and clubs  provide the working capital.  A local Mexican bank (FinReg S.A.) then makes small business loans from the invested capital. The typical first loan is for $400-$600 but this may increase in later cycles to $1,500.  Borrowers are organized into borrowing groups of 4-12 people that are collectively responsible for seeing that individuals pay off their loans.  Ninety per cent of the borrowers are women.  Some small businesses that have been started include a taco stand, an empanada making shop, a costume jewelry maker and a dress maker.  So far, there have been 855 Mexican borrowers helped by this program.  Some of the positive results from having more family income are kids go to school, families eat healthier meals, living conditions are improved and financial anxiety is lessened.  The beauty of this system is that the initially-loaned money returns and can be loaned out again.  In 10 years since 2007, FinReg has loaned over $150,000,000 pesos and has successfully collected 97-98% of the loans made. 
If you would like to help by making a donation, email Terry at MexicoMicrocredit@gmail.com or call him at 480-699-9649.  Contributions get Paul Harris credit.  Groups of 10 people can take donor tours to see the micro credit loans in action.
MARCH BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES
MEMBER BIRTHDAYS
Tracey Yamamoto - March 17
WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES
None found for March
CLUB JOIN ANNIVERSARIES
John Blessman - March 16
Paula Blessman - March 16
 
UPCOMING PROGRAMS AND EVENTS
March 8 - Liz Paulus - College Bound Arizona
 
March 15 - Joan Marlow - Peaceful Easy Healing
 
March 22 - Bryant Powell - City Manager, Apache Junction
 
March 29 - Mannie Bowler - United Way of Pinal County
 
 
 
 
April 6-9 - RYLA camp
 
June 11-14 - Rotary International Conference - Atlanta
 
June 23-24 - District Conference - Flagstaff, AZ
 
September 14-26 - Rotary Trip to South Africa (Blessman)