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Photo Provided by Larry Hatch.

District Gov. Hatch began his talk by presenting Tigard Rotary with a Rotary Citation Award for Outstanding Leadership in 2017-18, referencing the club’s achievement and superior goals in membership, giving, and service.

Larry believes that we must be global citizens.  “Things don’t happen by magic in your club,” he remarked, “there are people behind the scenes.”  There are 154 volunteer committees at the district level, all of which function on primarily volunteer help.  He didn’t think he wanted to be District Governor, but past District Governor, Doug Taylor asked him to put his name in the hat.  “Somebody’s got to do it” stuck in his head.

A passionate supporter of ending polio, Gov. Hatch remembers that there were 350,000 polio cases per year when Rotary began the Polio Plus program.  This year only 14 cases have been reported.  “We can’t take our eyes off the end game,” he said with conviction.  “This is a countdown to history.”  It will be only the second time in history that a disease will has been eradicated.

Gov. Hatch congratulated Tigard Rotary on inducting three new members.   Keeping and adding members doesn’t happen by chance.  It takes a focus on membership to be successful.  He added that clubs participating in the Sustainable Rotary Club project grew 10% on average.  Rotaract clubs can also become fragile very quickly if we don’t pay attention to them. “Go and be present with them and help with their events.”

Rotary clubs can obtain district grants for their projects, but none of this happens without the Rotary Foundation.  We should support the Rotary Foundation’s Annual Fund because this is how individual districts obtain funds for grants.  Last year, District 5100 had the highest amount donated to the District Annual Fund and the highest number of donations to Polio Plus.  We exceeded $1 million in donations last year.  District has $180 k to spend on Global Grants this fiscal year.

Know where your donation dollars are going and how they are being used. Charity Navigator rates Rotary Foundation highly for low administrative and fund-raising expenses.

Upcoming events include Joan Chung, who will talk about her fight with Polio on Oct 18 at noon in the Moda Center Rose Room, and the District Conference on May 17-19 in Bend.

Larry Hatch is a Rotary triple crown donor.  He served with the military police in the Army and as a public safety officer in Forest Grove.  Now retired, he lives in Forest Grove with LaDonna, his wife of 45 years.  Larry is a Charter member of the Daybreak Club that began in1991. He served twice as a Rotary club president and twice as District 5100 assistant governor.

In honor of District Governor’s talk, Tigard Rotary Club is donating $100 to Larry’s biggest passion: Polio Plus and placing a book in the Tigard branch of the Washington County Library, entitled
Leadership in Turbulent Times by Doris Goodwin.