Welcome to the Rotary Club To End Human Trafficking
Are you an established professional who wants to make positive changes in your community and the world? Our club members are dedicated people who share a passion for ending human trafficking / modern slavery. Becoming a Rotarian connects you with a diverse group who share your drive to give back.
Karen Walkowski
The Rotary Year is July 1-June 30. We also celebrate the anniversary of our first meeting (our chartering event). As we end our first official year of operations, I think we are getting into somewhat of a cadence that reflects an established Rotary Club.
As we prepare to start our next Rotary year, I wanted to highlight a few things:
- Conducting Background Checks on all members. For several years, Rotary International has required a background check for any member who works with children. Because of the sensitive nature of our club’s cause, the board decided in April to conduct background checks on all members. This is meant solely to protect the members of our club and protect the integrity and reputation of our club as we have members join who are not familiar to the rest of us. Because we have had a few questions and concerns about this background check process I wanted to clarify a few things:
- We have engaged an organization that was used in the school district where Michelle (our President Elect) worked and where I was on the school board.Our school district also had a policy that all volunteers had to undergo a background check so I had to complete one as well.
- The level of the background check is the most general.I have been told that it does only a federal crime check.
- Only 2 people at most will have access to any findings.Kevin Miller who has worked in this field as his profession, kindly offered to coordinate all background checks. He will inform Michelle ONLY if there are any troublesome findings. The rest of the board will only know that a background check was completed and there are no issues.
- There is a cost to the background check which has been included in your dues.
- If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out directly to Kevin Miller or Michelle Seets.
- Update on our Strategic Plan: Thanks to all of you who participated in our breakout sessions at our May 27 meeting. There was great discussion and great ideas came from the 3 breakout groups. We will be finalizing the strategic plan document with the results of those discussions and presenting the finished plan to the club at our meeting on June 24. At the meeting, we will be asking each of you to join a committee. If you are already part of one committee, you are still welcome to join another one or just focus on the one you are in.
- Budget and Dues: We are required to pay an assessment to Rotary International and to our sponsoring Rotary District each year. We are billed based on our membership and are invoiced twice a year. We have worked to keep our dues as minimal as possible so appreciate all attempts to pay your invoice in a timely manner.
- We will be presenting the 2021-2022 Budget to the membership at our July 8 meeting.This is a great time for you to ask questions and learn more about the club.
- Chris will be sending out the annual dues statement in early July.You are welcome to pay for the entire year right away or pay quarterly.Please work with Chris directly.
- Chris is also working with our bank to create a way to make foreign payment easier. Again, please contact Chris directly and he can assist.
I am excited to start the second year of our club and am thrilled to have each of you joining in this adventure!
Karen
Service Above Self
Eden Prairie, MN
United States of America