https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85900479873
Doubletree, 1011 W Holmes
Mesa, AZ 85210 United States of America
Our hybrid meetings are held weekly on the 1st thru 4th Thursdays of each month. The meetings are broadcast via Zoom to include all, whether attending virtually or in person.
Our Program for our June 6 club meeting will be Olivia's report on her experiences this year as a Rotary Youth Exchange student sponsored by our club. Olivia and and Margaux were treated by the Paulus' to a trip to Monument Valley, photos of which were featured in the May 29 Messenger. They continued on to Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend where these photos were taken.
One of the benefits we will hear about will be the lifelong friendships formed with other Youth Exchange students. Olivia is shown here with Thilde from Germany.
Wayne and Lu General, Jay and Liz Paulus, Shelly Romine and Eric Silverberg spent Friday evening, May 31, helping provide meal service at Paz de Cristo.
May 30. several Mesa West Rotarians, were joined by our Assistant Governor, Dan Coons, and two youth exchange students, Olivia and Masa, at the Main library in downtown Mesa to be trained by Mesa Public Library personnel on the Virtual Reality technology we will be providing to the local libraries in Mesa with the Meta Grant received a few weeks ago. Each of the three libraries now have only three VR sets at each library facility. With the thirty sets we will be able to provide using the grant funds, each library will receive an additional ten VR sets.
We were told about a few of the many potential benefits of having this enhanced ability to provide a variety of experiences for local residents. The headsets have the ability to take them virtually anywhere, and enable them to experience what they are looking at and interacting with as though they are transported to a different reality.
George Phillips, an elderly man from rural Victoria, was going up to bed when his wife told him that he’d left the light on in the garden shed, which she could see from the bedroom window.
George opened the back door to go turn off the light, but saw that there were people in the shed stealing things.
He phoned the police, who asked, “Is someone in your house?”
He said, “No, but some people are breaking into my garden shed and stealing from me”.
The police dispatcher said, “All patrols are busy. You should lock your doors and an officer will be along when one is available”.
George said, “Okay”.
He hung up the phone and counted to 30. Then he phoned the police again.
“Hello, I just called you a few seconds ago because there were people stealing things from my shed. Well, you don’t have to worry about them now because I just shot and killed them both; the dogs are eating them right now,” and he hung up.
Within minutes, six police cars, a SWAT team, a helicopter, two fire trucks, a paramedic and an ambulance showed up at the Phillips’ residence, and caught the burglars red-handed.
One of the policemen said to George, “I thought you said you’d shot them!”
George said, “I thought you said there was nobody available!”
At the May 21 Board Meeting, Mesa West Rotary club officers and directors approved a recommended increase in all levels of dues effective July 1. This recommended change is primarily due to the fact that Rotary International and District per-member dues will be increasing. The good news is that the full-dues option is still less than the $250/member we were paying prior to the COVID pandemic.
Dues Options 2024-25
$360/Quarter
Corporate Dues – One person registered as the active member
(Includes meals for member or their designated representative from the same organization)
$240/Quarter
Full Dues – Includes all meals at meetings
$90/Quarter
Members electing following options will be charged $25 for each in-person meeting attended.
E-85 – Age plus years in Rotary equals 85 or more
(includes members in Rotary 20 or more years)
Family of Rotary – Second member of family
Rotary Service – Participation in Service Projects
(includes local and international service projects)
Zoom Only
(intended for members who cannot attend in-person due to health or other accessibility limitations, but who wish to be actively engaged in Mesa West Rotary Club)
When 2024-25 Budget is approved, this document will become an Addendum to the Bylaws of the Rotary Club of Mesa West adopted in December 17, 2020
Mesa West Rotary Club has recently become a member of the Mesa Chamber of Commerce. Members are encouraged to CLICK HERE to go to the Chamber website where you can click on a link "Email List" to subscribe to their e-newsletters. As a business member, our club members are able to take advantage of educational and networking events held by the Chamber which you will learn about via their electronic newsletters.. The QR code in the image above will take you to their Facebook page.
As most of you know, Arizona has a very unique state tax credit program. If you pay taxes to the state of Arizona, you can specify where your tax dollars go (state taxes only). These instructions are for your reference only. Please consult a tax prep professional with any specific questions about state tax credits.
There are many different nonprofit organizations that AZ recognizes as authorized recipients of these tax funds. Mesa West sponsors the Interact Club at Westwood High School, and they are a qualified recipient of these tax credit funds in the Extra Curricular Activities (ECA) category. Here's how you can donate up to $200 as an individual or $400 as a couple filing jointly and deduct that amount from your state tax burden.
If you have children currently enrolled in Mesa Public Schools, you can use your existing login information. Otherwise, it's easy to setup a guest account.
Once you are logged in, select 'Items At All Schools'under the 'Shop/Donate' list on the Home page.
On the next page select 'High Schools', then select 'Westwood High'
Select the link for 'ECA Tax Credit', and then 'Programs G-K' on the following page.
Interact - ECA is under code 8646. Enter a dollar amount in the box, and click the Add button. That dollar amount should then appear in your cart (highlighted in green at the top of the page).
You can then proceed to the Checkout process and pay with a credit card. You will receive a receipt that you can print out and save for when you do your taxes.
Thank you for supporting Westwood Interact and all of our youth programs.
Mesa West Rotary Club operates two separate legal entities. Our Rotary Club is a 501(c)(4), which is not a tax-deductible charitable organization, but is exempt from income tax. Our club operations income from dues, most happy bucks (unless otherwise designated), raffle income, etc. is used to pay for the cost of operating the club - our meal expense, supplies, education of our officers, etc.
The charitable work and giving that we do is funded through Mesa West Rotary Foundation. It is a 501(c)(3) public charity. It is the fundraising and funding vehicle for our charitable endeavors: Donations to MWRF are tax deductible.
For the past several years, rather than have major public events to raise funds, we have quietly gone to our friends, family, current and past business associates, etc. and simply asked for sponsorship donations. We have averaged about $50,000 each year in revenue from our sponsorship drive. So our members will be better acquainted with those who are involved with the MWRF Board of Trustees, each of the five Trustees will be team leaders this year. CLICK HERE to down load a list showing who is on each Trustee's team. Traditional fundraising events are very time and effort intensive and rarely yield the kind of results this effort has produced. The Sponsor Drive has allowed Mesa West Rotary Club members to focus their Rotary effort on service projects. The other advantage is that our donors can be assured that their donation will go entirely to charity as there are no cost-of-fundraising expenses.
Sometimes donors hesitate to give to a fundraising dinner where names of sponsors are published because they don't want others knocking on their door asking for more money. There are probably many people we know who admire what we do that would like to be a part of it, but cannot afford the time to be involved. More people would admire what we do if we bragged about it outside of Rotary more often. You might be surprised that someone would offer to donate if you bragged about the fact that we don't waste our time and resources putting on lavish events. Some of those donors may have the opportunity to have their gift matched by their employer.
Have fun telling why you are proud to be a Rotarian, and get your "ask" in gear.
As Rotarians, we are regularly exposed to opportunities to support various causes with our time, talent and treasure. Sometimes it is hard to sift through all the information and decide where we are going to use our available financial resources.
It would be wonderful if every Arizona Rotarian would make the following BIG FOUR their Rotary charities of choice and support every one of them every year, we could make a bigger difference than we are making today.
The Rotary Foundation (TRF) Annual Fund - The Rotary Foundation transforms your gifts into service projects that change lives both close to home and around the world." Giving a small amount each month adds up. CLICK HERE to download a form you can use to sign up for Rotary Direct, electing "Annual Fund - Share" for your recurring donation.
The Rotary Foundation (TRF) Polio Plus - Rotary's commitment to eradicate polio is so well known and respected that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation matches donations $2 for $1. To take advantage of this opportunity to multiply the effect of your giving, CLICK HERE and download a second Rotary Direct form, this time electing electing "Polio Eradication" for your recurring donations. Those who donate $100 or more annually to Polio Plus qualify in District 5495 as Polio Plus Society Members. If you would like to make that commitment, CLICK HERE to download the commitment form.
The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona (TRVFA) provides vocational education grants to Arizona Residents who meet specific low-income guidelines. The grants enable the recipients to lift themselves out of poverty, benefitting themselves, their families and the economy of our state. TRVFA is a 501(c)(3) charity. They also are a Qualifying Charitable Organization for Arizona Tax Credit Donations. Their QCO Code is 20698. Many Arizona Rotarians say giving to TRVFA is a "no brainer." If you can help someone lift themselves out of poverty and it won't end up costing you anything why would you not do it? Mesa West Rotary has the highest number of members who have signed up for automated monthly recurring donations by electing that option on the "Donate Now" button on the TRVFA website. Click the image to learn more or CLICK HERE to DONATE NOW.
Mesa West Rotary Foundation, Inc. is the funding and fundraising arm of our own Mesa West Rotary Club. It is a 501(c)(3) charity. We have had successful sponsorship campaigns the last few years enabling us to spend our energy on service rather than on holding fundraising events. Charitable grants that we get involved with are funded through our charitable foundation, Our signature Gift of Hearing Project in Guaymas Mexico is funded through this foundation. Scholarships are awarded annually to Westwood High School Students (the high school where Mesa West Rotary sponsors an Interact Club). Funds are used to support a variety of activities in four of the Rotary Avenues of Service:
Community Service
International Service
Vocational Service
Youth Service
The process isn't quite automated at this point in time, but we hope it soon will be. For now, you can email our executive secretary who can help you work out a recurring donation plan should you wish to make that arrangement to support our own club's charitable activity.
Our Program for our June 6 club meeting will be Olivia's report on her experiences this year as a Rotary Youth Exchange student sponsored by our club. Olivia and and Margaux were treated by the Paulus' to a trip to Monument Valley, photos of which were featured in the May 29 Messenger. They continued on to Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend where these photos were taken.
As most of you know, Arizona has a very unique state tax credit program. If you pay taxes to the state of Arizona, you can specify where your tax dollars go (state taxes only). These instructions are for your reference only. Please consult a tax prep professional with any specific questions about state tax credits.
The charitable work and giving that we do is funded through Mesa West Rotary Foundation. It is a 501(c)(3) public charity. It is the fundraising and funding vehicle for our charitable endeavors: Donations to MWRF are tax deductible.
Mesa West Rotary Foundation, Inc. is the funding and fundraising arm of our own Mesa West Rotary Club. It is a 501(c)(3) charity. We have had successful sponsorship campaigns the last few years enabling us to spend our energy on service rather than on holding fundraising events. Charitable grants that we get involved with are funded through our charitable foundation, Our signature Gift of Hearing Project in Guaymas Mexico is funded through this foundation. Scholarships are awarded annually to Westwood High School Students (the high school where Mesa West Rotary sponsors an Interact Club). Funds are used to support a variety of activities in four of the Rotary Avenues of Service:.png)
