Cometh The Cause, Cometh The Club

Here we highlight how once again we punched above our weight and acted fast to meet the earthquake disaster in Turkey and Syria head on with financial help to the charities on the ground.  

Local Charities

It began with our regular Zoom Services and Business Meeting on Monday, February 6.  President Michael Ginn’s priority during his presidential year is that our club supports local community causes as opposed to the national and international projects which have drawn so much of our support over the last few years.  
In line with our budget, members expressed support for three charities whose work is well known to us and which we have supported in previous years: St Luke’s Hospice; Lennox Children’s Cancer Fund and Little Havens Hospice for children.

After discussion, Members recommended donating the sum of £1,000 to each of these charities.
Club Council met after the meeting, also over Zoom, and unanimously agreed these donations to these charities.

Change Of Thinking

However, we could not ignore the terrible news which was just appearing about the dramatic plight of citizens in Turkey and Syria.  So, our International Chairman, Malcolm Acors was asked to investigate what we could and should do to help, and report back to the next Business Meeting. 

Then the full news of the scale of the disaster in Turkey and Syria, and its affect on the people there, became clearer, and this changed everything. Not least, our whole thinking about where our  donations were most needed.

The full measure of the disaster filled our newspapers and TV screens – tens of thousands of deaths, many were children and babies, cities razed to the ground, yet extraordinary tales of survivors being discovered under the rubble.   It could NOT wait until the next meeting - urgent support was needed.

As Rotarians we could not ignore the situation.  The consensus was that we must focus support on organisations capable of giving immediate help in the earthquake sites. 

Our immediate thoughts turned to two charities in particular, the Red Cross (who were already working with the Red Crescent in both countries), and Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) who were so active on-site that one of its doctors had died in the earthquake and others injured.  Research on the BBC website confirmed this view from an insightful article about which charities were already active on-site in the earthquake areas.

On Wednesday, February 8, Malcolm proposed to members that we donate £2,000 in total, split equally between these two charities and asked for member’s responses.

By the following day, he had received a clear and positive message from a majority of members:  Donation  sums and the agencies agreed. “Let’s go for it.”

Donations Sent

Time for positive and immediate action.  President Mike Ginn did not hesitate: In his own words, he  circulated: “I have instructed our Treasurer to send sums of £1,000 each to Médecins Sans Frontières and the Red Cross. I am sure you will approve my action.” 

Within minutes Treasurer Les confirmed that he had followed the president’s instructions and had sent our donations to the two charities.  He received a letter from both agencies, confirming our donations and thanking us.

Seventy-two hours, approximately three days. It is not the first time our Club has responded so quickly to genuine causes – nor will it be the last. What we can no longer achieve physically, we do with brilliant minds and great leadership. International Chairman Malcolm and President Michael are to be congratulated for proving this point so well.
By the time this appears on our website, the full tragedy of lives lost and thousands homeless and freezing should be known.  Too many for us in this safe haven that is the UK to even comprehend. They will not know that we did our bit to help.  We wish them well. 

“We could not have achieved this so immediately  and so successfully without all members  support. Thank you.” said Malcolm Acors, International Chairman.