(Click on the image to access Michael's complete presentation)The war in Ukraine is having devastating consequences on civilians as families flee their homes. According to the United Nations, more than 5 million people, most of them women and children, have sought refuge in neighboring countries and across Europe, while about 7 million more people have been displaced within Ukraine.
Rotary and Rotaract clubs in Europe and around the world have taken swift action and are working with members nearby to provide food, water, medical equipment, and shelter for refugees.
Because of our generous donors, The Rotary Foundation has received more than $15 million in contributions that will be prioritized for disaster response grants.
Emily Parker, a second-year Masters student in the refugee and forced migration studies program, is a refugee resettlement caseworker with Catholic Charities of Chicago. Parker works to provide refugees housing and address other immediate needs within the first months of arriving in the U.S. Catholic Charities agencies across the country have been helping resettle refugees from Afghanistan. Chicago’s influx of Afghan refugees has overwhelmed aspects of the city’s resettlement infrastructure, leaving gaps in support services. “No one anticipated the Afghanistan situation, it all happened incredibly abruptly,” Parker said. “So, we have kind of just had to roll with the punches and completely transform our resettlement team.” 
Working with an established very local NGO with a record of service is a big bonus for our GC 2119212 global grant, that made possible the Rotary Mobile Medical Van that will provide needed attention to local Hemophilia patients.
A World Polio Day video created by Barbara Blane is on Vimeo at this link:
($500 from the district and $500 from donations from members) are being used to purchase fresh produce in large quantities for distribution to three organizations: North Chicago Community Partners Food Pantry, Midwest Veteran’s Closet and the Lake County Haven. 
We are thrilled with the impact of the District grant on the lives of those in need in our communities. We are exploring how to keep the project going and “growing” in the days ahead. There are so many ways that this project can grow yet at the same time, the current simple plan has already made an enormous impact toward achieving our goal. Food for Life is truly making a difference in the lives of many families. For more information, please feel free to contact the Club President Ellen Young, gov.ellen6440@gmail.com or Foundation Chair, Dr. Jenny Wojcik @ jennywojcik@aol.com. 
Our club's first Global Grant #2119211 budgeted at $41,419 for a Mobile Medical Van for Hemophilia Patients becomes a reality. RI President Shekhar Mehta and First Lady Raashi Mehta are visiting our international partner District 3160 (Hosapete) in India, on the 20th of October, and personally inaugurate the Mobile Medical Van that day. 
Our club's sponsored high school graduate Adriana Ulloa Alonzo was awarded the $1,500 District 6440 Vocational Scholarship towards a Baking and Pastry Arts AAS Degree at the College of Lake County. Adriana's goal is to change the "unhealthy" stigma that baked pastries have ... her dream is to develop recipes for healthy cakes! Additionally, Educate The Children, a charity founded by Marco Island Rotarian, Prem Advani, donated a new laptop for Adriana to start classes this month. Adriana had been an ETC Recognized student in 2019. Educate The Children is a 501.c.3 charity that has been helping further the education of over 1000 underprivileged children in over 10 countries since 1999. educatechildren.org. This month the laptop was presented by 2003 RYLA International participant, and long time ETC volunteer, Christine Arason who currently teaches Math at the high school Adriana graduated from. While a Junior in high school, Christine Arason had been a youth exchange student candidate slated to travel in 2001. Fate had it, that September 11 happened that year and the youth exchange dream was scrapped. However, Christine joined the Interact Club and after graduation, she became the first RYLA International participant from our Rotary District 6440 and travelled to Brisbane, Australia in 2003. She has been volunteering for Educate The Children ever since, and now ... 20 years later, on the anniversary of that fateful year, hope is transferred forward to younger students that start new dreams and build their lives!
Rotary International President Elect Shekhar Mehta provided an update on the current Covid crisis in India, and encouraged us to continue to serve under the programs supported by The Rotary Foundation. [Click here to Watch Video]
Binish Desai, former Rotary Youth Exchange Student hosted by the Waukegan Rotary Club in 2009, heads today his own EcoEclectic Technologies - EETech company designing and implementing processes for recycling solutions. Now, Dr. Binish Desai having earned a degree in Environmental Engineering, has a spot on Forbes' 2018 list of Asia's top social entrepreneurs under the age 30. [Recorded Program]. His story is featured in the August 2020 issue of the Rotarian Magazine, "Full Circle" starting on page 34. He credits his success to the boost received from his Rotary experience.
Every hero has an origin story. “I was 10 years old when the entire journey started,” explains Binish Desai. It began with a cartoon called Captain Planet, an animated TV series from the 1990s about an environmentalist with superpowers. Desai can still recite the show’s refrain: Captain Planet, he’s our hero / Gonna take pollution down to zero! “That tagline stuck in my mind,” he says. “I wanted to do something to help Captain Planet.” Full Circle Video
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