The March 9th meeting will be back at the Crowne Plaza as usual and we will have a fascinating speaker. Albertina Nyatsi is an activist, living with HIV who was tested and diagnosed after having been diagnosed with Tuberculosis.

She is trained as a school teacher, and is now using her life to educate and train others about issues surrounding HIV/AIDS, especially as they pertain to women. She also wants to demonstrate that you can live openly with HIV/AIDS. She has worked directly with communities through groups such as Swaziland AIDS Support Group and Positive Women Together.

She has been quoted in the media numerous times and participated in SAfAIDS Strengthening Community Capacities in Prevention, Care, Support and Treatment of HIV and AIDS program, and provided testimony at the launching of the Swaziland Stop TB partnership, among other activities. She currently works with the Swaziland National Network of People Living with HIV/AIS.

"It was the head teacher of the school where I taught who first told about my HIV," teacher Albertina Nyatsi, 28, recalled. "Two weeks later, he told me not to come back. He didn't use HIV as the excuse. He didn't give any reason. I went to the Ministry of Education. I was their employee, and the employee of any particular school or head teacher. But they reassigned me to another school."

To read more about Albertina Nyatsi click here!

Special Event:  March 9th, Food Drive

Our next special event will culminate on March 9th at Jewish Family Services Food Bank, located at 5402 Arapaho Road (across from Walmart). We will be collecting food at our meeting on the 9th. We would like for everyone to collect a minimum of 10 cans/food products. Please e-mail Tracey with a confirmation that you will do this. If you need a flyer, please contact Tracey. The JFS has a matching grant for March and for each can of food they receive they will get $1 donated to the Food Pantry.

The Food Pantry needs:

Staples:

Pasta, rice, dry potatoes, mayonnaise, jelly, jam, oil, tomato sauce, canned fruits, canned tuna, peanut butter, chili, soup, beans, salt-free and sugar-free products

Beverages:

Coffee, tea, fruit juices, fruit drinks,

Kosher products

Personal Care Items:

Shampoo, bar soaps, deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, diapers, feminine hygiene products

Paper Goods:

Tissues, toilet paper, paper-towels

Household Goods:

Laundry detergents, soaps, all-purpose cleaners

What CANNOT be used:

"Exotic" foods, such as caviar, marinated artichokes, hearts of palm, open containers of any kind

ALL FOOD NEEDS TO BE IN DATE!

Look for more information in next week's newsletter and Tracey will be talking about it at the meeting on Tuesday. If you would like more information, please e-mail Tracey 

March 2nd Meeting: The Savoye in Vitruvian Park  

We had our March 2nd meeting at the Savoye in Vitruvian Park. Tom Lamberth (VP of Development of UDR) explained the development of the property (it is huge!) and gave us a tour of the Savoye - the property that is built. The development is just gorgeous.

We also presented Jennifer Cook of The Mary Kay Foundation with a check from the money raised at the Resolution Run! she received over $5,000 to be used to help combat women's diseases and violence against women. We are proud to be able to contribute to such a worthy cause.

March 16th Meeting: Easter Baskets after the meeting!

We are asking you to help us put Easter Baskets together, we we will be staying 30 minutes after the meeting to form an assembly line to quickly put together Easter Baskets. It will be fun and quick and help give some children who would go with out on Easter a precious gift. So please join us after the meeting on the 16th to put together the Easter Baskets!

Upcoming Events: GSE Team is Coming and We Need Your Help!

The Rotary Group Study Exchange (GSE) is Coming and we need help on two fronts.

First, we need five host families. Attached is a page from District 3080's newsletter that has bios of the team members.

Second, we think we have vocational days lined up for four of the members, but we need help with Shailendra Kuma Pandey (Assistant Professor in Physics). Anybody know any physics professors or researchers? Please note that he has a keen interest in design and development of lab equipment so if you know of a test lab in the area that would work too.

If you are interested, please let Bruce Arsten or Neil Hewitt know. 

Upcoming Events: New Officers!

Can you believe the 2011 Rotary year is only four months away? New leadership will take over on July 1, 2010.

The current leadership proposes the following officers.

Chris Kellen - President

Jeff White - President Elect

Hamid Khaleghipour - Secretary

Brian Bertcher - Sergeant of Arms

Bruce Arfsten as Treasurer

Raffle:  Every Week!

Show me the money!  We will have a “BIG JACKPOT” raffle drawing every week.  Here are the rules.

-          The drawing will be held every week after the speaker concludes.  Tickets can be bought up to that time.  $1 for 1 ticket, $5 gets 6 tickets.

-          A ticket will be drawn at the end of the meeting.

-          But the weekly winner, will not automatically get the jackpot.  To ensure we have a BIG JACKPOT, we then ask the winner to draw the “winning card” from a standard deck of 52 cards.  If they pull the “winning card”, they get the BIG JACKPOT.

-          How do we determine the “winning card”?  After the jackpot is won, we will draw one card from a standard deck of 52 cards.  That card becomes the “winning card.”  It is reinserted into the deck.

-          If a non-winning card is drawn by the weekly drawing winner, that card is discarded.  This means the odds of drawing the “winning card” will improve every week as the BIG JACKPOT grows.

-          The jackpot is rolled over every week until the “winning card” is drawn.

-          The value of the BIG JACKPOT will be reported in the newsletter.

-       Half of the winning pot goes to the Addison Midday Rotary Foundation.