TULSA MIDTOWN ROTARY CLUB

EXCEEDS GOAL FOR TSUNAMI RELIEF FUND

            On January 1, 2005, the Tulsa, Oklahoma Midtown Rotary Club was officially formed. The week before the formation of the club, the members of the new club learned of the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami in the Indian ocean, they, like everyone, felt a need to do something to help. A trip had been previously planned by five of the members of the new club to spend two weeks in Thailand during February, 2005. Those members (who refer to themselves as the “Travel Group”) felt compelled to do something to help the victims while in Thailand and as Rotarians, knew that they could not go to Thailand empty handed. The Travel Group asked their club to help them raise One Million Baht (the currency of Thailand} to be used to help the victims of the tsunami. The club agreed and the project began.

            After officially forming the Rotary District 6110 Tsunami Relief  Fund, the club immediately began soliciting funds and contacted the Bangkok South Rotary Club to obtain assistance in properly distributing the proceeds of the fund raising project. The Bangkok South Rotary Club agreed to help and immediately contacted five Rotary Clubs in the South Thailand area that had been devastated. All the Rotary Clubs involved were eager to move forward and plans were formed to provide relief projects on site. By using Rotary Clubs for these efforts, it was guaranteed that no funds would be used for administrative costs and that one hundred per cent of the funds would be used to help the needy victims. In fact the other Rotary clubs added additional funds to those raised by the Tulsa Midtown Rotary Club so the amount delivered was more than had been raised in Tulsa.

            For a solid month, the Tulsa Midtown Rotary Club members made phone calls, wrote letters, made appearances on TV and Radio programs and hustled their friends and acquaintances for contributions. They were assisted by several other Rotary clubs in District 6110, other Tulsa Civic Clubs, and the students of the Saint Pius Grade School in Tulsa who raised nearly a Thousand dollars by bringing in coins they had saved in  their piggy banks. Some of the other donations received  were nice checks from businesses but many were Five to Twenty Dollar donations from people who had heard about the project and wanted to help.

            On February 7 the delegation of Rotarians from Tulsa Midtown Rotary Club Met in Bangkok, Thailand with the Bangkok South Rotary Club and presented a check for One Million Baht. But that was not the end!  The money kept coming in  and subsequently another Nine Hundred Thousand Baht was wire transferred to the Bangkok South Rotary Club. In US Dollars, over $50,000.00 had been collected and delivered.

            Once again the Rotarians tried to follow their motto “Service Above Self” and were successful in their goal to help make the world a little better - one small step at a time. Rotarians are always ready to help. The funds that were collected are currently being used to fund projects that will have a long lasting effect and provide continuing benefits. Some of the projects to be funded by the projects  include installation of equipment to provide safe, clean drinking water for schools,  help with the repair of fishing boats owned by individuals who can not earn a living without their boats, and hiring jobless people to make fishing nets for those whose nets were lost in the storm.