Posted by Peter Roaf on May 11, 2017
Rotary District 5040's Conference held May 4 to 7, 2017 certainly lived up to its theme, “Generations Serving Humanity,” as 300 people of all ages came together in Whistler, BC. The young and not-that-old learned from each other, cried and laughed as we reflected on Rotary’s tremendous contribution to our communities and our world in celebrating the 100th Anniversary of The Rotary Foundation. Below are some inspirational, thought-provoking highlights of the conference.
 
 
"I joined Rotary on May 5 39 years ago, one of the most important dates in my life. I was 26 and the next youngest person was almost twice my age. I said to my wife at home that evening, "What in the world have I gotten myself into?" -- David Forward
 
 
 
"We are at our strongest when we support one another. The whole purpose of family, team, community, Rotary, is to support each other, to learn and grow together as we live a life of service. Rotarians, go into the world and live large, give yourself to others and contribute in a meaningful way, trade money for meaning, only judge people by the size of their commitment to others, by the size of their hearts. -- Paul Bean and Angiola De Stefanis
 
 
 
Sample of Rotoract projects throughout Rotary District 5040
 
 
 
 
“Rotary has changed my world view through service opportunities, fellowship and mentorship. I would not be the person I am today were it not for Rotary. My Rotary story is one of truth telling, discovery and adventure.” --  Shirley Pat Chamberlain
 
 
 
 
We need to attract the ‘closet humanitarians.’ We meet them every day. These are the people who say, ‘I’d love to give back to my community, but what, how?’ -- Roy Prevost
 
 
 
 
"By the time I left on my Youth Exchange in Germany I had already fallen in love with Rotary. You are already my mentors and people I wanted to be one day, You don't realize how cool you are, as Rotarians. You definitely hold the keys to the world we, as students, want to be a part of. You gave me one of those keys when I got to go to Germany on my exchange." -- Christina Hassan
 
 
 
 
Throughout Rotary District 5040 clubs have hosted for an entire year Exchange Students from many parts of the world: Taiwan, Japan, Brazil, Germany, Denmark, France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Mexico and Canada.
 
 
 
 
“Motivation will get you going, but habit will get you there. If you make motivation a habit you'll get there more quickly and have more fun on the trail.” – Don Mebus
 
 
 
 
Are you clear on your purpose? Being purpose-driven. Understanding with deep intentionality, the why. In the absence of understanding our purpose we rush too often to implement tools that we don't know what they're going to do and we get disappointed when they don't produce the results we want. -- Tom Hierck
 
 
 
 
Highlights of a multi-generation panel with moderator Shirley Pat Chamberlain  Michaela Day, Jenny Fitzpatrick, Darcy Long, Don Patrick
 
 
 
 
“My trip to Ethiopia with Rotary District 5040 Governor Lyn Stroshin and Alex really changed my life as a person with polio and as a Rotarian. It gave me a lot of energy to try and change the world, which all of us are trying to do as Rotarians.” -- Gabor Gasztonyi
 
 
 
 
Kerry and Ginny Dennehy lost both their children, one to suicide and the other, out of the deep sadness from their family's loss, from eating disorder and substance abuse. Out of the tremendous grief for their loss the Dennehy's have moved ahead with their successful Kelty Patrick Dennehy Foundation -- Preventing Depression Related Suicide in Young People.
 
 
 
 
“Rotary has provided to Interactors experiences which have expanded their world view, given them knowledge and inspired them to become altruistic individuals who are motivated to give back.” – Kyle Gomes
 
 
 
 
In the summer of 2013 I finished nursing school and moved to Egypt to work with refugees, who were fleeing from Somalia, South Sudan, Iraq, Syria. I learned about conflict. There I decided I wanted to be a peace maker. That's why I applied for the Rotary Peace Fellowship. I chose University of Bradford in the UK as the Rotary Peace Centre for my studies. -- Sara Eftekhar
 
 
 
 
“ Being physically and socially active are two of the biggest predictors of long term brain health. As we age, there are some very interesting benefits to volunteering which is good for many of you here.” -- Dr. Matt Balcarras