Dear Rotarians
Your district governor is deeply impressed with how quickly our lives changed in March 2020. Around the world, the Covid 19 crisis has turned our daily lives upside down. Despite the measures taken by governments, the number of cases is rising alarmingly every day. Public life has come to an almost complete standstill. And nobody knows how long this emergency situation will last.
Our Rotary life is also fully affected by the cancellation of the weekly meetings in our restaurants. We district governors of the D1980 and 2000 have written and sent a notice to all club presidents about actions for Rotary clubs.
Especially in these difficult times, communication among Rotarians is important. Call a Rotarian friend and ask how he or she is doing. Or better yet, offer help for those who are not allowed or not supposed to leave the house. RC Aarau is doing this in an exemplary manner, and other clubs report such help to me.
"Due to the current situation our meetings are cancelled and suddenly there is that "yawning emptiness" in the calendars, which we have probably longed for many times before. From one day to the next, we are relieved of commitments which seemed so important to us and we all notice: "Something is missing"! So that not everything is missing, I call upon you to do so: Get in contact again with someone who could be just as well, even isolated - a phone or mail can be a "stand-up" for both sides! «
What Covid-19 means to The Rotary Foundation can be read in the new Foundation Letter to Presidents and in the Enclosure.
The crisis also offers all clubs the chance to hold an online meeting for the first time. One possibility is the software FreeConferenceCall. The club presidents were informed about it on 20.3. with the enclosed manual. Another software is ZOOM, our experience with it is very good. With the code ZOOMROTARY Rotary Clubs get a 20% discount on the monthly fee! The manual is also included.
Unfortunately the Beneficial Concert for the Rotary Foundation Switzerland, which has been organized during three years, had to be cancelled. We inform about the reclaim or donation of the purchased tickets on our homepage. The proceeds from the donated tickets go to the three projects according to the homepage. We negotiate the concert costs with our contractual partners and the sponsors. I will report the result at the District Assembly.
The PETS seminar and the district assembly in Lugano had to be postponed/cancelled. PETS will be rescheduled regionally in May/June, with information to follow from the Assistant Governors to Presidents-elect. The registrations are now open in the district's agenda.
I recommend all CICOs of the clubs to attend the online meeting on 18 April 2020!
The Run for Water in Lucerne was also cancelled. The paid participation fees will be carried forward to the next year's run on 24 April 2021.
Finally: We will decide in April whether the district conference of 26 June 2020 will be held physically in Einsiedeln or online. The online registration is open until the end of May. We wanted to visit the Einsiedeln World Theatre in the evening - but this was postponed until 2021.
Now I wish you good health and confidence in these difficult times!
