April 2020 Newsletter
- Saturday, April 4, 10am, Live Webinar
To offset your Arizona State Income Tax Obligation for the 2019 tax year, tax credit donations need to be made by April 15, 2020.Because the IRS deadline for filing personal returns for 2019 has been extended to July 15, 2020 and the State of Arizona has followed suit, some donors have asked if the tax credit donation deadline is also being extended. The board of The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona checked for the most current information on the matter, and received the following response:"Contributions to certified school tuition organizations, public schools, and qualifying charitable organizations: Under current law, the date that taxpayers may elect to designate the taxable year within which these contributions apply remains April 15, 2020. State law does not authorize the Director or ADOR (Arizona Department of Revenue) to alter the scope of these statutorily‐provided credits."Arizona tax credit donations made by April 15 can be used for either the 2019 or 2020 tax year, but not both.In the Arizona economy, the need for employees who have vocational certifications is growing. Help someone lift themselves out of poverty by supporting the vocational education grants provided by TRVFA to individuals who meet specific low-income guidelines. To donate, go to trvfa.org.
Clubs can meet online using services such as Zoom, Skype or GoToMeeting. All three platforms offer robust support, from their directions for setting up an account to helping with technical issues. Rotary and Rotaract members get a discount on Zoom through Rotary Global Rewards. Members can also connect with each other on social media and with services such as FaceTime, Google Hangouts, or WhatsApp groups.
Learn how Rotarians and Rotaractors are staying in contact and keeping members engaged during these difficult times:
- Find ideas and resources for holding virtual meetings, engaging through social media, and serving from afar in District 6690’s guide to Maintaining Member Engagement During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
- Read how the Zone 34 Rotary coordinators are maintaining membership engagement (hint: ingenuity and adaptability) and download their COVID-19 response guide.
- See how Big West Rotaract, a multidistrict information organization in the western region of North America, is connecting Rotarians and Rotaractors who are experiencing difficulties with others who can help. Look at its Rotary and Rotaract COVID-19 Mutual Aid form.
- Read advice from Charlotte Ahlberg, past chair of the Rotary International E-Club Committee, on taking your club online.
- Visit Rotary’s website to get more tips and guidance for holding online club meetings.
1. KEY MESSAGES
· As the organization that first envisioned a polio-free world, Rotary has been at the center of the fight to eradicate polio for more than three decades.
· Rotarians everywhere should be proud of the work we’ve accomplished and Rotary remains fully committed to the pursuit of a polio-free world.
· Rotarians have contributed more than $2.1 billion dollars and countless volunteer hours to the fight to end polio. Together with our partners we immunize over 400 million children every year.
· When Rotary formed its PolioPlus program in 1985, a thousand children were being paralyzed by polio every single day in 125 polio-endemic countries. Today, just two countries continue to report cases of wild poliovirus: Afghanistan and Pakistan.
· Because of the efforts of Rotary and our partners, nearly 19 million people who would otherwise have been paralyzed are walking, and more than 1.5 million people are alive who would otherwise have died.
· We’ve made incredible progress and we’re optimistic that we will succeed in this effort, but eradicating a disease is hard work, and getting to zero cases requires sufficient funding, innovative strategies, perseverance and the commitment of every single Rotary member.
· We have an opportunity to make history by ending polio, which will be only the second human disease to ever be eradicated. But the window of opportunity to achieve a polio-free world will not remain open forever. The time for urgent action is now.
· Through the extension of our funding partnership, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will match 2-to-1 every dollar that Rotary commits to polio eradication, up to $50 million per year. This will amount to $450 million for polio eradication efforts over a three-year period.
· It is vital that we continue raising $50 million a year for polio and continue to raise awareness by keeping polio eradication in the spotlight with our clubs, in our communities, and with our government officials.
· Like any big initiative, we know the final phase of polio eradication will be the most difficult, but we also know that eradication is achievable and we have the collective strength to finish the job.
· During this challenging final phase of polio eradication, we are calling on our 1.2 million members to redouble their commitment and continue to persevere until the day that we fulfill our promise of a polio-free world.
CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS IN PAKISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN
· While cases of polio have fallen over 99% worldwide since 1988, the final stretch of the eradication effort is proving more difficult than expected, and the program is currently facing two core challenges: ongoing transmission of wild poliovirus in Pakistan and Afghanistan and increasing type 2 circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV2) outbreaks across Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.* [SEE ADDENDUM ON VDPVs BELOW].
· There have been 175 cases of wild poliovirus reported in 2019. Current case counts for 2020 can be found at www.endpolio.org.
PAKISTAN
Challenges
· In Pakistan, 146 cases of wild poliovirus were reported in 2019, compared to 12 in 2018. In addition, the country reported 22 cVDPV2 cases.* [SEE ADDENDUM ON VDPVs BELOW]. This concerning spike in children paralyzed from the virus can be attributed to several underlying issues for the polio program, including poor campaign quality, insecurity and mobile populations, politicization of the polio program and in some cases, vaccine refusals.
· While the overwhelming majority of parents in Pakistan still want their children vaccinated, the number of refusals surged last year in part due to the spread of misinformation and misconceptions about the polio vaccine.
· Another major factor behind vaccine refusals is frustration with repeated polio campaigns, particularly when communities face high rates of malnutrition and limited access to other basic services like safe drinking water, sanitation and routine immunization.
Solutions
· The government has responded to the serious challenges facing the polio program and has reassessed its strategies to stop polio. Pakistan implemented an emergency plan and is deploying new tactics to strengthen essential immunization, better target high-risk areas, and integrate basic health services to complement polio immunization activities.
ADDENDUM ON CIRCULATING VACCINE-DERIVED POLIOVIRUS (cVDPV2)
The polio case numbers used by Rotary, refer exclusively to cases of polio caused by wild poliovirus in Pakistan and Afghanistan, unless otherwise specified. For example, when we say that there were 174 cases of polio in Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2019, this means “174 cases of polio caused by the wild poliovirus.”
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: VACCINE-DERIVED POLIO
How do VDPVs circulate?
· Circulating VDPVs occur when polio immunization activities are poorly conducted, or children are inaccessible and not enough children are reached with vaccine to ensure full immunity. As a result, a population is left under-immunized.
· cVDPVs can occur if the weakened strain of the virus originally contained in OPV is allowed to circulate among an under-immunized population for a long time, allowing the virus to regain strength and genetically revert into a form that can cause paralysis.
· If a population is fully immunized, they will be protected against both vaccine-derived and wild polioviruses.
- $99 suites — extend your stay as much as three days before or after the conference for the same low price!
- Resort Fee is waived
- Water Park with a lazy river
- Free internet
- Spa services available
- Coyote Camp for children available
Over the second weekend in February, Prescott Sunup Club members Jerry Hulm and Dennis Light were among twenty five Rotarians in Rotary district 5495, along with Rotarians from other areas, who participated in the Caborca, Mexico “ Polio Plus “ Polio vaccination program for children one to five years old.
In Caborca, the Rotarians assembled at a small medical clinic to be briefed on logistics and administration of the vaccine. Rotarians in groups of three or four and accompanied by local nurses and Caborca interpreters, canvased the villages where records indicated the targeted age group lived. Each child received two drops of the Polio vaccine, with the date recorded in the child’s medical record. One hundred and forty children received the vaccine. In addition to assisting in the vaccination program, fourteen thousand, five hundred U.S. dollars was donated to the Caborca Rotary Children’s Medical Fund by the participating Rotary clubs.
Forty-two volunteers representing the Rotary Club of Scottsdale Arizona and members of Scottsdale Preparatory High School's Rotary Interact Club joined forces to complete a community service project with Arizona Helping Hands. The mission of Arizona Helping Hands is to provide essential needs for children in foster care (over 14,000 kids in Arizona) through programs promoting safety, permanency and health.
The Rotary Club of Scottsdale's Foundation provided $3,000 in support of this project and the volunteers provided much needed smiles for kids by making Birthday Bags for 40 children in foster care. Each volunteer was given a foster child's wish list. Arizona Helping Hands' warehouse in Northeast Phoenix has beds, cribs, clothing, backpacks and school supplies, toiletries, and toys from ongoing toy drives.
Although medical use of marijuana was legalized in Arizona by way of Proposition 203 in 2010, our state has some of the strictest marijuana laws in the country. Cannabis remains illegal for recreational use— a 2016 initiative to legalize recreational use failed with 48.7% of the vote; however, Arizona is now one of the states that could legalize adult-use (21 and older) cannabis through a 2020 ballot measure.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THESE TAX DEDUCTIONS/CREDITS ARE AVAILABLE FOR THE 2019 TAX YEAR UNTIL THE FILING DEADLINE, APRIL 15, 2020!
T’is the season to support Rotary’s great work AT NO COST TO YOU!
I am asking a huge favor in the spirit of Rotary. I am asking that EVERY ROTARIAN in District 5495 take advantage of the Arizona Credit for Contributions to Qualified Organizations by donating to charities that will benefit Rotary programs. If you support one or both of the programs outlined below you will get dollar-for-dollar offset of your Arizona Tax. It is not necessary to itemize deductions to receive this tax benefit. (See the contribution caps outlined below.)
If you are an Arizona taxpayer you have the incredible privilege of directing tax dollars to causes that benefit those who need a helping hand or a nutritious meal.
Here are the two AZ tax credit programs that benefit Rotary programs.
- The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona (TRVFA) provides vocational scholarships to those who just need a bit of help to get an education that can transform their lives. (More information on donating below.)
- Manzanita Outreach provides everything necessary for our RYLA campers to have fun while helping others — packing nutritious meals for those who are food insecure. (More information on donating below.)
- OR SPLIT YOUR TAX CREDIT DONATION. The main thing is to GIVE NOW TO BENEFIT ROTARY PROJECTS!!!