Annual Ferdinand Gutman Scholarship Award: Winners will be announced at next week's ZOOM meeting! For more than 60 years the Babylon Rotary Club has provided nearly a half-million dollars of college scholarships to deserving high school students. The Babylon Rotary Scholarship Program was founded by Ferdinand Gutmann, a unique Rotarian of great personal and moral courage, who was devoted to the encouragement and advancement of young people, worldwide, goodwill and peace. Carolyn Gutmann, grand daughter-in-law of Ferdinand, remains a major benefactor of the Babylon Rotary Scholarship Program.
Date Set for Induction Ceremony: July 7th, 2021 at 6PM the Babylon Village Pool! Rain date of July 14th. 75th Club Anniversary! Volunteers are needed to help prepare and plan for the big event. We are planning a fundraising raffle with cash prizes. Tickets will be limited to 200. If you are interested: please email megannoble@garveypropertiesli.com.
Golf Outing Update: The annual Golf Outing is scheduled for July 13th, 2021 at Willow Creek Golf and Country Club. 50 golfers are needed for the event and anticipated cost is between $250-$300 per golfer. Chairperson Neil Weingarten reports that we will need some volunteers the day of the event if anyone is interested in helping. Volunteers will check in our golfers and help sell raffle tickets on the course. The Golf Outing is the primary source of fundraising for our scholarship fund.
Dirty Sock Run Committee Needs Volunteers! There will be a ZOOM Committee meeting on Weds June 2nd, 2021 at 12pm, https://zoom.us/j/93474729503Big Thanks to Rotarian Chris Cunningham & Rotarian Mikel Hoffman for volunteering to chair this year's race. Volunteers are needed to join the committee to make 16th Annual Babylon Village Classic a success. The Dirty Sock Run is our biggest fundraiser for local food pantries and soup kitchens.
Navajo Water Project: Committee is forming to obtain global grant for Navajo Nation Water Project. Are you interested in joining?
The Navajo Nation is approximately the size of West Virginia and is home to $175,000 people. Unemployment & poverty are widespread. 70,000 Navajo (nearly 40%) live without running water in their home and the nearest source of water is 10-15 miles away.
There are many challenges to bringing water & indoor plumbing to the Navajo. Weather, sacred lands, difficult terrain and virtually impenetrable calcium carbonate rock make installation difficult. In addition, pollution from abandoned uranium mines on the reservation removes the option of drilling shallow water wells and means that safe wells are going to increase costs dramatically. The most recent community well cost $1.2 Million.
The Rotary Club as partnered with DigDeep Right to Water Project. Click Here for more info on DigDeep. Since 2017 DigDeep has completed over 300 in-home water systems. DigDeep also conducts hygiene training in conjuction with installations. Rotary has provided approximately 25% of total DigDeep funding for these projects. Installation cost an average of $4500 per home. Water trucks circulate every 3-4 weeks to fill the home's tank. Recipient are asked to help with the cost of installation & water refills if they are physically able.
The Rotary Foundation has approved 4 global grants. In 2021 alone 58 systems have been installed with the global grant program. During the height of COVID-19 pandemic, the Navajo nation had higher COVID rates than NY & NJ due to the lack of water available to wash their hands properly.
UPCOMING GUEST SPEAKERS -
May 26th - 2021 Babylon Rotary Club Scholarship Winners
Call for Updates! -If you Zoom isn't your thing, we get it... but we miss you! Until things return to normal, we wanted to drop a note at the end of the newsletter to let you know that your friends at Rotary miss you and are wondering how you are. If you would like to share an update, a joke, a quote, or a picture with the group, simply reply to this email... we would love to hear from you!!
Next Meeting is Weds May 26th, 2021 via Zoom at 12:30pm
make installation difficult. In addition, pollution from abandoned uranium mines on the reservation removes the option of drilling shallow water wells and means that safe wells are going to increase costs dramatically. The most recent community well cost $1.2 Million. 
