Night Programrcnewmanilaheights.org/uploads_newsletter/RCNMH bulletin 2010-0… · electoral process, the Rotary Club of New Manila Heights has moved on. No way are we going to make

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Night ProgramJune 15, 2010

Call to Order Pres. Boone OngchocoInvocation Rtn. Inday Nery National Anthem AS Pancoy SaavedraFour-Way Test PP Boy EscuetaMeals & FellowshipCommunity Singing PE Baby Allado

Rotary Information Games PN Alex BuotClassification Talk Rtn. Annabelle JerezaAnnouncements Sec. Annie TorresPresident’s Time Pres. Boone OngchocoRotary Hymn PP Dennis ArcaAdjournment Pres. Boone Ongchoco

Night Chair: Rtn. Howell Mabalot

Certificate of AttendanceThis certifies that Rotarian _______________________ attended the regular meeting of the Rotary Club of New Manila Heights held at the St. Elizabeth Hall of Mt. Carmel Shrine Parish, June 15, 2010.

Annie Torres Club Secretary

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MY YEAR AS CLUB PRESIDENT: WHAT A JOURNEY IT HAS BEEN

Indeed, how time flies. As a reluctant President-Nominee some two and a half years ago, I never imagined that I would actually be here, about to finish my term, and having withdrawal pangs. No, don’t get me wrong, as I am not about to volunteer for another term. I guess it’s just that once you’ve given so much for a certain endeavor, you are bound to miss it one way or the other.

From the minute I accepted my position, there was no turning back. It was like I had ceded one year of my life to Rotary service, thus my initial reluctance. While I could have opted otherwise, I firmly believed that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity that deserved my 100 percent time, energy and devotion.

From the moment we went full-bore beginning with our March 4, 2009 planning session, there was just one goal in mind—to make this the best year ever in our club’s history and more importantly, to be able to help as many people as possible. Little did I know that this journey would bring some of the most beautiful memories and cherished friendships in my life.

Who could forget the almost nightly inductions in the first three months of our term. Night after night, we partied and joined hands in fellowship with our “classmates.” Before that, I never really partied much, as all I really knew was to go straight home after work to my family. But this was a “lost” year remember, and my family, unfortunately, also had to sacrifice. But how can you really lose when you actually gain a new mother in the person of our district’s first-ever lady governor and another 90-something new brothers and sisters that will forever be part of this “fraternity” known as the “Hands-On Presidents” or HOPs for short. The memory of being serenaded by 63 classmates during

The President’s Corner by: Pres. Daniel “Boone” Ongchoco

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my August 22 Induction still lingers vividly and will be something I will always look back on with great fondness.

But then, amidst all the partying and fellowship, there of course had to be service. With a full-year club calendar of activities in place from the get-go and a long laundry list of projects across all avenues of service, I was pretty sure we raised not a few eyebrows waiting to see whether we truly would be able to accomplish all our planned projects. But what do you know, by God’s good grace, with meticulous attention to detail, the active participation of close to 80 percent of our club members, and the help of countless partners in service, we pulled it off by accomplishing 110 percent of our planned club, vocational, community and international service projects (over 160 of them if I may proudly declare) for the Rotary year. “Lost” year? Well, how could that be when you get to impact so many people’s lives like never before. This was life-changing indeed in so many ways for me and all the poor and marginalized people we were helping on a daily basis.

But this Rotary year was not without its trials and pains. When Typhoon Ondoy struck late September 2009, it was like the life was sucked out from a lot of Rotarians. It was so surreal as practically everyone had some close relative or friend affected by the disaster. But, as we Filipinos have proven time and again, our “bayanihan” spirit enabled us to overcome. Rotarians proved that they could answer the call to action and then some, with relief effort after relief effort up until many months later. And so, just when it appeared like we were all ready to get burned out, we somehow mustered the strength and resolve to snatch our second wind and forge on in this Rotary year for the ages. Yes, true Rotarian service became the tonic that lifted all of us up.

Then, the District Governor-Nominee election season came. Having a club member among the candidates put us in the proverbial eye of the storm. But how bad could it be—this was Rotary after all. Unfortunately, the whole experience became an eye-opener and a case study for what Rotary should not be. Somehow, the whole election episode brought out the ugly side of this otherwise beautiful organization. What I thought would be a quiet DISCON election and thereafter, a peaceful challenge, became everyone’s worst nightmare. Needless to say, a lot of us were all left disillusioned.

But, as the saying goes, all things shall come to pass. The election is over and our candidate has lost. And even as we continue the pursuit for improvement in our district’s electoral process, the Rotary Club of New Manila Heights has moved on. No way are we going to make the election result detract from what we have accomplished as a club this Rotary year. And I am not even referring to the generous awards bestowed upon our club during the District Awards Night. In the larger context of life, I am referring to the real rewards that come from the fulfillment of having helped so many underprivileged people during this Rotary year. After all, Rotary is not about awards and neither is it about politics, titles, positions nor governorships. Rotary, in its purest form, is still about Service Above Self, the Four-Way Test, and true and lasting friendships. And, as my fellow HOP Mar Reyes so aptly put it, there will only be one District 3780, and there will only be one “Hands-On Presidents.”

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JUNE CALENDAR OF ACTIVITIESRotary Fellowship Month

(Suggested Speaker Topic: Travel)

June 1* District Awards Celebration and Blow-out (E-Lanes Bowling Center) 4 RCNMH Mass Book Donation for 25 schools (Rotary Center) 8* Regular Meeting (Dinner c/o Inday Nery) 12 President-Nominees Training Seminar (UP-Ayala Land TechnoHub) 15* Classification Talk: Annabelle Jereza (Travel) 20-23 RI Convention (Montréal, Canada) 21 Soft Opening of RCNMH Kalusugan Center Dental Facilities 21 Start of English Enhancement Program FacilitatorsTraining 22* Club Assembly: Presentation of RY 2010-11 Plans 28 P. Bernardo High School English Enhancement Program Relaunch 30* 27th Charter Anniversary, Thanksgiving Party & Turnover Ceremonies (Dinner c/o Boone Ongchoco)

July 3 District Induction (Shangri-La Hotel Makati)

JUNE BIRTHDAY CELEBRANT

June 17 - Pres. Boone Ongchoco

Night PrayerO God of us all, as we draw close to the end of this current Rotary Year, we want to once again praise and honor You for all the good that You have done

for us in this club and in the District. We also want to thank You for the challenges and trials You have sent us this year. They helped us grow as we discerned what the good, righteous and pleasing things You wanted us to see and enabled us to freely choose to do what befit men and women called by You to serve above self and bring light and hope to others. We thank You also for the wisdom and guidance You have blessed us with all this time especially on our leaders. Thank You for turning our weaknesses into strengths as we chose to serve in our club and district projects. All glory, honor and praise belongs to You who has opened His hand and satisfied all our righteous and good desires. Thank You for each member in the club as well. We lift each one of us to You and ask You to bless us in our undertakings. Continue to build us up as a body of men and women who stand in solidarity and brotherhood to serve as witnesses to love, faithfulness, compassion, service, justice and peace. To You, O heavenly Father, we give You all the praise, honor and glory in the unity and power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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The Journeyby Lea Salonga

Half the world is sleeping,half the world’s awakehalf can hear their hearts beathalf just hear them break

I am but a traveler, in most every wayAsk me what you want...to know

What a journey it has beenAnd the end is not in sightBut the stars are out tonightand they’re bound to guide my way

When they’re shining on my lifeI can see a better dayI won’t let the darkness in,what a journey it has been.

I have been to sorrowI have been to blissWhere I’ll be tomorrow,I can only guess

Through the darkest desertThrough the deepest snow,Forward always forward, I go..

What a journey it has beenand the end is not in sightBut the stars are out tonightand they’re bound to guide my way

When they’re shining on my lifeI can see a better dayI won’t let the darkness in,what a journey it has been...

Forward, always forward...Onward, always up...Catching every drop of hopeIn my empty cup

What a journey it has beenAnd the end is not in sight

But the stars are out tonightand they’re bound to guide my way

When they’re shining on my lifeI can see a better dayI won’t let the darkness in,what a journey it has been...

What a journey it has been...

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CROSSROADSby PDG Mario R. Nery

THE GIFT OF MEMBERSHIP (Part 2)

We continue from last week’s article on the implications of membership in Rotary. The first is that it is an invitation to a way of life grounded on the fundamental principles of Rotary. Some of these principles are The 4-Way Test, Service Above Self (Rotary’s motto), The Object of Rotary, Classification, etc. It also respects the dictum and the tradition that it is the job that seeks the person, not otherwise. That is why Rotarians pay their dues, attend meetings, serve in projects for the poor, reject electioneering, continue learning Rotary, try to live upright lives and many more.

All over the world, it is normal that those who receive valuable gifts, in honor of their person, will endeavour to take care of those gifts so that they become even more valuable or productive. They then truly become stewards of that gift. The true meaning of stewardship is that you recognize that those gifts are not truly yours, whether it is in the form of time, talent or treasure. In Rotary, you cannot give your gift of membership to another because it is not yours, it is only loaned to you. Only the Club can give the gift of membership. What you can give are the fruits of that membership—your time, talent and treasure. Think about it.

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The Year That Was in Pictures

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DISTRICT 3780 AWARDS

MAJOR CLUB AWARDS

MOST OUTSTANDING ROTARY CLUB

MOST OUTSTANDING CLUB IN THE ROTARY

FOUNDATION

MOST OUTSTANDING CLUB IN PUBLIC IMAGE

MOST OUTSTANDING CLUB IN VOCATIONAL SERVICE

MAJOR INDIVIDUAL AWARDS

MOST OUTSTANDING CLUB PRESIDENT (PRES. BOONE

ONGCHOCO)

MOST OUTSTANDING DISTRICT OFFICER (PP EDITH

TAPNIO)

MOST OUTSTANDING DISTRICT OFFICER (CP OYIE

VALARAO)

MINOR AWARDS

BEST ROTARY CLUB IN VOCATION AT WORK PROJECT

BEST ROTARY CLUB IN VOCATIONAL AWARENESS

PROJECT

BEST ROTARY CLUB IN THE PROMOTION OF THE 4-WAY

TEST

BEST ROTARY CLUB IN WORLD COMMUNITY SERVICE

PROJECT

BEST ROTARY CLUB IN ANNUAL GIVING

BEST ROTARY CLUB IN MATCHING GRANT

BEST ROTARY CLUB IN MEMBERSHIP GROWTH

SPECIAL AWARD

BEST ROTARY CLUB IN LITERACY PROGRAM

SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

R.I. SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENT AWARD (RCNMH

KARUNUNGAN AT KABUHAYAN CENTER)

DISTRICT LITERACY AWARD & ZONE LITERACY AWARD

R.I. PRESIDENTIAL CITATIONS

ROTARY CLUB OF NEW MANILA HEIGHTS

ROTARACT CLUB OF INFORMATICS-BRICK ROAD

ROTARACT CLUB OF INFORMATICS-DILIMAN

ROTARY COMMUNITY CORPS OF BARANGAY

HORSESHOE

GOVERNOR’S RECOGNITION AWARDS

LEADERSHIP AWARD (PRES. BOONE ONGCHOCO)

GOVERNOR’S SPECIAL AWARD (PP EDITH TAPNIO)

EXEMPLARY ACHIEVEMENT AWARD (PP ELSA

UNSON, ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE CHAIR)

EXEMPLARY ACHIEVEMENT AWARD (CP OYIE

VALARAO, ANNUAL GIVING COMMITTEE CHAIR)

DISCON 2010 AWARDS

1ST PLACE, DISCON 2010 CLUB EXHIBIT

NO. 1 CLUB IN TRF ANNUAL GIVING

NO. 1 CLUB IN MEMBERSHIP GROWTH

OTHER AWARDS

3RD RUNNER-UP (CLASS C), ROTABOWL 2010

BLOODIEST ROTARY CLUB AWARD (NO. 1 IN “GIFT

OF LIFE” BLOOD DONATION)

ROTARY CLUB OF NEW MANILA HEIGHTSAWARDS & CITATIONS RY 2009-10

Documents

Night Programrcnewmanilaheights.org/uploads_newsletter/RCNMH bulletin 2010-0… · electoral process, the Rotary Club of New Manila Heights has moved on. No way are we going to make