Installation 2019-20

Rotary Connects the World

HeritageNY Rotary e-Club was chartered January 2019.
Rotarians have a vision: “Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change — across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.”

2019-20 Year-End Roundup

2019-20 was the first full year of our existence. The piechart on the left highlights the total incomes and expenditures/allocations of the Club during the course of this year. It does not include the annual membership dues, which were almost entirely a pass-through. We received $37,750 in contributions from Rotary, (the large section in gold) which includes the Globat Grant, the District Grant, the COVID-19 Grant. The Club itself raised $14,450 for the various projects it carried out including the Club's contribution for the Global and District Grants (the section in green) the orange slice represents the $2,500 that members donated to The Rotary Foundation.

Here is a rundown of our officially recorded activities during this year -1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020:

1. COVID-19 Project 1: The Club provided equivalent of Taka 1,30,000 to Monu Mia Sultana Girls Orphanage in Chandpur, Bangladesh, for food assistance to the 33 orphan girls in that orphanage.

2. COVID-19 Project 2: PPEs worth $1,000 were provided to St. Johns Riverside Hospital.

3. COVID-19 Project 3: District 7230 provided a $2,000 grant on behalf of the Club to the AFYA Foundation to provide essential PPEs to Hospitals and nurses in need.

4. COVID-19 Project 4: The Club provided food assistance to needy immigrant families for a total of $3,000.

5. The HeritageNY Club gave cash donation of $200 for canned food in addition to clothing, shoes and other household items valued at $500 for the Haiti Assistance Project led by the Yonkers-East Yonkers Rotary Club.

6. The Club donated coats participating in the Coat Drive launched by the Rotaract Club of Manhattan..

7. Thanksgiving Turkeys -Five 20-lb turkeys ($100) were donated to Hostos Micro-Society School in Yonkers. These were raffled off to needy families along with more turkeys from the Yonkers Club.

8. Earlier in the year, there was a H.E.L.P project done, handing out hygiene materials (toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, eyeglasses, socks, and towels) to parents of the Queens Daughters Day Care Center in Yonkers. A grant of $750 from the Yonkers-East Yonkers Rotary Club helped finance the $1,000 project.

9. For Nassau University Hospital project, District Grant #3092 was approved for $2,500 as a matching grant for benches at the hospital entrance. The district has reimbursed the Club on project completion. Total project cost was $5,000.

10. Global Grant #1989638 "Quality education for poor rural children in Bangladesh through Teacher Training" was formally approved. The total project cost is $38,170, of which HeritageNY Club put up $5,250. District 7230 contributed $5,000, while 4 neighboring Districts contributed $1,000 each. The project implementation is expected to begin soon.

11. November was Rotary Foundation Month. Rotary President asked Rotarians to give a gift to the Rotary Foundation. It is a big achievement for the HeritageNY Club to have 2 Paul Harris Fellows who donated $1,000 each to The Rotary Foundation thereby earning the Fellowship. The District Governor awarded 3 Paul Harris Fellowships to 3 Club Members for their services.

12, New Member Project: The District awarded a $250 New Member Grant for a new Member Project. These funds were used to supplement the Interfaith Food Pantry where food packets were given out to those in need.

In recognition of these activities in the service of needy humanity in our local community and internationally, our Club has received the 2019-20 Rotary Presidential Citation – which is the highest honor for a Club.

District Governor Awards Paul Harris Recognition to 3 members

Outgoing District Governor Mahbub Ahmad has awarded 3 members of our Club with Paul Harris recognitions for their outstanding services to the Club and the community. A Paul Harris Fellow Award is given to a Rotarian who has contributed $1000 or in whose name, the equivalent has been given to The Rotary Foundation.

Under the leadership of President Zaki Hossain, in the first full year of operations the Club has received the Rotary Presidential Citation - the highest honor that is bestowed by the Rotary President to a Club. It is a tribute to President Hossain's leadership in not only planning and organizing the Club but also in executing the various activities whereby the goals the Club set out to achieve were fully met.

Club Secretary Dr. Nazrul Islam was awarded a Paul Harris Fellow recognition for his outstanding commitment to the ideals of Rotary and in ensuring the Club's activities and records were properly maintained. He was instrumental in ensuring that the first footsteps of the newly established Club were on a solid foundation, and in following through on the Club's first Global Grant application.

Club Treasurer Mati Pal was recognized with a Paul Harris award for his meticulous management of the funds of the new Club, for taking the time to learn and understand the financial standards and practices of Rotary and in establishing a sound financial foundation for the Club.

Club Member Dr. Mohammed Zaman was recognized with a Paul Harris award for his selfless work as an infectious diseases specialist, in being with the community at their time of need without heed to his personal safety.

These are truly People of Action and have provided Service Above Self to their community and to Rotary .

We congratulate them for their dedication and their continuous service.

Club Members Provide Month of Groceries to Bronx Families

Club Members are active, trying to help our local communities hard-hit by the pandemic. Their latest effort was providing 14 families in dire need, in the Bronx, with groceries to last them for one month. These families preferred the groceries to cash handouts. The supplies included rice, cooking oil, lentils. onions, potatoes. pasta, cereals, chicken nuggets, pita bread, salt, and snacks valued at $100 per bag.

The project was led by Club President S. Zaki Hossain, while Rahat Hossain arranged for the shopping and delivery to these families, many of which have young children or elderly members.

The project is ongoing with many more families in need who are awaiting supplies of groceries. Sharing a little bit of your blessings will help alleviate the suffering. these families are going through on a daily basis. Please donate to the Club tinyurl.com/heritageNY.

Club holds first Zoom Meeting

The Club has come of age. After meeting via Conference call since its inception, President S. Zaki Hossain and Secretary Nazrul Islam decided to take the Club to the visual medium befitting an E-Club. As such members of the Club gathered at a "Zoom" meeting in the afternoon of May 16. It was a great get-together and members were very happy to see each other face-to-face after a long time. Members attended the meeting from Westchester, Bronx, Queens, Long Island, New Jersey and Canada.

Among the business conducted, President Zaki informed members of the projects Club members have been carrying out on their own initiatives locally - especially helping with food distribution to needy people affected by the COVID-10 virus. Club Rotary Foundation Chair Nurul Alam provided an update on the pending Global Grant Application, while Treasurer Mati Pal summarized the latest financial situation.

Member Farjana Sultan requested assistance for the Orphanage she has been working with in Bangladesh. President Zaki said assistance would be forthcoming. for COVID-19 related mitigation efforts for the 30+ children and staff. Since the meeting, 5 members - Lina Rahman, Rezaul Haider, Rahat Hossain, Raaid Ahmad, and Tabin Ahmad, have come forward and pledged the equivalent of 130,000 Taka for the orphanage. The project will be carried out with the collaboration of the Rotary Club of Dhaka Phoenix. Nazrana Yasmin, who is a member of the Dhaka Phoenix Club will manage the project and provide a report at the end of the project.

Our Club Assistance to Bangladesh Orphanage

As one of our first international projects, our Club, through the collaboration of the Rotary Club of Dhaka Phoenix, provided meaningful assistanc

e to the children at an orphanage in the village of Sreepur in Chandpur district of Bangladesh. The Orphanage provides a home for nearly 30 abandoned homeless and orphan children.

For the Eid celebration of 2019, a donation from our club was used to purchase a full set of clothing and shoes for all the children. In addition, the children and staff were all treated to an Eid Feast.

In October of 2019, in order to see for themselves the orphanage and its activities, a 10-person delegation from the Rotary Club of Dhaka Phoenix visited the orphanage, Following their visit, they prepared a report on the orphanage..

Our First Global Grant Project

Rotary E-Club of Heritage New York is proud to inform its Members that, thanks to their support, in its very first year it has succeeded in submitting a proposal for a Rotary Global Grant Project. The Project on “Quality education for poor rural children in Bangladesh through Teacher Training” is expected to receive approval from the Rotary Foundation soon.

The endeavor is a joint international project, in which our Rotary Club is the International Partner and Banani Rotary Club of Dhaka is the Host Partner. The Host Partner implements the project through a local partner which has expertise in implementing similar projects, monitors the project throughout its life-cycle, and manages the financial and reporting aspects of the project. The local partner selected to implement the project is a Bangladeshi NGO in the field of education, the Volunteers Association for Bangladesh (VAB).

For the vast majority of rural poor families in Bangladesh, education is the only avenue that offers their children the opportunity for achieving competence and skills to earn a livelihood. However, one of the most critical problems faced by the rural educational institutions is the quality and quantity of teachers who are deficient in both content knowledge and pedagogy. Our Club’s Global Grant Project aims to infuse better content knowledge and advanced modern pedagogy in ill-equipped rural teachers through training. The ultimate development objective of the project will be to enhance the educational achievement and proficiency level of rural school students. The project aims to train approximately 600 teachers over a period of three years. It is expected that these trained teachers will over their teaching careers be able to have an impact on the learning of more than 400,000 students.

It is an amazing partnership that came together to bring this project to fruition. 5 Rotary Clubs – one in New York and 4 in Dhaka, 5 Rotary Districts – one in Bangladesh and 4 in New York and New Jersey all combined to raise more than half of the Project funding. The Rotary Foundation’s World Fund stepped in with the remainder - A remarkable example of how "Rotary Connects the World".

The Project will require funds of about $35,000. Starting with base amounts of funds raised by our Club as the International Partner and Banani Rotary Club as the Host Partner, the respective Districts – District 7230 in New York and District 3281 in Bangladesh -are generously pitching in with matching funds (District Designed Funds – DDF). In addition, through the intervention of District Governor Mahbub Ahmad, 4 neighboring Districts in New York and New Jersey are also contributing about $4,000. The Rotary Foundation will be providing matching funds on the basis of the contributions of the Clubs and the Districts.

The base amount from our Club is $5,250. Our Members made kind donations which made it possible to raise the requisite amount. We are particularly grateful to President Syed Zaki Hossain, Rotarians Dr. A T Rafiqur Rahman, Dr. Fazlur R Chowdhury, Nurul Alam, Mati Pal, and a few other members and well-wishers who wish to remain anonymous for their generous contributions. Our special thanks go to Past President Nurul Alam, who developed the project proposal on the basis of a model Rotary Global Grant Project in Nepal, provided to him by District Governor Mahbub Ahmad.

Shining President Shahida Naz Huda of the Banani Club ran with the proposal and was able to convince not only her Club to lead the project, but also 3 other Clubs in Dhaka to join in and her District officials to approve the project.

It is expected that following approval by the Rotary Foundation, work can begin on the project in early summer.

Club President Zaki meets with Rotary DG of Bangladesh

Club President S. Zaki Hossain met with the Rotary District 3281 (Bangladesh) District Governor Khairul Alam in Dhaka. They discussed and finalized the Club's first Global Grant project in partnership with the Rotary Club of Dhaka Banani. Also present at the meeting were Charter Members of the Club Dr. Maksud Chowdhury and Dr. Shamim Begum. The District Rotary Foundation Chair PDG Hafizullah and the Rotary Fiscal Agent in Bangladesh PDG K.M Zainul Abedin were also present.

Under the Global Grant Project, approximately 1,100 primary school teachers will be provided with training in Math, Science, and English. Students will also be provided with encouragement for learning via student Clubs. The project will cost $34,000 and will be spread over three years. Two local Clubs in Bangladesh and 3 Districts in the US are also contributing partners in the project. The project will be implemented by the NGO Volunteers Association for Bangladesh (VAB) which has had extensive experience in Teacher Training in Bangladesh.

Among other matters, also discussed at the meeting, was a follow-up Global Grant Project with the Rotary Club of Dhaka Kawran Bazar, at which the Charter President of the Club Ahmed Farooque inquired about details of the project. The proposed project envisages health monitoring of groups of Children across Bangladesh over a period of three years. Dr. Maksud Chowdhury and Dr. Waseem Hafeez presented details of their project. More follow-up discussions will be held on this matter in the coming months.

Club Joins in to Bring Thanksgiving Joy

Posted on Dec 01, 2019

At Thanksgiving we are thankful for all the blessings we have received. Yet there are also those who do not have a square meal. Our Club joined in with our sister Club - the Rotary Club of Yonkers-East Yonkers to bring a little Thanksgiving joy to some families.

For the last few years, the Yonkers East Yonkers Club has been giving turkeys to the families of children at the Hostos Micro-Society School in Yonkers. This year they were providing 13 turkeys. One of our club members provided a donation to add five more turkeys to the gift of joy. These turkeys will provide the recipient families with a Thanksgiving meal and perhaps a few more leftover meals too. On behalf of the Club, Adviser Bina Ahmad handed over the turkeys to Rotarian Barbara Hanna of the Yonkers-East Yonkers Club on Wednesday, 25 November for delivery to the School.

The Hostos Micro-Society School administration held a raffle among the families of the children who would benefit most from this gift. Our Club firmly believes in participating in projects which will benefit our local community as well as communities across the world. In the true spirit of Rotary every little bit helps. As volunteers, individually we can only do so much. But together as Rotarians, we can change our world.

Club joins Haiti support Project

Posted on Oct 29, 2019

The situation in Haiti is a serious humanitarian crisis. The country is in need to ongoing assistance of all kinds. The international community seems to have forgotten about the plight of the survivors of the devastating earthquake.

Our Club participated in a joint project with the Rotary Club of Yonkers-East-Yonkers, one of the most dynamic clubs in the District - and the home Club of our District Governor. The project aims to send urgent supplies of clothing, household items and other essentials to Haiti. One of our Club members donated $200 for purchase of canned foods and another member donated clothing, shoes, books and household items. All the items were packed in barrels by volunteers for shipment through a local Rotary Club in Haiti.

Every little bit helps. We are a new Club but we are learning how to get involved in projects within our community as well as internationally. The Club is grateful for the guidance received from our Club sponsor and our District Governor, as well as the practical assistance from the Yonkers-East Yonkers Club.