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.”

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.

Club has its first Paul Harris Fellow

Posted on Nov 03, 2019

November is Rotary Foundation Month

. It is so appropriate that at the beginning of the month, the Club has its first Paul Harris Fellow. In less than a year of existence, this is a great step forward in helping make the world a better place for all.

A Paul Harris Fellow is a Rotarian who is recognized by The Rotary Foundation for contributing $1,000 or more to the Foundation. Club Member Raaid Ahmad has generously come forward and contributed that amount. While Raaid has made the contribution, the Club also gets credit for his contribution to The Rotary Foundation. The number of Paul Harris Fellows reached the 1 million mark in 2006.

The Rotary Foundation has consistently been rated 4-stars – the highest rating by Charity Navigator for the last 12 consecutive years. The contributions from Rotarians form the backbone of the Foundation for providing the bulk of the financing for Global Grants and District Grants. The Foundation awarded $86,677,399 in funding to 1,306 grants during the fiscal year 2018.

The recognition from the Foundation consists of a Certificate and a golden pin. For each additional donation of $1,000 the donor receives additional pins with rubies or sapphires. When the total cumulative contributions reach $10,000, the donor is recognized as a Major Donor.

Joint Ceremony Recognizes Ethnic Authors

Posted on Nov 04, 2019

Our Club President S. Zaki Hossain and Rahat Hossain organized a joint cultural evening on Sunday 3 November with the Bangladeshi Heritage to recognize ethnic authors for their recent literary publications. The ceremony was attended by more than one hundred and fifty Rotarians and non-Rotarians from our district and neighboring District 7255.

Also, in attendance was District Governor Mahbub Ahmad and First Lady Bina Ahmad. Among those discussing the publications was Heritage e-Club Past President, M. Nurul Alam who spoke about author Hamid Reza Khan’s background and the novel’s underlying theme.

Rotarian Quddus Mohammed of the Rotary Club of Hicksville (District 7255) also presented his recently published cookbook, the entire proceeds of which is being donated for providing food supplies for the hungry.

During the ceremony, District Governor Mahbub pinned new member Syeda Shahper Khan, bringing the total membership of the Club to 35.

16 HeritageNY Rotary members were in attendance and the ceremony was rounded off by a cultural show emceed by Club Secretary, Dr. Nazrul Islam, and dinner, hosted by Club President S. Zaki Hossain.

District Grant Project Approved

Posted on Oct 17, 2019

Great News!. Our Club's first District Grant-funded Community Project has just been approved. It is an important achievement for a club that is not even a year old.

Our Rotary District 7230 has 44 Clubs of which we are one. Every year, the District solicits project submissions from Clubs which will match whatever amount the Club puts up for the project - up to $2,500. Our Club President S. Zaki Hossain, and Member Rahat Hossain discussed a number of possible projects with Club Rotary Adviser Bina Ahmad and decided that a project to refurbish the main entrance of the Nassau University Hospital (NUH) had the best chance of approval from all concerned. With input from Linda Walsh, Executive Director of the NUHealth Foundation, the project was submitted via the District's electronic application system.

At the end September, the Club received notification from our District Rotary Foundation Committee Chair (DRFC) Lora Hugelmeyer, with the good news that the project had been approved. DRFC Hugelmeyer then requested the next step in the process - which is for the Club to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the District on the proper use and accounting of the funds and the execution of the project. Once the project is completed and the Club submits the receipts for the expenditures, the District will reimburse the grant money to the Club. The Club President S. Zaki Hossain, Club Rotary Foundation Chair M. Nurul Alam and Project Chair Rahat Hossain signed the MoU which was duly uploaded to the Application Center in early October. The stage is now all set for the project to begin.

This year the District approved 17 projects for a total allocation of nearly $30,000.

President Zaki installed

Posted on Aug 24, 2019

23rd August 2019. An important day for our 8-month-old Club. President S. Zaki Hossain and his team were installed by District Governor Mahbub Ahmad for a 2-year term. Among the new Club Officers were Sam Rahat-Muqtadir (CEO, Town MD) as Vice-President and Dr. Nazrul Islam as Executive Secretary. Mati Pal continues as Treasurer, as does Rahat Hossain, (CEO, Pintail Coffee) as Membership Director. Immediate Past President M. Nurul Alam is the new Club Rotary Foundation Director, while Tabin Ahmad stays on as Technology Director.

The ceremony at the offices of Modern Packaging of which President Zaki is the CEO, was attended by many members, their guests and a number of invited prospective members who expressed their willingness to join the New Club. The evenings proceedings began with the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by an invocation by Dr. Abu Rahman and the 4-way test by Mrs. Zakia Khan. Past President gave a roundup of the beginnings of the Club and the activities undertaken.

Governor Mahbub formally installed President Zaki and the new team after which President Zaki welcomed members and guests and thanked them for their enthusiastic participation. He said with the joint collaboration of all members, the Club would shine through impactful projects both locally and internationally.

In his remarks, Governor Mahbub highlighted Rotary's new strategic plan and the new vision statement. He said we are all volunteers and individually we can only do so much. But collectively Rotarians are literally changing the world. He quoted the Johns Hopkins study which concluded that Rotarians all over the world contribute volunteer time which conservatively translates to $850 million each year - which however is never reflected on any balance sheet.

The Treasurer provided a brief financial report to date and there was elaboration of projects that were completed or are in the pipeline.

The evening was rounded off by poetry recitation by VP Sam, a song by new Member Sonia Lasmin and a comic poem by Secretary Nazrul, following which.everyone had a great dinner and fellowship.

Governor Pays Official Visit

Posted on Jul 15, 2019

District Governor Mahbub Ahmad paid his first official visit to the Club on Sunday 14 July. Addressing the members, the Governor provided a brief history of Rotary and highlighted the 2019-20 Theme “Rotary Connects the World”. He shared the Rotary vision and asked members to involve their families and help grow Rotary.

He congratulated the Club on its growth this year, from its charter membership of 20 to its current 26. He also asked members to consider joining the Rotary International Aloha Convention in Honolulu 1-6 June 2020, saying it is a great opportunity for new Rotarians to learn about Rotary, share ideas with new Rotary friends from all over the world and witness the spirit of Rotary first-hand. He asked members to continue to meet in person from time to time to strengthen their bonds through fellowship

Host Rtn Masum welcomed everyone and said his place is open for any Club gatherings. He said he is interested in working with the Club along with his Foundation, to maximize benefits for people in need.

one of the newest members, Rtn Aziz Ahmed, CEO of UTC Associates, said it is important to publicize the activities of Rotary, He said we should do more to make our lives purposeful and Rotary is a wonderful institution to serve those in need. He lectures at a leadership course at the City University of New York. He felt it may be worthwhile to pursue establishing a Rotaract Club there. Rotaract clubs are for young people 19-30 years of age.

As part of the gathering, the members put together bags of items for the community service project for which the Club had received a grant of $750 from the Yonkers-East Yonkers Rotary. The supplies included small size tubes of hand lotion, shampoo, conditioner, bath gel, soap, socks, small hand towels, toothpaste and toothbrush, all in a reusable colorful bag. Several kits contain a pair of reading glasses. The bags will be distributed to needy parents of young children at a day care center in Yonkers.

The fun part of the gathering was the Aloha back-yard outing. Special thanks to Rtn. Moni who took the time to cook the yummy food. Some Rotarians brought in dessert.

E-Club Advisor Bina Ahmad also joined the gathering and reminded the members that fun was very much a part of Rotary life along with doing good. She said everyone has their own passion, and together we can realize the good results of their passions by touching the lives of others.