Plaza Rotary at a Glance (May 10, 2013)

Posted by Karin Jones

This Week's Speaker

Greg Graves, CEO, Burns & McDonnell
Principle Beyond Profit

With more than 3,600 employees, Burns & McDonnell is one of the world's largest–and leading–engineering and construction firms. But with CEO Greg Graves, it isn't all about being the biggest company in the world. Under his leadership, Burns & McDonnell has become positioned to be able to give back to our community in unprecedented ways. This kind of leadership and company culture has earned Burns & McDonnell the titles of #1 Best Place to Work in Kansas City by KCBJ, #18 on Fortune Magazine’s Top 100 Best Places to Work, and Most Philanthropic Company in KC. In this program, Greg will be providing his own reflections on leading a company to be more than just profitable.

MEETING IS SCHEDULED IN THE ROOFTOP BALLROOM

District Funding Approved for additional Malawi Latrines Project

In 2001, the club launched its first fundraising effort on behalf of Malawi Children’s Village, a 501(c)(3) organization. Since then, 20 brick latrines have been built, two heavy-duty sewing machines have been provided for the women of the village, and anti-malaria drugs and bed nets have been distributed to 37 villages around lake Malawi. The latrines are an especially high impact project. For the student population, which continues to increase, the lack of latrines becomes a deterrent to attendance, particularly for girls.

Elizabeth Usovicz has she been involved in our clubs efforts to help Malawi Children’s Village from the outset, and currently serves as the District 6040 Grants Chair. This week she shared the happy news that the District 6040 Grants Committee has approved the Plaza Rotary Club's request for a District Simplified Grant (DSG) to build four additional latrines, with signage at Malawi Children's Village. This is a great example of a relatively small expenditure making a big difference in daily life.

Bloch Cancer Park Clean Up
May 11, 9:00–11:00 am

All Rotarians and family members are invited to our semi-annual work session at the Bloch Cancer Park. We will be planting flowers
and performing other clean up work with the KC Parks Department. All ages are welcome! Rescheduled from last week due to the
never-ending winter, this Saturday is lining up to be gorgeous!

Upcoming Events:

May 11, 8:00–10:00 AM Photo Club Field Trip to Elmwood Cemetery. You'll still have time to get to Bloch Cancer Park to push a broom for a minute or two.
June 27 -- Changing of the Guard, 6-8 p.m., Boulevard Brewery. Induction of 2013-14 President Debra Anderson and other officers. More details to come. (Note: There will be no Friday morning meeting on June 28.)

Don't Forget!

Kansas City Plaza Rotary at https://www.facebook.com/groups/136632107081/ and KC Plaza Rotary @KCPlazaRotary

Crowd Sourcing the Newsletter

If you have a story or announcement you'd like to see in the Plaza Rotary Club Newsletter, please talk to Karin Jones. Some of us are new at this!