Planning a District or Global Grant for 2026–27? District 5960 has released the full schedule of required trainings, workshops, and grant deadlines. Grants Management Seminars will be held March 21, 24, and 26, with Global Grants Workshops following on March 31 and April 2. The always-popular Shark Tank session is set for May 6. Global Grant submissions are due May 15, and District Grants are due May 29, with review dates later that month and in June.

https://www.rotary5960.org/rotary-foundation/grants-team/district-grants/
 

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Each November, Rotarians around the world take time to celebrate The Rotary Foundation — recognized as one of the most effective and well-managed charitable organizations in the world. The Foundation has earned 17 consecutive four-star ratings from Charity Navigator and an A+ rating from CharityWatch, reflecting its commitment to transparency, stewardship, and impact.

A Century of Doing Good in the World
Since its founding more than 100 years ago, The Rotary Foundation has invested over $4 billion in life-changing, sustainable projects that make a difference in communities around the globe.

Your contributions make that possible. When you give to the Annual Fund – SHARE, nearly half of your donation returns to District 5960 to fund local projects organized and led by our clubs. Last year alone, more than $187,000 was distributed in district grants to support Rotary-led initiatives across our region.

Foundation Giving Incentives for November
To encourage giving during Rotary Foundation Month, the following matching point incentives are available toward receiving a Paul Harris Fellow recognition:

• $100 donation – 1-to-1 recognition point match
• $365 donation – Point match to full Paul Harris Fellow (PHF)
• Rotary Direct enrollment – Sign up for automatic giving of at least $30 per month and receive 500 recognition points

Rotary’s April Theme: The Environment | Earth Day – April 22, 2026

This April, Rotary members from five districts across four U.S. states and one Canadian province are coming together for a powerful, multidistrict initiative: Rotary Unite for Water.

The goal is simple yet urgent — to protect, restore, and preserve clean water sources while highlighting Rotary’s collective impact through coordinated service and public engagement.

When We Unite and Take Action

Through the Unite for Water initiative, clubs across the participating districts will collaborate on a shared day of service to:

• Transform communities through hands-on environmental projects.

• Create a public image blitz across social media, local media, and community channels.

• Empower clubs to share their impact stories, inspiring others to join the effort.

Together, these actions will show the world the difference Rotary makes when we Unite and Take Action on critical environmental challenges.

Click Here for the District web page.

What Can Your Club Do?

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Rotary is evolving—are your clubs keeping up? Join Tom Gump, Rotary International Director Elect, at the District 5960 Midterm to learn how to grow membership, engage members, and strengthen your impact.
Date: Saturday, Jan. 3 | Base Camp, Ft. Snelling | 8:45 a.m.
Cost: Free
Registration Link: CLICK HERE
 

Say Hello to Assistant Governor Greg Bartz

If there’s one thing you should know about Greg Bartz, it’s that Rotary has shaped his life in countless ways. A 25-year member of the White Bear Lake Rotary Club, Greg has served in leadership roles both locally and districtwide—and now he’s excited to get to know clubs in Area 6 as their new Assistant Governor.

“The relationships I have in Rotary have truly made my life something special.” – Greg Bartz

Greg has always believed Rotary is about people first. Whether leading his club as president, growing membership across District 5960, or raising millions for cancer research, Greg has found joy in building connections and creating impact.

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Stillwater Sunrise Rotary is proud to lead Crutches 4 Africa—a powerful District Grant project uniting Rotary clubs across our region in a mission to restore mobility and dignity to thousands of people in Africa. Our goal? To collect and ship at least 3,000 mobility devices—crutches, walkers, wheelchairs, and more—to individuals who are otherwise immobilized due to polio, age, or injury.

In partnership with the global nonprofit Crutches for Africa, we’re making sure these vital devices reach those who need them most, transforming lives and opening doors to independence, education, and opportunity.
But that’s not all—we’re also keeping these devices out of landfills, giving them a second life where they’re desperately needed. Since many local donation centers can’t accept these items, this project is also a win for the environment.
This initiative isn’t just about service—it’s about Rotary in action, engaging our community, and showing the world what “people of action” can do.

Project Highlights:

• $1.4 million worth of medical equipment provided free to communities in Zambia
• 3,681 mobility devices collected and repurposed
• 11,000 lives transformed through increased mobility
• 11,000 pounds of waste kept out of landfills
• 150+ Rotarians across 15 Rotary clubs joined forces
• 17,000+ views of our service on social media
• 7 feature articles celebrating our impact in the press

 

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A Gatsby Gilded Age theme dinner was held at the Great Hall on Carleton Campus which was also 100 years old.  The Dave Miller Band played the tempo of the times.  The hall was decorated Gatsby-style with plumes of feathers, pearls, chandeliers, etc.  A delightful message was shown on video from our RI President Stephanie  Urchick with her congratulations.  Everyone stepped up in tails, gloves, canes and flapper dresses galore.  Farewell last 100 years - Hello to the next 100 years!  
 

Ed Boeve announced the confirmation of Lonny Stormo to serve as your District Governor for 2027/28. His title designation is District Governor Nominee Designate, and he now joins the Council of Governors Team.

Lonny is currently serving the District as the Team Lead for Public Image and hails from the Stillwater Sunrise Club. (SSR) He has been a Rotarian since 2016 with Rich Cummings as his sponsor, served as the Sunrise Club President in 2022/23, and has been very active in district grants at the club level. Janet Stormo is married to Lonny, is a Rotarian and highly active in support of SSR projects and activities.

Mr. Stormo now begins training and participation at the District, Zone, and Rotary International levels and is excited to serve you. One interesting outcome of this year’s process is that Lonny will serve as our Governor during the year that the International Convention comes to the Twin Cities. 

Please join us in congratulating and welcoming Lonny to this critical role in the District. 

Consider this:  Your son or daughter graduates from college and lands a nice job.  You’re bursting with pride.  All is well - - he/she is on their way!  Six months later you ask whether the new employer offers a 401(k) plan.  The response goes something like “Yeah, but that’s for the older employees who are looking to retire.”  Your ears perk up.  “Well does your employer offer a defined benefit pension plan?”    To which the response goes something like “What’s that?”  It’s time, you think, for a parent/child (albeit adult “child”) talk.  Or maybe you’re thinking, this talk should have happened a long time ago.
 

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Impact - 600 students.

This project was initially born out of a Global Grant idea from the Prior Lake Rotary Club. The idea was to strengthen the Ptea Teuk Dong School (PTD) serving the Chamkar Samraong community in Battambang Cambodia. Through discussions of what to include in this grant (the Community Needs Assessment), it was apparent that the interrelated needs were vast and likely needed to be split into sections to provide the children of PTD school everything they need for a well-rounded education.

Faribault Rotary Club stepped in to take the soccer pitch (soccer field) development through the district grant process and help with physical education portion of the overall PTD project. Along with leading the grant process, Faribault also spearheaded the communication and fundraising needed to complete the project. The project cost a total of $10,700. A D5960 grant for $5,200 covered nearly half of the expense and 6 other D5960 clubs provided the rest of the funding.
 

In total 3 Rotary clubs helped see this project to completion. Prior Lake Rotary discovered the needs of the school and helped facilitate the meetings between PTD and the clubs. Prior Lake is now developing a Rotary Global Grant for in-school development.   Battambang Rotary oversaw the construction, utilizing local contractors and boosting the local economy. Much work had to take place to prepare and level the playing surface before the sod could be placed and allowed to take root. Other features of the field include statues that nurture cultural pride, sustainable solar lights to extend playtime, a beautiful flag pole and mount for the Cambodian flag AND, of course, a Rotary sign.

With the help of Battambang Rotary and Prior Lake Rotary, PTD now has a beautiful Soccer Pitch for the use their students as well as the surrounding community. With the creation of this much needed field, 600 students will have improved health and more well-rounded physical education. Also, countless community members will have access for local games and will also benefit from the field. This will help increase the standard of living, raise community morale, and increase visibility to the work the school is doing in the community. This soccer pitch is a prime example of what can be achieved through teamwork and strong individuals linked through Rotary.


 

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We are pleased to announce that Michael-jon Pease, has been selected as our DGND by the nominating committee.  Michael-jon Pease has been a Rotarian since 2011 and a Paul Harris Fellow since 2019. He served as President of St. Paul Rotary in 2019-2020, after serving as Sargeant-at-Arms and Events Team Lead. He is active on the St. Paul Rotary Foundation board, the St. Paul Rotary Club Board (Director Emeritus), St. Paul Rotary International Service Team and WinterSpark gala committee, as well as the District 5960 Camp RYLA planning task force. He attended the 2012 RI Convention in Bangkok when he husband, Christopher Taykalo, was President of Minneapolis-University Rotary, as well as the 2019 RI Convention in Hamburg.

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