The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona has new leadership.  At their annual meeting July 18, Greg Podd, Past International Vice President of Rotary International was elected as Chairman of the Board and Past District Governor Jeanie Morgan was elected President.  Immediate Past President, PDG Dan Messersmith will remain on the Board of Directors and continue to manage the grant application process for TRVFA.  Dennis Haberer will remain involved as an honorary advisor to the Board.  Marc Snow will continue as Secretary, and Steve DeMar will continue as Treasurer of TRVFA.

At the regular board meeting which immediately followed the annual meeting, Amanda Sanchez and Sherrie Morgan were introduced as candidates to fill vacant seats on the Board representing Districts 5495 and 5500 respectively.  Amanda is a member of the Surprise Rotary Club and currently serves as an Assistant Governor in District 5495.  Sherrie is the immediate Past President of the Bisbee Rotary Club.  Since the board meeting, both candidates were unanimously elected to fill the two vacant positions.

During the regular meeting, it was noted that during the 2019-20 fiscal year, 99 scholars benefited from $171,115 in vocational education grants.  Grant funding in the first nine months of the fiscal year was higher than the prior year, but slowed in the final quarter due to pandemic-related slowing of new program start dates.  

Board Advisor, Roger Bonngard noted that TRVFA could help the State of Arizona by providing grants to educate individuals to fill medical related positions where there are many shortages in our state at this time.  He also felt that many of the positions that existed prior to the pandemic may not exist afterward.  He envisions a huge demand for vocational education to enable the state to recover economically.

The board was challenged to raise more money than we in the past and enlist the help of all current donors to advocate with their friends, family and business associates to become active donors to TRVFA  This unique time in history is presenting a very real opportunity to put the Rotary Vision Statement to work - and it can be done from the comfort of home.
 
To donate on-line, CLICK HERE.  To download a form to mail with a donation, CLICK HERE. Each donation will help TRVFA enable positive change. 

TRVFA is the only Rotarian-founded and Rotarian-managed Qualifying Charitable Organization qualifying for the Arizona tax credit program where donors can directly allocate a portion of their Arizona State income tax obligation.  Our new Chairman of the Board, Greg Podd, who is a CPA by profession has often been heard saying "All Rotarians should support TRVFA and urge everyone they know to do the same. It's a no brainer."