District 6270 Governor Jeff Reed joined TM Rotary as guest speaker during the Tuesday, October 10th Meeting.  
 
Reed shared that he first joined Rotary back in 2000 as a member of the Fond Du Lac morning club.  His father George was a Rotary President in Maryland.  Reed was always impressed by the cause of Rotary and the service above self mentality, he wanted to serve.
 
Governor Reed shared his impressive experiences in Irkutsk, Siberia.  Irkutsk is a city with a population of 800,000.  He was a part of the revolving micro-loan project where funds were utilized to improve lives of community members.  One example shared was of an Irkutsk woman who chose to use funds from the micro-loan project to rebuild her barn.
 
The Rotary theme this year is 'Making a Difference.'  Bill Gates kicked off the year with a 2 for 1 match to Rotary generated Polio Plus fundraising, which would bring the amount raised to $450 million.  Polio Plus has immunized 2.5 million children to date.  The impacts of Polio Plus funding have been dramatic, lowering the amount of Polio cases from thousands per day to 11 in total this year.  India has now been Polio free for 4 years.
 
Reed emphasized how important it is to continue raising funds for Polio Plus.  Polio could see a resurgence unless completely eradicated from the globe.  Based on transportation capabilities today, resurgences of polio could reach 200,000 cases in one year's time.  It remains incredibly important to continue the efforts to eradicate the disease.
 
Reed shared some history with the Club.  The foundation started in 1917 with leftover funds of $26.50 from the 1917 Rotary convention.  That fund has grown to more than $3.7 Billion in 100 years time.  
 
Reed challenged the TM Rotary Club to reflect on a question:  What is your Rotary value proposition?