JOHN BARTUS: MARATHON ROTARY PROVIDES AID TO UKRAINE

Keith Douglass is a former Monroe County Commissioner and mayor. He is also one of the Rotary Club of Marathon’s outstanding members and heads up our interaction with our district and Rotary International. A cornerstone of Rotary’s mission is promoting world peace and conflict resolution. As the Russian invasion of Ukraine has unfolded over the past weeks, we all hear horror stories of the ever-increasing human need for medicine and medical equipment to treat wounded refugees and soldiers.

Working with past District Governor Roy Gonas, Keith worked to find a way to ensure that any funds raised by Rotarians in the United States and our district actually got to the areas that needed it. Because Rotary truly is international, Keith and Roy were able to make contact with the president of the Rotary Club of Lviv, a city in Ukraine that has been hard hit by Russian bombs and artillery.

The president of the Lviv club is Natalia Dolinska, associate professor in the Foreign Languages Department at the National University of Lviv. She is trying to help humanitarian efforts in her city, acknowledging how dire the situation is for thousands of refugees. But there were a couple of issues: first, the need was immediate and couldn’t wait for the usual donation process from our district or Rotary International. Second, Rotary needed to find a way to make sure that the donations got to their intended recipient.

Like something out of an international spy movie, Rotarians in different nations collaborated on a plan to ensure the funding got where it needed to go. Natalia was able to create working relationships with Rotary Clubs in Germany and Poland. Donations funneled into their bank accounts could be used to purchase needed medical supplies from EU nations, which then will be delivered to Lviv. This bypasses the damaged Ukrainian banking system and gets the aid where it’s needed. And this Rotary donation scheme works — more than 16 truckloads of medications and supplies have been delivered to Lviv purchased with donations sent to these other clubs.

Marathon Rotary’s board of directors and President Duane Webster listened to Keith Douglass’ proposal, and immediately voted to send an initial $5,000 to help in Ukraine. As Keith commented, “We did exactly what needed to be done to get funds to where they needed to go quickly. Being the vanguard of Rotary’s efforts in our district to assist Ukraine allows us some latitude to do what we did. Also, I believe we helped to encourage the district and other clubs to recognize the need to expedite help. Long term assistance is also needed but Ukraine needs funds and other support now.”

While Marathon Rotarians will likely make more donations to help Ukraine, they are hopeful that their efforts, along with those of the Rotary Clubs of Miami and South Miami, will be repeated in local District 6990 as well as other districts throughout Rotary International. An email from Natalia confirmed the donation from Marathon with heartfelt gratitude. “We are in direct contact with the hospitals in Lviv and across Ukraine which daily keep us updated on the medication that is needed to save lives of our military and civilians. Keith, please, give our gratitude to your club members for the donation and for your support — it is important for all of us here in Ukraine to know that we are not alone in this fight for our independence and integrity against the Russian invader! We also appreciate the huge support that all American people have provided to us over the years and especially now!”

Keith Douglass’ and Roy Gonas’ amazing efforts to find a way to get humanitarian aid to Ukraine are typical of so many Rotarians. The Rotary motto of “Service Above Self” is what drives Rotarians to find ways to do good in this world. It’s good to know that when bad things happen, Rotary International so often steps in to help make things just a bit better.

– Catch John Mondays at Boondocks, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the Key Colony Inn, Thursdays at Sparky’s Landing, and Fridays on Facebook Live. Music available wherever you get your streaming or downloads.  www.johnbartus.com

Very few towns or cities could ever claim that their Mayor was a smokin' hot guitar player. The island city of Marathon in the Florida Keys is one of those towns. While politics is a temporary call to service, music is a life sentence. John Bartus, a more-than-four-decade full-time professional musician, singer, and songwriter, continues to raise the bar with his groundbreaking solo acoustic show. It’s easy to catch John on one of his more than 200 shows a year throughout the Keys on his Perpetual Island Tour. His CD releases include After The Storm, Keys Disease 10th Anniversary Remaster, and Live From the Florida Keys Vol. 2. John’s music is available wherever you download or stream your music.