Hope everyone had a great weekend! Tune in today to see a presentation by Wes Kurszewski, Physical Therapist at our local VA Clinic. Wes will be presenting the topic: Pain University for Veterans. Hope to see you all at noon!
Topic: Noon Rotary "Virtual" meeting
Time: Aug 24, 2020 12:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
A Call to action from our District Governor for assistance in Iowa. Should you feel moved to help.
On August 10th, widespread, destructive, straight-line winds blew across central Iowa. The most extreme winds, estimated to be at 110-140 miles-per-hour, destroyed or damaged numerous outbuildings, barns, grain bins, homes, mobile homes, apartment buildings, trees and power poles in parts of Benton, Linn, Jones, Cedar and Clinton Counties. The Cedar Rapids area was particularly hard hit. As #PeopleOfAction, we would like to do what we can to help our neighbors to the west & south.
The Rotary Club of Linn County has set up a donation site for monetary contributions to donate to help Cedar Rapids area disaster relief efforts. If you personally or your club collectively would like to donate, please visit https://rotarylc.square.site/. There is a 2020 Derecho Relief section.
The Rotary Club of Linn County is also collecting several items that are needed in the community, everything from toiletries to chain saw oil. For a delivery address, please contact Michelle Bell, at (319) 431-2755. Needed items are:
Drinking water,
Chain saw oil,
Two-cycle oil,
Chainsaw chains,
Diapers,
Baby wipes,
Formula,
Peanut butter,
Shelf stable food,
Tarps,
Coolers,
Flashlights,
Extension cords,
Toiletries,
Large trash bags,
Paper towels,
Batteries and
Feminine products.
There is a specific interest in roofers and tree removal experts that are willing to travel to the area. There is both volunteer and paid work available. Currently, tree removal companies are quoting 90-120 days for removals. If you have connections to any roofing companies or tree removal companies, your help would be greatly needed!
Any help is appreciated. Our Rotary family in Iowa needs support.
Yours in Rotary Service,
Bill Pritchard
Program Ideas??
If you have program ideas please pass them along to our programs committee. Phil Brown is the committee chair so please reach out to Phil with any ideas.
**Update**Polio Plus contributions are being matched by our very own Chuck Gibbons until the end of August! – Double your contribution by giving any dollar amount up to $100 per Rotarian in the month of August toward Polio Eradication. Chuck will match up to $1000 and I’d like us to make him fork it over! I myself gave $10.00 for each of my children that don’t have to face the threat of Polio. That’s $40.00 turned into $80.00. Thank you to the others that have pledged as well. (John Steele, Phil Brown x2, Jerry Feith, Richard Kenney, Susan Feith, Ahmad Mussalum, Jake Close, Kent Anderson and Tammi Jepson). Since last week, we've added $150 from Rotarians and another $150 matched by Chuck, bringing our total to $610 from Rotarians that Chuck will turn into $1,220. Keep it rolling! You can make a verbal pledge at a meeting or email your pledge amount to Sue Sippel, director@familyctr.org.
Membership, Membership, Membership!
The club’s power to do good in the community rests within its members. Continually declining membership is concerning yet we are still a larger club than most. We rested on the fact that we had 100 plus members at one time and it was comfortable. The world is rapidly evolving and so are the needs of potential Rotary members. I spoke to our club at the first July meeting this year about Value! We are tweaking the experience of being a member and with the goal of raising the value of being a member. Rotary is a vehicle that gives individuals power to immediately plug into and give back to their community. Do you know anyone that might be missing the service pillar in their lives? Most people don’t quite know what we do, and they never will unless you talk about what we do, and what 1.2 million people of action do around the globe. We are local and we are international. That is unique. Now is an easy and great time to ask individuals that might just have an interest to join in and check us out. Just share the e-mailed Zoom link. There is no cost associated with visiting during our current set up and they don’t even have to leave the office. Might I suggest inviting community leaders that have children going back to school to our meeting on 8/17/2020 where we will hear about how WRPS is making decisions to bring our kids back safely and what this will look like. They can’t say yes if you don’t ask!
Congratulations to our “Yes Person” award winner. Our Past President and Secretary Sue Sippel.
The District governor recognized Sue at our 8/3 meeting as a person who always steps up to the plate and saying “Yes,” I can do that. The award recognizes a club’s individual that selflessly commits to the needs of the club without hesitation. Each club in the district is recognizing one individual and at the 2021 District conference in Madison one of these individuals will be drawn and Bill Prichard will be paying their way to Taiwan for next year’s international conference! Congrats Sue, and Thank You for all you do for the club.
Don’t forget to register on Rotary Direct.
Attention all Noon Rotarians. I cannot shout loud enough to get your attention regarding your “Every Rotarian Every Year” contributions. This is the money we give to the Annual Fund that makes us eligible for district grants. District grants bring back money to our area from ours and other clubs in the district. Giving us the potential to have a greater impact by growing our financial support of a project through matching grant funds. To qualify for these funds we need an average of $100 per Rotarian. You used to be invoiced for this quarterly with a separate $25.00 ask. This creates more work than needed so we are going to change it up. Please give your $100 (or whatever you choose to donate, anything helps) via Rotary Direct. https://my.rotary.org/en/rotary-direct. This is an integral part of powering up our club to have the potential to do more! The financial burden is lighter when we all do our part, and the funds given return to our district in the end.
Wanting a COVID-19 update in Wood Co?
Kristie Egge, MPH from the Wood County Health department has joined us a few times over the last months giving us up to date information on the status in Wood County. The county has some great resources that are updated every weekday in the afternoon. Click on the links provided or explore the Wood Co website to find more information.
Brewers are scheduled for a double header with the Cardinals so we are planning to gather on the patio (weather permitting) and watch the Brewers. Come have some fun watching the Crew with your fellow Rotarians. We are looking to provide some light refreshments and host some games throughout the night. More information will be available in the upcoming weeks.
September 21, 2020
Speaker: Tari Jahns
Program: United Way Update
Past Program:
August 17, 2020
Speakers: Craig Broeren, Amy Falk, MD, Lisa Olson, MD
Program: Bringing Kids Back to School
Again I look forward to the future of our club and appreciate your help through this year and the years to come. Thank you for all you do to make the community and the world a better place! Have a great weekend.