Notes from January 19, 2021

On Tuesday, January 19th, Raj Khankari, spoke about what’s been different in the Maple Grove Rotary Club in 2020-2021.  Raj started his presentation off with the early months of 2020 to present day.  During March 2020, the Maple Grove Club switched to Zoom meetings. Then, in May-June, fundraisers and programs were cancelled, so the Maple Grove Club decided to propose the The PPE project - Global Grant.  In July, Raj strived to make Zoom meetings more interesting with singing, polls, and speakers.  Raj also noticed the miss of fellowship between members and started doing Plus-One Meetings, where one Tuesday of the month, the club does activities outside such as cleaning parks or roads, yoga, or collecting shoes.  In August, the PPE Global Grant was approved and kept the members of the club engaged through phone calls to clinics and deliveries.  The Maple Grove Club also involved multiple Rotary Clubs around Minnesota in the PPE Grant such as Rochester, Duluth, and St. Cloud.  The PPE Grant is still ongoing.  Through September and October, the Maple Grove Club decided to do more grants.  They proposed the District Grants:  Reach Out and Read, and Latvia Small International.  The Global Grants proposed were:  Treatment of Anaemia and Satellite Blood Banks, and We Give a Dam! - India Water Project.  On November 21st, 2020, the Maple Grove Rotary Club held their annual fundraising event, From the Heart Gala, virtually.  A total of 410 people registered and the club raised $93,000.  In December, the PPE project was extended, and the club fundraised $25,000 to provide PPE to another 100 facilities.  The club also started Project Happiness and raised another $25,000 with the Dr. Dash Foundation and the Hindu Society of Minnesota to provide food for over 1000 people around Maple Grove, cooked meals for 250 families, and totes of food items with restaurant gift cards for 161 families.