Enhancing Opportunities for Youth; Creating a Better World for All.

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From mentoring area youth to planting trees, highway cleanup and events, there's something for every volunteer spirit. Rotary People of Action make a difference in their communities and in the world.

PARTNER WITH US

Be a part of the "End Polio Now" effort. (more) You or your organization can make a difference in eradicating this devastating disease by contributing to Rotary International.

DISCOVER NEW CULTURES

Rotary sponsors youth exchange programs as well as member on-site volunteer projects. Discover and celebrate diverse perspectives with a global organization

The River Falls Rotary Club is looking for host families!

River Falls Rotary Burger Battle

Learn More!

Crutches for Africa Collection a Success

The River Falls Rotary Club has

concluded its second annual Crutches for Africa project, collecting surplus crutches and other unused mobility devices for shipment to people in need in other countries. The club collected a total of 267 mobility devices, including crutches, wheelchairs, canes, knee scooters, walkers and braces. River Falls was one of several clubs in District 5960 that collected mobility devices. On June 7, all the collected devices were loaded aboard a truck trailer in Oak Park Heights for shipment.

Thank you to everyone who donated their unused mobility devices to help people in need and to keep useful devices out of the landfill. We'll be doing Crutches for Africa again next year, so if you have crutches or other devices that you're no longer using, please keep them on hand and we'll let the community know about the next collection event.

A Year Leading NSYE - Elaine Baumann

If you weren't there last week, you missed it! North Star Youth Exchange (NSYE) is a gem in our Rotary region, and volunteers like Elaine are what make it such an outstanding organization - the envy of many other Rotary clubs and districts. Elaine's slides, in pdf form available by clicking Download Files below, show just how much work goes into making this valuable program function like the proverbial well-oiled machine.

Elaine is the 2025-27 Chair of North Star Rotary Youth Exchange. She shared the steps it took to get Uli and all of the North Star exchange students here for the year, for the summer, or for a camp. She also addressed the work that goes on to send students abroad. Elaine will touch on the student safety requirements outlined by Rotary International for all districts hosting exchange students. And Elaine talked about the unique challenges imposed on NSYE by the ICE surge in the Twin Cities and environs, and how that impacted our local exchange students.

Uli's Presentation to Our Club - 7 AM

Our exceptional 2025-26 exchange student Ulises Savilla Cortez presented his overview talk about Argentina, his home country. He shared fascinating details about the differences between school here and in Argentina, told us about his family, and offered interesting tidbits about Argentina.

School-Based PT: Dr. MiKayla Sanocki

About the Presentation: Dr. Sanocki's slides can be viewed by clicking DOWNLOAD FILES below. While brief, her presentation gave us a very good, very impressive picture of how physical therapy serves public school students. Click READ MORE to read about MiKayla.

Uli and Alex at Camp RYLA

Uli and his host brother Alex gave us a very good sense of what Camp RYLA was like and how they benefitted from it. Uli's slides are below, and this summary can't do justice to their enthusiasm about their experiences. Here's a brief day-by-day summary. Day 1 consisted of introductory, getting-to-know-you activities, including some planning for the days ahead. Day 2 included a range of outdoor and indoor physical activities. Day 3 focused more on the leadership, teamwork, and problem solving development aspects of Camp RYLA. As a sidebar, Uli got to meet and get a photo with a World Cup soccer player). Day 4 included more teamwork exercises and presentations what the various "color" teams concluded. Day 5 was the wrapup and opportunity for the campers to confirm the bonds they developed during the week. While both boys said that their future plans remain what they'd been before, they both confirmed that the came away from RYLA with a better understanding of themselves and more skills that they can apply.