How nice it was to get a taste of what is just around the corner with springtime this week! Sunshine and warmth is such wonderful tonic!
We do need to extend condolences and sympathies to several of our Rotary families this week. First to Wade and McKinsey Goodenberger on the loss of Wade's grandfather. And then also to our DG Kenny Klooster who's father, Marvin Klooster, passed away this week at the age of 91. Our thoughts and prayers to both families.
Other top announcements/highlights this week's are:
Next Club meeting is Tuesday March 22nd via Zoom Only. Our Rotation Day at CRW is postponed with date TBD
March 29th meeting will be an All Club Assembly. Please plan to join!
The district Share the Love Campaign has been extended to through the end of March. This year’s Share the Love goal is $170,000. Read below how you can participate and the recognition levels that come with a contribution along with a special message from the District! .
Thank you to the volunteers who helped this week with a project at Cradle2Career on March 15th. See pictures and more below!
Erin and Experience Rochester has shared an invitation to a Preview Party of John McGivern's Main Streets on March 23rd that will feature a segment on Rochester. See further details below.
April has shared info about the upcoming Family Service Rochester's fundraising event - Denim, Diamonds & Dueling Pianos on March 26th. Details below
Kim is working with Channel 1 to have Risers team up to volunteer. We’ll start Monday, April 4 and will need 5-7 from people. 6-8 pm. Kim will be sending out a sign up sheet. Volunteers will be packing, labeling or sorting.
Rotary International is sponsoring Rotary Day with UNICEF: Empowering Girls on March 25-26. Learn more HERE.
In response to the deepening humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, there are multiple ways Rotarians can help in District 5960. See the details below.
Please remember to continue to check the updated Greeter list for this year and look for your scheduled time. You can reach via the website or link below.
Rochester Rotary Risers is a dynamic and inclusive club of engaged members dedicated to making a lasting impact in our community and the world.
Next Club Meeting is March 22nd
Our next club meeting will be on March 22nd and will be in Zoom format The meeting will feature a program from Ellen Hegge, Rochester Area Foundation Philanthropy Officer.Rochester Area Foundation has a long history of activating charitable giving through various means to support area nonprofit organizations, students, communities and important initiatives. As a community partner our vision is to build better communities for all, and yearly this equates to facilitating millions of dollars of philanthropy into action.
Thank You To Our Volunteers at Cradle2Career This Week
The 3 Rotary Clubs of Rochester came together this week to support a project at Cradle2Career this week. Claudia Tabini, Interium Executive Director sent along this message of appreciation
Thank you so much for your help putting together the cards decks last night. You guys did all of them!! 500!! It was not only extremely helpful, but also fun to get to hang out with you and your fellow Rotarians.
Please extend my gratitude to them.
We will hear more about what is happening with our 3 Club effort to re-engage with Cradle2Career from our ambassador McKinsey at our club assembly next week.
World Community Service Update From Prior Lake Rotary Global Grants in Nakivale, Uganda
The Prior Lake Rotary club shared an update on their Global Grant to provide safe drinking water in Nakivale Refugee Settlement, Uganda of $79,500, that will extend a water line to Best Future School, an ultrafiltration system and a 100,000 liter water tank for Rubondo where new refugees are settled in Nakivale. Risers have supported this grant along with the other two Rochester Clubs for a total of $1000. Prior Lake reports that unfortunately this grant has been hung up for many months due to bureaucratic inaction but is expected to be submitted to The Rotary Foundation soon. They are acting with y urgency as acutely aware of the immense and immediate needs of the refugees in Nakivale.
Family Services Rochester Fundraiser - Denim, Diamonds & Dueling Pianos on March 26th
We are back LIVE! So come back and joins us!
LIVE at Floral Hall in Graham Park! LIVE with Rock It Man Entertainment! LIVE with Chefs from Rochester's finest kitchens! LIVEauction! (and a Silent one too!) And if you prefer you can still join us LIVEonline too!
Your great evening of fun and food and music supports Meal on Wheels in the coming year. We are slowly putting the pandemic behind us, but the increased demandfor food and social supports that came with it remains.
Your support that is vital to providing daily, nutritious meals and personal check-ins that help to keep older adults and persons with disabilities in their homes. So, come on back LIVE and have a good time doing a good thing!
Get your Denim, Diamonds, and Dueling Pianos ticketshere.
You're invited!
Experience Rochester invites you to a Preview Party of John McGivern's Main Streets, a new destination travel show highlighting Midwestern towns and cities throughout the region. The 2022 series features Rochester, Minnesota! Watch an advance screening of the Rochester episode and hear from the show's host and executive producer on Wednesday, March 23 at 6pm at Mayo Civic Center. Tickets are free, and available at the Mayo Civic Center Box Office or online here: https://bit.ly/MainStreetsRochMN
Rotary District 5960 Donation Options For Ukraine Support
Many Rotarians in our District have asked what they can do to help Ukraine and District 2232. There are at least four ways you can contribute:
Rotary International has approved Ukraine and surrounding countries for Rotary Disaster Relief Grants. These are funded from the Disaster Response Fund. You can donate to the fund here. All funds collected by April 22, 2022, will be directed to Ukraine.
White Bear Rotarian, Irina Fursman, a native Ukrainian, has been working for years with Ukraine. She has a non-profit, Global Synergy Group, set up to transfer funds from the US to Ukraine. Irina connected White Bear Rotary with District 2232 Past District Governor Sergii Zavadskyi, as a member of the District 2232 Coordinating Committee for Humanitarian Disasters. Their focus is on obtaining medicine and delivering into Ukraine. See the attached sheet for more on D2232 efforts. Irina has committed to sending any funds received by 2:00 pm each day directly to District 2232. You can donate to this fund hereor use the QR code.
District 5960 has a SHARE THE LOVE campaign going until the end of March - see separate article in this Moccasin Flower. Of the funds received by The Rotary Foundation in this Rotary year, approximately 50% will return to our District to use for matching grants next year. By contributing to the annual fund, you ensure there are matching funds available and could write a grant for Ukraine. Please contact Margie Horning, Grants Team Leader.
Other clubs in the district have contacts in Ukraine. If you do, please reach out and support those you know. I believe Winona and Prior Lake are doing so now. If you would be willing to share your contacts, please let Jim Hunt know to populate a database of all district efforts in Ukraine.
PLEASE consider donating now. The needs in Ukraine are significant and it will get worse before it gets better.
Samaritan Bethany is Celebrating 100 Years of Caring!
Share The Love Campaign - EXTENDED THROUGH MARCH!
TWO WEEKS TO GO – SHARE THE LOVE- A Message from Tom Yuzer, District Rotary Foundation Team Lead, Paul Hofslien, Share the Love Co-Chair, and Kenny Klooster, District Governor
We have two more weeks in the 2021-22 Annual Fund-SHARE THE LOVE campaign. Will you help us with one (more) gift?
As we concluded the campaign a year ago (March 31, 2021) our giving to total was $373,728. As of noon on March 15 we were at $357,072. If you have not made a gift at all this year to the Annual Fund now would be the time.
Let’s add another $25,000 in the next 16 days and surpass where we were in 2021.
This is a numbers thing, but not the money numbers. It is the hundreds, no thousands, who will benefit in three years from the District Designated Funds that come back to District 5960 from our contributions. And then your club uses some of that DDF for a district grant project in your own community.
Recognition Levels:
$100+ - 2:1 Recognition Point Match
$365+ - Point Match to Paul Harris Fellow
$500+ - Point Match to Paul Harris Fellow AND $50 credit for Rotary Merchandise
$1000+ - Recognition on District Website AND $50 credit for Rotary Merchandise AND Share a PHF with Two People
How to Give
Online at Rotary.org
Mail to The Rotary Foundation
Give to Club Leadership (Beth, Don or Janet)
Risers participation is key and we appreciate your support. Any questions, please reach out to Don. Thank you!
Help Send Edgar Botello-Hernandez To RI Convention In Houston
If you attended our meeting on January 18, you heard a presentation given by Edgar Botello-Hernandez, a Rotaractor and medical student from Mexico who is spending time with Mayo Clinic physicians and staff in Rochester to learn more in the field of Neurology. Members from the Rotary Clubs of Rochester have offered to host Edgar for a year while he learns as much as he can in the medical field he is so passionate about.
As a Rotaractor, Edgar also has a deep passion for Rotary, therefore, the boards of the three Rotary clubs in Rochester are requesting their respective members' assistance in support of covering Edgar's expenses to attend the Rotary International Convention in Houston in early June. If you are interested in helping Edgar make this trip, please make your donation payable to The Rotary Club of Rochester. Donations are not tax-deductible. Please include memo note on your check, indicating it is for this special fund. Your checks can be mailed to:
The Rotary Club of Rochester
PO Box 7566 Rochester MN 55903-7566
If you're interested in learning more about or registering for this summer's Rotary International Convention, click here. The convention will be held in-person in Houston, Texas, June 4-8. A virtual convention will be available June 12-16.
KIM NEEDS YOUR HELP NOW!
Please, whenever you complete Rotary-related service projects or activities above and beyond our regularly scheduled meetings, send your hours to Kim Keilholtz atkimdtm@msn.com. Eligible hours include those spent delivering Meals on Wheels, volunteering at Channel One, tree planting, Adopt a Family shopping, Samaritan Bethany tree decorating, Salvation Army bell ringing, STRIVE mentoring, house painting, tree planting, District workshops and meetings, newsletter prep, etc. Those members who have accumulated hours since July 1 and not submitted them to Kim should do so now. Thank you!