|
Pianist Keith Melberg was back with us and we began, of course, by singing our and the Canadian national anthems, followed by an invocation offered by Tim Hunt. Keith Olson led us in song and with his leadership and the support of the piano, we actually sounded pretty decent - at least in this writer's opinion. A $600 check to support the Imagination Library was presented to Mary Phillipe, Executive Director of the United Way of Otter Tail and Wadena Counties, who told us that the program costs $30 per child and as of this past March over 50,000 books have been distributed by our United Way through the program. We were again encouraged to sell peaches and now we are less than a week away before their distribution, set for next Monday, the 16th. A sign-up sheet was circulated for volunteers to help get the peaches off the truck and into our customers' hands. Announcements included a request that anyone not vaccinated wear a mask during our meeting except when eating; that you can bring a prospective member to club meetings and the club will pick up the cost of her/his meal; and that Rotary lapel pins are available for $3.00. Finally, it was announced that the club will be divided into five groups of six people (I switched the numbers around since the announcement) with each group responsible for set-up and take-down for two months during the remaining 2021-22 Rotary year, commencing in September. Brags and fines included Tim Hunt complimenting club leadership, Steve Andrews happy to have his wife here in Fergus Falls for a short while, and Anthony Nordan indicating he will celebrate his five year anniversary on August 25th (work? wedding? not sure) and being asked to serve on a regional committee for Pathway of Hope. Randy Kempfer introduced Mary Phillipe to speak to us about her 18 years with our United Way, with August 6, 2021, her last day. Randy said that although he is no longer on the United Way's Board, he is very thankful for the opportunity he had to work with Mary. Mary told us that when she started at United Way, she was a young mother in her 30's and now she is in her 50's and a grandmother. United Way itself has been in our community over 76 years. In the time she has been on the staff, United Way has raised over six million dollars and invested over five million dollars. She went through many of the highlights from her years at United Way: raising funds for the mud pie plate cart over at McKinley Elementary; the start-up of Women United, which oversees support of the Imagination Library and hosts the Little Black Dress Celebration; getting books in the County Jail for inmates to read to their children when their kids visit; launching the first community communication event (it was on human trafficking), getting to know the "why" for and thanking donors; naming the volunteer of the year; the fourteen Friends of Friends Fighting Hunger events which have raised over one million dollars, with $7,000 received from the first gathering and over $100,000 from the last one; watching the excitement of children picking up their stuffed back packs; picking up Mark Wilf and his entourage a few years ago and driving them around the County to schools to launch Play60; the day Lund Boats called her to ask how they could get involved; learning she received a grant to attend Harvard University for one week of extensive United Way training; attending mobile food drops; serving on the Minnesota United Way Board of Directors for eight years and as its President one year; chairing the Someplace Safe tea for several years; serving on Otter Tail County's Management Team and working with the County's emergency manager; uniting with Wadena County when its United Way was about to go out of existence; and increasing donations from the Perham area from $10,000 annually to now $65,000. While not sure what her next venture will be, Mary did say it won't be fundraising. She also said a typical United Way director is in the job for about five years so she is ready to try something else. We too can be very thankful for her efforts these past 18 years. |
