September 25th meeting: Anthony Nordan gave our invocation and Mary Pettit led us in songs after Dean Monke introduce Erika Lahti, our outbound Youth Exchange Student in 2020-21; she will finish four years of high school in three years so that she can participate in the program. There were several volunteering to pay fines or brag: Greg Darling for missing the previous week; Katie Johnson for missing some meetings due to work and to honor her children who both had birthdays in the prior 10 days, meaning all her children made it to adulthood; Bonnie Denzel for the apple fundraiser that saw 27 individuals at their farm picking apples that are being sold at Meadowland Foods; Mary Pettit for having to miss the board meeting and two club meetings; and Dave Johnson reporting on the farm home he grew up in being successfully burned down by the local fire department the prior week.
Our program was introduced by Randy Kempfer, who is in his sixth and final year on the United Way Board. He then introduced Mary Phillipe, the director of United Way, who is now in her 16th year with the organization, 14 years as its director. United Way raises funds in both Otter Tail and Wadena County, with the money raised in each county used in the county in which it is raised. The theme for this year's campaign is "Give Where You Live" and the goal is to raise $420,000. She articulated United Way's goals as 1) providing funding for programs it supports; 2) promoting early childhood education and literacy, noting that since 2013 United Way has placed over 50,000 books in the hands of children; 3) reducing the stigma of mental health problems and calling attention to mental health resources; 4) reducing food insecurity for residents; and 5) creating awareness of local human trafficking and sexual exploitation and providing preventative educational support. In listing accomplishments, Mary indicated that the Friends of Friends Fighting Hunger fundraiser has provided $364,000 to food shelves, $395,000 to the back pack food program (which served 170 children last year and this year so far has 140 participants), and $22,000 for other nutritional needs, for a total of $781,000. This year 850 children have participated in the Stuff the Bus program and the annual Coats for Kids effort is just getting started. Upcoming dates include the Otter Tail Pumpkin Festival on October 19, the Community Support Luncheon on January 15, the Friends of Friends Fighting Hunger event on January 25, and the little black dress fundraiser on April 16. In conclusion, Mary thanked us for living united.
October 2nd meeting: Keith Olson provided the invocation, thanking the almighty for anything that could be done to stave off winter, while Katie Johnson was our song leader, happily leading us in singing K-A-T-I-E and two songs from our songbook. Bonnie Denzel announced that for our October 9th meeting we will gather at the YMCA to eat lunch and then head out to distribute dictionaries to third graders, with simple written directions to be made available to those that have not been involved in this effort before. Bonnie expects everyone will be done with their task by 1:00 p.m. When it came time for brags and fines Mike Clark paid a scooter buck while Dave Peters contributed for missing some meetings, as did Ken Harty and Sean Sullivan. This writer was happy about the Minnesota Twins making it to the postseason, and in honor of the two native Norwegian intern teachers Dean Monke brought and introduced to our club, Keith Olson indicated he would contribute a significant sum of money if Honorary Member Elaine Olson, who was in attendance, would talk Norwegian to our guests. Not known if that occurred after the meeting or not.
Jackie Mortenson was our program and she talked about the Brain Injury Collaborative of West Central Minnesota; its e-mail address is bicwcmn@gmail.com. The Collaborative's mission is to "raise awareness and enhance the quality of knowledge for people affected by brain injury," believing "that by working collaboratively with resources in the area, we can develop an area-wide brain injury network. Brain injury awareness, education and resources will develop from this collaboration." Jackie's youngest son suffered multiple concussions and had many problems as a result for which no improvement was made until they started working with a functional neurological chiropractor in the Twin Cities. (Wally Cole reported similar services are available in Fergus Falls, mentioning his office, which resulted in him willingly paying the suggested fine for his comment.) There are ten people on the Collaborative's Board and 108 people are receiving its newsletter. It was indicated that concussions are not easily diagnosed and a list of common symptoms associated with the condition was provided, including headache, dizziness/balance issues, light sensitivity, nausea, vomiting, changes in sleep patterns, mood swings, difficulty thinking or concentrating, slurred speech, memory issues, seizures, vision changes, speech problems, emotional dysfunction, depression, anxiety and even possibly death.
For more than a century Rotarians have practiced Service Above Self and through the Avenue of Community Service, given back to the communities they live in. Through Community Service Rotary clubs have the opportunity to implement club projects that improve life in their local community. In this first week of Community Service Month, various Rotary clubs have been doing just that; improving lives in their communities.
Three Rotary clubs in Jackson, TN, have raised $16,385 through their Rotary Heart & Sole Project to put shoes on the feet of as many as 13,000 students in the entire Jackson-Madison County School System. The clubs worked in tandem with Samaritan Feet, a nationwide initiative, which aims to inspire hope through the gift of shoes to those who need both hope and shoes the most. Students in these inner-city schools sometime share a pair of shoes between siblings. They put on shoes that are too big or too small and wear flip-flops to the gym. Ten Thousand dollars out of their funds are being used to purchase shoes for students in Andrew Jackson, Arlington Elementary and Alexander Elementary schools in the county.
The Rotary Club of Victoria, British Columbia, donated $10,000 for the purchase of two commercial-grade washer/dryer laundry sets for Our Place Society, an inner-city center serving Victoria’s vulnerable citizens. “No matter who we are or our personal resources, we can all relate to putting on a clean shirt or sleeping between clean sheets,” said Gerald Pash, president of the club. Our Place Society serves 1,200 meals daily.
In much of rural Africa, communities experience loss of young mothers and their babies due to many factors. Long distance from clinics, unhygienic birthing practices, the scourge of malaria and lack of menstrual education among young girls have all contributed to dangerously high maternal mortality rates. In a remote area of Tanzania, girls drop out of school when they run out of personal hygiene supplies and/or become pregnant and thus repeat a sad but preventable cycle. Responding to this situation, two Rotary clubs decided to improve the lives of these rural women by applying for a Global Grant from TRF. The Rotary Club of Fulton, Missouri and Tanzania-based Babati Rotary, along with Humanity For Children, a non-profit based in Missouri, landed a $94,000 Global Grant to increase the survival rate of mothers, newborns and infants among the Maasai people living in a remote area of northern Tanzania. “This is the first time we’ve received an international grant since I’ve been a Rotarian…It feels so good to be part of a small organization doing such big works,” gushed Amanda Gowin, Fulton club member and project co-director. Initiatives within the project include: training traditional birth attendants in safe-birthing practices, providing a basic clinical lab in two remote governmental clinics and installing solar panels to provide them with electricity.
