President Todd received this invitation from Linda and Jim Bauer and asked us to share it. Please donate if you can.

"The Tri Cities Rotary Multi-Club Service Committee has organized a Tri Cities Rotary Challenge to benefit the American Red Cross. Between January 7 through January 18, we are encouraging all Rotarians in the Tri Cities, their family and friends, to make blood, platelet and/ or plasma donations at the local Red Cross donation center ay 447 Wellsian Way in Richland. There will be a a book at the donation center to sign the page for the  Rotary Club of which you are a member.  Friends and family members also sign the book for your Rotary Cub. At the end of the challenge, the Rotary Club with the highest percentage of donations compared to actual number of Rotarians in the club will be declared the winner and receive recognition form the Red Cross.

You can call in advance at 1-800-733-2767 and make an appointment or drop in. If you make an appointment, the Red Cross can send you a Rapid Pass  so that you can read the Red Cross donor information before your appointment and fill out the health questionnaire online. This could save you about 15 minutes at the donation center.

Hours of operation are:

 Mondays 1:30 to 6:30

 Tuesdays 1:00 to 6

 Wednesdays 12:00 to 5:00

 Fridays 9:00 to 2:00

Hours for platelet donations vary from this schedule, but the Red Cross people can assist you in getting an appointment.

This time of year the Red Cross is in dire need of donations so please plan to donate.

Thanks.

Jim Bauer on behalf of the Multi-Club Service committee.

Learn about Kid Inventors' Day

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.Pablo Picasso

Just because children possess less knowledge of how the world works, that doesn’t mean they can’t have ideas for practical and useful inventions. In fact, many people believe that children are capable of being particularly creative for the simple reason that they don’t yet know how difficult many things are, and are therefore able to imagine much more than adults. In fact, there are plenty of things we enjoy on an everyday basis that were invented by children or teenagers. And if their creativity doesn’t deserve recognition, what does? Kid Inventors’ Day is the day we celebrate all the kids who dared to defy the world and come up with better solutions than all of the adults before them.

History of Kid Inventors’ Day

Kid Inventors’ day was created several years ago by people who wanted to celebrate the achievements of the youngest inventors as well as encourage more children to be creative.

The date chosen to celebrate this day, January 17th, was no accident—it is the anniversary of renowned polymath, politician and child inventor Benjamin Franklin’s birthday. Due to his countless other achievements, many people don’t know that when Franklin was just 12 years old, he invented the world’s first swim flippers, making him a great role model for every child who dreams of making something nobody has ever seen before. Over the centuries, other children have invented many other things we continue to use today, such as popsicles (a very tasty accident!), the trampoline and ear muffs. Perhaps one of the most impressive things invented by a child is the language of the blind now used the world over, Braille. Louis Braille, its inventor, lost his vision in a tragic accident at age 3 and spent his early teen years developing his new language while studying at The National Institute for Blind Youth in Paris.

Almost 200 years later, American teen Ryan Patterson also improved the lives of the disabled when he invented a glove with special sensors that translates the hand motions of American Sign Language into written words on a digital display.

How to celebrate Kid Inventors’ Day

If you have children, Kid Inventors’ Day could easily turn out to be one of the most educational and at the same time fun days you’ve ever spent together. Children’s minds are yet unlimited by the knowledge of what’s possible and what’s not, and as sometimes just believing that something is possible is enough to make it so, you may be truly astounded at the ideas your children come up with. Who knows, perhaps you are unwittingly living under the same roof as a potential Ben Franklin? The Kid Inventors’ Day website also offers plenty of fun ideas on how to spend this day creatively and productively, such as taking part in a rubber band contest for young inventors. If you live nearby a museum, Kid Inventors’ Day is also the perfect day to take your children there to look at all of the amazing things people have made over the ages that can serve as inspiration to them.

However you decide to spend this day, be sure to raise awareness about how much children can achieve and encourage them to reach for the stars!