On Saturday, March 15, 2025 Judy Johnson a member of the Rotary club of Maple Grove flew to San Jose, Costa Rica for a two-week mission/play vacation with several Rotarians. This trip was organized by Steve Laible from the Brooklyn Park Rotary. This will be my third international trip with Steve and his wife, Nancy. Previous trips were to Bangladesh and Cuba. Other travelers were Gennett (my roommate), Martha (translator), Raydeene, Dana and Roz.  Steve organizes these trips through a Rotary group called the Global Travelers.

 

This traveling group also worked in collaboration with the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army helps the poorest of the poor. On Sunday, we went to a SA church service. There were Venezuelan refugees there which were rejected by the USA but Costa Rica took in these homeless souls. Our first event was to Camp Penuel. This is a free camp for poor children. It is Christian based and accepts all children. Children learn about God and unconditional love, and skills such as taking care of farm animals and gardening. It was started by Paul Bernhagen who is from Minnesota. He bought beautiful land in Costa Rica and built this camp. Rotary funding helped to build a gazebo. Steve brought the Salvation Army folks here and perhaps Bernhagen and SA can partner together to bring refugees here for a reprieve. 

Want to nominate someone you know who deserves recognition for working in the community?  The Rotary Club of Maple Grove is looking for their annual Community Service Paul Harris award winner.   The Rotary club of Maple Grove  recognizes an individual or leader of the local community.   That individual may be involved in various walks of life. The commitment to community service and involvement could include; dealing with customers, employees, member organizations, and the community.  Heavy involvement in local charitable endeavors is critical. We are opening up nominations to the members of the community to nominate someone they deem worthy.

 

The application and any supporting documentation must be submitted by May 9th, 2025. The form with additional information can be found on the left tool bar of our website. We hope if there is someone you know that is worthy of this award please nominate them. With the award of a Paul Harris Fellow, $1000 is donated in the recipient’s name to the Rotary International Foundation and $500 is provided to the recipient for their personal use.   The Paul Harris Fellow is an important and prestigious award in Rotary.

 

The Rotary Club of Maple Grove will be sponsoring the Grooves and Foods event in July once again.  Stay tuned for more details as we look forward to wonderful music and food as well!

The Rotary Club of Maple Grove in collaboration with the Mpls City of Lakes Rotary club put on a sew-a-thon to make feminine hygiene kits to be sent to girls in developing countries on February 1st.

We would like to recognize our Rotary Club of Maple Grove member Raj Khankari, who was inducted as an honorary member of the Rotary Club of Thana West in India.  Raj has collaborated with this club over the past 5 years with recognizing the water needs of the small hamlets in this country. He presented this project to the club for support and  over 5 years has secured 10 Global Grants totaling over $847,00.  The farmers need for water and the recognition of the girls and women who had to transport water everyday for the village, prevented them from attending school.  Many dams and check dams are now helping the villagers with sustainable water.  He has also worked on medical grants valued at $342,000 to  provide pediatric surgery for infants, cancer screenings and blood banks. 

The recognition from the Thana can be viewed on the left tool bar.

Happy to announce that the Rotary Club of Maple Grove, in collaboration with the Rotary Club of Thane Premium, received a $146,000 global grant from Rotary International to perform 142 pediatric heart surgeries on children with Congenital Heart Defects in Thane, India.  Raj Khankari.visited Jupiter Hospital in Thane  to meet Dr. Shrinivas, a renowned surgeon and to see the facilities where the surgeries will be performed.

 

Thanks to Ram Bhatnagar, Immediate Past President of Thane Premium, for his partnership in this grant. #rotaryclubofmaplegrove #rotaryinternational