Welcome to Marion-East Cedar Rapids Rotary
The Robins Economic Development Initiative (REDI) assists organizations seeking to do business in Robins, Iowa—a small community with strong purchasing power and close proximity to a large metro area. Compared to other cities of 3,400 residents, Robins offers exceptional opportunities for service businesses, commercial entities, and light industrial manufacturing companies. REDI will help you assess business feasibility and real estate availability and tap into Robins’ Midwestern work ethic and prime location near Cedar Rapids.
Businesses in the City of Robins benefit from:
We hope you can join us at noon on Tuesday at the Indian Creek Country Club, to hear what Greg has to share!
Please RSVP to Cindy by 9:00 AM Monday. Here is an email link.
Role | Term | Nominees |
President (1 year) | 07/01/2025- 06/30/2026 | Nominees: Alex Chalk |
President Elect (1 year) | 07/01/2026- 06/30/2027 | Nominees: Seth Staashelm Megan Crawford |
President Elect Nominee (1 year) | 07/01/2027- 06/30/2028 | Nominees: Katie Powell Zach Schmit |
Foundation Chair (3 years) | 07/01/2025- 06/30/2028 | Nominees: Cindy Shipley |
Secretary (3 years) | 07/01/2025- 06/30/2028 | Nominees: Jeff Selfridge |
Treasurer (3 years) | 07/01/2025- 06/30/2028 | Nominees: Cindy Shipley |
John Wasta is the past Foundation Chair for Rotary District 5970. He will be visiting our club to discuss everything you've ever wanted to know about the Rotary Foundation and Foundation giving.
Mr. Wasta is a third generation Rotarian. He has been a member of the Cedar Rapids Rotary Club for 42 years and served that club as its 100th president, presiding over their 100th Anniversary Gala in 2014. His grandfather was a fifty-year Rotarian (perhaps the first 50-year member of the Cedar Rapids club). His father has been a member of the Cedar Rapids Rotary club for 65 years (so far).
Mr. Wasta worked in the office furniture and office supply industry for 42 years. He was a third-generation owner in this industry until he and his brother sold their business in 2011. He then started working as Director of Finance and HR at Matthew 25, a local non-profit in Cedar Rapids. He retired in March 2024. He has been active in the Cedar Rapids community, since his return in 1979, when he was first recruited to volunteer for the United Way by a family friend. He has worked with the United Way, the Chamber of Commerce (now the Economic Alliance), Junior Achievement, Leadership for Five Seasons, the Workplace Learning Connection, and the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation, along with other community organizations.
In June of 1992, a board of directors was formed with the guidance of the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault (ICASA). The board voted to provide services in Jo Daviess County as Riverview Center. Between 1996 and 2005, Riverview Center’s services were expanded into Carroll County, Illinois, Dubuque, Iowa, and Delaware and Buchanan Counties to provide these crucial services for sexual assault survivors.
In 2010, Riverview Center was approached by CHOICES, the domestic violence services provider for Jo Daviess and Carroll Counties, to merge the two agencies’ operations. Riverview Center’s and CHOICES’ staff worked together as one agency to ensure continuity of services for domestic violence survivors in Northwest Illinois.
As of July 1, 2013, the state of Iowa shifted to a six-region model for the provision of sexual assault prevention and intervention services. Riverview Center was chosen to serve 11 additional counties in Northeast Iowa, including Allamakee, Benton, Black Hawk, Bremer, Chickasaw, Clayton, Fayette, Howard, Jones, Linn, and Winneshiek Counties.
As an agency, Riverview Center is unique in that we are the only agency in the 14 county Northeast Region of Iowa providing sexual assault services, and we are the only agency providing either sexual or domestic violence services in Jo Daviess and Carroll Counties in Illinois.
Our services are free regardless of biological sex, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, immigration status, English proficiency, race and/or ethnicity, incarceration status, disability or background. Riverview Center is a safe space. Our services are available to anyone affected by these crimes and their non-offending family members.
See Riverview's website for opportunities to donate and to volunteer!
Like so many great American business stories, ours started small.
In the early 1990s, Andrea Danielson began brewing small batches of natural lip balm in her kitchen for her friends and family. She took great care in handcrafting the balm and packaging it in small amber glass jars to preserve the freshness of the pure ingredients. Andrea didn’t realize that by giving a sample of her natural lip creation to Steve Shriver, her life would be changed forever.
Steve had larger-than-life lips and was always searching for a better balm. When Steve met Andrea in 1995, he immediately fell in love with the lip balm, and moments later he also fell in love with Andrea. They were married in 1997 and Steve, a lifetime entrepreneur, quickly spent Andrea’s life savings on ingredients and packaging for the couple’s first product, Hemp Lip Buzz.
By 2003, Steve and Andrea built a specialized private label natural body care company focused on making high quality products for many other successful brands. Their company rapidly became a leading natural body care manufacturer in the Natural Products industry.
Their top sales rep, Jim King, also had a love for lip balm, and had a vision for creating a lip balm brand like no other. Together, the team pivoted from making products for other companies to making their own. Eco Lips had arrived.
Our Mission: Raising funds and marshaling resources within our collective networks to serve those in need throughout our community.
Our non-profit organization started from a prank back in November 2017. Someone had put a friend’s contact information on Craigslist saying he was giving away free turkeys just before Thanksgiving - he was not. But our friend immediately received numerous phone calls inquiring about the free turkeys. Upon realizing there was a large need for something like this in our community, we gathered a group of local friends to actually raise some funds to give away turkeys that Thanksgiving. Through a short fundraising effort a few days before Thanksgiving, we were able to raise almost $1,500, which was used to purchase turkeys and sides. That food was given away to people in need in downtown Cedar Rapids the day before Thanksgiving as an effort we titled “Operation Give Birds”. From there, the decision was made to make this a formal annual event. In November 2018 (year 2), with more lead time and better organization, we raised $5,400 and were able to provide free turkeys and sides to 280 local families!
After Thanksgiving 2018, the leaders of “Operation Give Birds” asked themselves:
1. Do we have the capacity to do even more?
2. What does this additional charity effort look like moving forward?
From these discussions, the “Iowa Giving Crew” non-profit organization was formed in early 2019, acquiring 501(c)(3) status, meaning contributions are tax deductible as allowed by law. “Operation Give Birds” will continue to be our main annual charity effort, but now we’re looking to grow even more to help even more local families. We’re establishing an annual fundraising event that will fund these future endeavors, and we’re identifying additional opportunities to provide essential support to those in need in our community.
LifeServe Blood Center is the new sole provider of blood for UnityPoint Health—St. Luke’s since June 1, 2024. They are excited to build local connections to help support this new partnership.
Kierra McFadden graduated from Iowa State University with Bachelors degrees in Public Relations and Political Science. She quickly started working for LifeServe Blood Center after she graduated as a phlebotomist, but this past spring she transitioned into her dream job of being a territory representative. In this new role, Kierra oversees all the blood drives, events, and outreach in East Iowa for LifeServe Blood Center. She is excited to introduce LifeServe to Cedar Rapids as the new sole provider of blood for UnityPoint Health—St. Luke’s Hospital and to start building local connections to help support the new partnership.
We hope you can join us at noon on Tuesday at the Indian Creek Country Club, to hear what Kierra has to share!
Please RSVP to Cindy by 9:00 AM Monday. Here is an email link.
During a 10-week closure during the COVID-19 pandemic, Karen Besler (’00 DDS) realized there was something else calling to her outside of her Cedar Rapids dental practice. A desire to engage in humanitarian causes.
A combination of principles of her faith and experiences as a provider allowed her to take a leap and leave her practice behind and enter the world of being an active humanitarian.
Within three weeks of her last day in private practice, she came upon an opportunity to assist an international non-profit to help celebrate their 25th anniversary. It was sparked by listening to a podcast series by actor Rainn Wilson, who famously starred in “The Office” on NBC.
“I had this feeling that I would find the answer to my own desired path while listening to others share their stories and I was correct,” says Besler, “I was so compelled by listening to Rainn Wilson, who is a long-time board member for the Foundation, and the founder and CEO of the Mona Foundation, Dr. Mahnaz Javid, that I reached out to her immediately.”
Besler said she felt an instant connection while talking to Javid and it made partnering with the Mona Foundation an obvious choice. And the causes they support fall right in line with how Besler wants to make an impact.
The Mona Foundation works to support and provide access to education for children worldwide. The Foundation strives to eliminate barriers to education, empower women and girls, and foster ethics and service in individuals who can then uplift themselves, their families, and communities.
“The focus on empowering children, mainly vulnerable girls, in developing countries through education instantly pulled at my heart strings,” says Besler, “As I started down this path with the Mona Foundation, I realized many of the skills I gained from dental school and private practice are propelling me forward on this new path.”
Javid recently returned from a trip to India where she and an award-winning documentary producer filmed a documentary following a young girl who benefited from receiving her education through a partner organization of the Mona Foundation.
“I am excited to be given the opportunity to share our new documentary and the cause of the Mona Foundation at multiple venues throughout the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Corridor area soon,” says Besler, “For anyone interested in this great cause, I encourage you to visit MonaFoundation.org.”
The documentary titled, “Light and Air” celebrates 25 years of the Mona Foundation and debuts Sept. 29.
Hello fellow Rotarians!
I'm thrilled to introduce myself as the new president of the Marion East Cedar Rapids Rotary Club. Here's a snapshot of who I am:
I was born in Camanche, Iowa—Go Indians! I'm a proud graduate of the University of Iowa. My career has included work as a public accountant, but I discovered my true passion in community banking. I have worked for Ohnward Bank & Trust in Marion for the last 3 years.
In 2019, I married the love of my life, Andrea Low. We are the proud parents of a lively 20-month-old boy named John, who keeps us on our toes and fills our lives with joy and excitement. I consider myself the luckiest man on earth.
We live in Marion and absolutely love our community, from the beautiful parks to the vibrant Uptown area.
I joined Rotary three years ago, and it has been an incredibly rewarding experience. As I step into this leadership role, my goals for the upcoming Rotary year are to boost attendance, enhance fundraising efforts, and most importantly, increase the FUN!
I'm excited about the journey ahead and can't wait to work with all of you to make a positive impact in our community.
Warm regards,
Kyle Low
President
Marion East Cedar Rapids Rotary Club
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Marion, IA 52302
United States of America