Please join us this Friday, March 1, to hear from Isaac McNary about The Outreach Program!
Isaac McNary is the Vice President of International Development for The Outreach Program, an international non-profit organization with a mission to provide safe water, food, medical care, and education to those most in need at home and abroad. Since 2009 Isaac has worked with hundreds of thousands of volunteers to package over 50 million meals for food insecure people both here in America and various developing countries. He also focuses on the development, production, and installation of water purification systems in rural Tanzania and has worked with volunteers and donors to provide safe water to over 20,000 people.
Isaac is a Past President of the El Dorado Rotary Club, Assistant Governor for Rotary District 5680, Chair for the District End Polio Now Committee, and DGND for the 2026-27 year.
Students arrive at 1pm. Pair up one-on-one with a child at Shoe Carnival and help them pick out their very own pair of brand new tennis shoes! The shoes are paid for from existing donations along with a District 5710 grant, so there is no monetary commitment for volunteers. Each event takes approximately 30 minutes.
When: 12 Volunteers are needed for this date:
March 5, 12:45pm
Where:
Shoe Carnival 1930 SW Wanamaker Rd
Why:
Sole Mates provides new shoes and socks to kids, allowing them to be better participants in activities and alleviates some issues that result from not having “the right things.” If shoes are not replaced often, they become a hospitable environment for bacteria to thrive. For many of the families serviced, shoes are handed down from child to child creating more opportunity for unsanitary situations. Short term effects of shoes that do not properly fit include blisters, pressure sores, & ingrown toe nails. Children could end up with deformities, posture problems, & joint issues.
As you all know, we have a long-standing history with Washburn. We love supporting the local university and it’s been exciting to watch them grow over the years. With their successes our club is finding it more and more difficult to fit into their schedule. The students are the priority (as they should be) and our board is finding it challenging to have a consistent meeting location that is also easily accessible for all people. The last few years we’ve had to find alternative meeting locations for over 25% of our meetings. Unfortunately, a few of those changes has been with just a couple of weeks’ notice.
At a Board level, we’ve been considering a location change for several years. Not because we want to leave Washburn, but because we want consistency for our members. Finding a meeting space for 50-70 people at 7:30 on a Friday morning, with catering and quality AV, is challenging. We believe we may have found a solution, but we want your input.
The last two weeks we met at Brewster, in their new Cultural Arts Building. It’s an event room, set up for exactly what we need, with in house catering. They are excited to host us. We are considering a permanent move to Brewster, and we want your input. If we make the move we will still have off site meetings, but only when we want to and for reasons we want. Please let us know what you think. We’re excited about this opportunity, but we want to hear from you.
We will be meeting at Washburn for the month of March. If we make the move to Brewster it will start in April.
You can now pay the current quarter dues via Zeffy. The billing will show $155 for base dues. If you would like to pay the optional can money you can add that as an additional donation.
Will You Help Us Reach our Goal for Rotary Foundation Giving?
As you know, Topeka South Rotary has been superior in meeting our goals that the board sets for our club each year. One of those goals is for our club members is to contribute to the Rotary Foundation to meet our annual goal (for this Rotary year our annual giving goal to the Foundation is $13,000).
You all should have received an email from Faron Barr on November 27, asking you to consider giving to the Rotary Foundation in honor of Giving Tuesday. Faron included a lot of great information about the Foundation and its projects. Even though Giving Tuesday is past, we hope that you consider a gift to the Foundation. I don’t know about you, but I am always inclined to learn more about the Rotary Foundation, so in the next few months, you will be learning about the Foundation as well through speakers and testimonials from our members that have given.
So, my ask to you not only includes giving to the Rotary Foundation, but if you are already a donor, would you be willing to provide a brief testimonial at club meeting about why you choose to give to the Foundation? If so, please contact me at my work email (marlou.wegener@bcbsks.com) or you can also reach me on my cell phone - 785-230-4378. Please consider this as it will definitely make an impact to our members!
We started off the 2024 program year on January 5 by hearing from Roger Aeschliman, who presented on major gifts to the Rotary Foundation! And I hope to hear from you about wanting to give your testimonial about why you give to the Rotary Foundation. Thank you for your consideration.
Marlou Wegener
P.S. Oh, and if you are ready to go ahead and contribute to the Rotary Foundation, you can go to https://my.rotary.org/en/donate!
Club Information
Fridays at 7:45 AM
Washburn University
1700 SW College Avenue
Topeka, KS 66621 United States of America
.png)
