John Babb is a Topeka native, a relatively new member to Topeka South Rotary and is the Clinical Director at SERC Physical Therapy. Learn about his path to become a Certified Sportsmetrics Specialist and how he enjoys his time outside of work.
Rotary Conference, the largest annual gathering of the District 5710 community, is this weekend on Saturday, Nov 7, 2020. Click the link below to learn more and register to attend online via Zoom at no charge.
State of Rotary
presented by special guest, Suzi Howe, Rotary International’s President Representative
PolioPlus, the Opportunity Beyond Eradication presented by Dana Brewer & Jim Arnett
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion presented by Todd “Bowtie” Jenkins
The 8th annual Pumpkin Run is in the books. We're grateful to our sponsors for their generous support, and for the encouragement and participation of our members and community. Stay tuned for more information on the final event results.
In the meantime, view a photo album of the images submitted by participants across the country.
Fear, isolation, and depression. These feelings have affected most of us during the coronavirus pandemic. Members of our community with behavioral and/or mental health illness have been especially affected by COVID-19 and the changes it has brought to their lives.
Many Americans received a stimulus check and those that were laid off were eligible for additional unemployment insurance; however, those suffering from a mental health disorder struggle to receive the same benefits.
Many of these individuals did not receive the economic stimulus check or additional unemployment funds that most citizens received to help alleviate the hardships caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The reasons for these situations vary.
This population may not have filed their tax return, didn’t file electronically, or may be homeless with no address or bank account to receive payments. Many of them were employed in entry-level hospitality jobs. These jobs were among the first jobs to be eliminated when the pandemic hit. Many individuals in these situations were already suffering from poverty and isolation, and job loss as a result of the pandemic has exacerbated mental health issues such as loneliness, fear, food insecurity, and substance abuse.
Rotary District 5710 was awarded a Rotary International Disaster Grant of $25,000 to help this population in our community. With the grant, we were able to provide needed personal protection supplies such as face masks, gloves, and sanitizer, non-perishable food items, and $50 gift cards to purchase additional food to those affected by mental illness. A portion of the grant was also designated to provide personal protection supplies to mental health service agencies whose resources are being stretched because of the increased need of protection for front-line social service workers.
Members of Topeka South Rotary met at Valeo Behavioral Health to assemble 120 boxes of the supplies, each also containing a $50 gift card, which were then distributed by Valeo staff to those in need.
We received very positive feedback from the recipients of the supplies, some of which are shared below.
Tamika Sellars, Valeo Case Manager, giving Logan a disaster kit. Logan is homeless and staying at different peoples’ homes each night. He said, “Wow, thank you! I can really use that!”
Monique Newman, Valeo Case Manager, giving Jeanelle a disaster box as she discharges from The Residence which is a temporary housing facility that Valeo operates. She said, “Thank you very much. God Bless you”.
Lisa Stewart, Case Manager giving a Valeo consumer a disaster box. She is discharging from one of our temporary housing facilities to move into an apartment. She was so grateful to be given a box of supplies and a gift card to buy food for her new apartment. “Oh my, this is so great! The protein bars are so good. Thank you for thinking of me.”
Rotarians socially distanced while safely assembling the Disaster Grant kits! Pictured: Valeo CEO Bill Persinger, Konni Flynn, DG Faron Barr, TSR President Jim Ramos, Patti Mellard, Angela Dailey, Lori Rowe
The 2nd annual Pints for Polio took place on October 28th. 85 Rotarians and friends donated $4,250 towards Polio Plus and 45 people, including three Topeka South members, joined the Zoom happy hour to hear an update on the efforts towards worldwide polio eradication.
Tamika Sellars, Valeo Case Manager, giving Logan a disaster kit. Logan is homeless and staying at different peoples’ homes each night. He said, “Wow, thank you! I can really use that!”
Monique Newman, Valeo Case Manager, giving Jeanelle a disaster box as she discharges from The Residence which is a temporary housing facility that Valeo operates. She said, “Thank you very much. God Bless you”.
