Mellissa Helligso (Hell-ig-so), is employed at UNMC as the manager of the Human DNA Identification Lab. She has over 20 years of experience of testing over 1000 criminal cases and testifying to her findings in trial. Well-known cases include: Jessica O’Grady, Dr. Anthony Garcia, Sydney Loofe, and Cari Farver. She will be discussing a new technology that has just earned accreditation in the UNMC lab, called Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy, which was utilized to capture the Golden State Killer.
Mellissa Helligso remembers when she first became interested in forensic pathology. It was in 2000. CBS had just released the television series “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” and Helligso, a DNA analyst in the molecular diagnostics section of the UNMC Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, had just had her first child.
“I remember being up with the baby late at night and watching the show,” Helligso said. “It really piqued my interest how the investigators were able to identify crucial facts that ultimately solved the case at hand.”
Today, Helligso, who is now the manager, technical lead and forensic DNA analyst with the Human DNA Identification Lab at UNMC, has taken part in hundreds of forensic investigations. Most recently, Helligso and her team received news that the Human DNA Identification Lab, under director Jesse Cox, MD, PhD, has earned accreditation to perform Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy (FIGG), which will allow them to assist in cold case investigations. “We are one of six labs in the country that are accredited,” Helligso said.
The technology will enable them to assist law enforcement with identifying unknown DNA, she said, and potentially help solve several cold cases. “You may have heard of this technology, as it was utilized to catch the Golden State Killer and more recently the suspect for the Idaho University murders, among hundreds of others,” Helligso said.
In early 2023, Helligso said, the lab obtained funding from a private donor to bring the FIGG technology into the lab. After testing the technology for most of the year, the lab was ready in November to move forward for accreditation, and after an audit by the American National Standards Institute National Accreditation Board, the lab was given approval.
Since then, Helligso said, she has been doing forensic DNA work for the Omaha Police Department, through a prosecution of cold cases grant, identifying DNA profiles to utilize the new FIGG testing.
“What we are looking for are DNA samples that don’t already have a hit in the national DNA database, CODIS (Combined DNA Index System), to help law enforcement identify potential suspects,” Helligso said.
She currently is working on more than a dozen cold case homicides with the Omaha Police Department.
“This is very exciting, because the cases we weren’t able to solve always linger in the back of your mind, and now we have another tool to use to help bring closure for families and justice for the victims,” she said.
President Larry Guenther and Secretary Tobi Mathouser exchanged Rotary banners with Ludmila Pawlowska from Mariestad Rotary Club, Sweden—District 2380.
PLEASE READ. The Honor Roll Committee is still looking for a few more Honor Roll Luncheon Hosts for April 30, 2024. We encourage every Rotarian to serve as a Host at the Honor Roll Luncheon; click here.
For nearly 100 years, the Rotary Club of Omaha has honored Omaha youth through the yearly Honor Roll Event. The Rotary Honor Roll, a time-honored tradition, distinguishes 8th-grade students who represent the highest characteristics of leadership, character, scholarship & presence. This criterion has been the litmus test since the inception of the award in the early 1900s. The event has also been a platform to award scholarships to chosen graduating seniors who, just 4 years earlier, were 8th-grade Honor Roll recipients.
The 2024 Honor Roll will be back in person on April 30, 2024, Tuesday, from 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM at the CHI Health Center, 455 N 10th St., Omaha, NE.
For questions about serving as Honor Roll Host, please get in touch with Rotary Director Bob Keefer at keefer.robert@gmail.com.
On Saturday, March 30, 2024, we held our first in-person RLI session since October 2019! The Rotary Leadership Institute, or RLI for short, is designed as three interactive, facilitated sessions focusing on topics designed to provide Rotary knowledge and develop leadership skills.
RLI does not provide position-specific training, such as for a president or a board member. Instead, it is an opportunity for EVERY Rotarian to really “discover Rotary” using the three different tracks of knowledge.
For our first session back, we had six Rotarians from six different Clubs from three different cities attend Part I!
Part I centers on the basics of being a Rotarian. This is the fundamental building block of a strong Rotary. Without strong Rotarians there is no future for Rotary so that is why we start with you, the member!
RLI believes that having leadership skills does not alone assure good Rotary leadership. An effective Rotary leader must ALSO have Rotary knowledge, perspective on where Rotary has been, where it is now and a vision of what it could be in the future.
Having so many clubs represented shows how passionate we are about the future of Rotary and that our Clubs want the best leaders and members possible! This is just one of the many reasons why we are the BEST ROTARY DISTRICT IN THE UNIVERSE!!
The next session of RLI will be held on April 20th and will include Parts I and II. EVERYONE IS INVITED TO ATTEND!! Click here for more information.
NOTE: We are actively seeking businesses that would like to host a session of RLI. If your place of business has room to host three separate meetings of 8-12 people simultaneously, please email Kathryn Schubert at dgkathryn5650@gmail.com.
OysterFest has been a calendar highlight of the Pacific Northwest’s fishing industry for more than four decades. The two-day festival is hosted by the Rotary Club of Shelton Skookum, Washington. Last year’s event, held in October, attracted 13,000 seafood enthusiasts and raised $170,000 for community organizations. Seasoned seafarers and landlubbers alike got in some serious shelling, as the victor in a speed-shucking competition opened 24 oysters in 73 seconds. The champion in the half-shell — a separate challenge that also accounts for presentation, with penalties for errant cuts — clocked in at an adjusted time of 2 minutes and 10 seconds. “It is quite an event with the crowd cheering on their favorite to win,” says Laurie Brown, the club’s president-nominee. “Anyone can sign up, but most of the shuckers come from the various shellfish farms or restaurants.
Suriname
Passing rates on secondary school entrance exams that have dipped as low as 50 percent have vexed officials in Suriname. The Rotary Club of Paramaribo Residence, whose members include several teachers or retired educators, is aiming to improve those results and reduce dropout rates. In October, the club instituted a mathematics training project for around two dozen teachers at schools serving older children. The program includes courses on topics such as set theory, equations, functions, plane geometry, and trigonometry. “You have to use mathematics at every level of your life, and statistics show that in Suriname kids have low grades” in the subject, says club member Yvonne Mohabir. A retired school dean and Rotarian, Ewald Levens, leads the sessions, which are funded with the support of the Dutch Association of Mathematics Teachers.
“If something is not impossible, there must be a way to do it,” Rotarian Sir Nicholas Winton once said. Known to his friends as “Nicky,” the British stockbroker rescued hundreds of predominantly Jewish children from the Holocaust in the months leading up to World War II. Winton, who died in 2015 at the age of 106, is now the subject of a new film, “One Life,” starring Sir Anthony Hopkins and Helena Bonham Carter. It was released in January 2024 in the United Kingdom.
The film tells the true story of how Winton rescued 669 children from the Nazi advance and found homes for them in the United Kingdom. During a visit to Prague, Czechoslovakia, in December 1938, Winton saw numerous families who had fled the spread of Nazism in Germany and Austria. The refugees were living in desperate conditions, with little or no shelter or food, as the German invasion of Czechoslovakia loomed. Winton immediately realized it was a race against time: How many children could he rescue before the borders closed?
Producers Emile Sherman and Iain Canning first contemplated telling Winton’s story when they co-founded See-Saw Films more than 15 years ago.
“We were very lucky to have had the opportunity to meet Nicholas Winton before he passed away,” Canning says. “He was the most modest, generous human being. [He] felt the film should not glorify him, but celebrate how the most ordinary of people can make a huge impact.”
With the blessing of Winton’s daughter, Barbara Winton, See-Saw approached screenwriter Lucinda Coxon to adapt Barbara’s 2014 book “If It’s Not Impossible.” Collaborating with Barbara, the screenwriting team gained access to Nicholas’ archives and letters. Barbara was a familiar face at Rotary district conferences. She passed away in 2022, during the making of the film.
Barbara’s book was an essential resource for the cast. Explaining how she got a sense of Nicholas Winton’s mother, Babi, Bonham Carter said, “Barbara was named after Babi. I was very lucky to speak to Barbara, to have her perspective as a granddaughter.”
It was Barbara’s wish that Sir Anthony Hopkins should play her father.
Reprint from rotary.org. SOURCE: https://www.rotary.org/en/new-film-tells-story-sir-nicholas-winton-world-war-ii-hero-and-humanitarian
Last weekend, the Rotary Clubs of Omaha, Omaha Suburban, and Omaha West joined forces to fund and assemble an impressive total of over 42,000 meals for Heartland Kids Against Hunger. This remarkable endeavor wouldn't have been possible without the dedication and support of over 120 Rotarians, their families, and friends who generously volunteered their time and energy to package these meals.
A heartfelt thank you goes out to all those who contributed to the Service Fund and those who actively participated in the packaging process. Your generosity and commitment to service have made a significant impact on addressing hunger in our community.
To commemorate this inspiring event, here are some snapshots capturing the moments of collaboration and goodwill:
Rotarians are making a difference at Stephen Center. CLICK HERE to sign up.
Stephen Center partners with the community, families, and individuals to overcome homelessness, addiction, and poverty. Stephen Center has served the homeless and low-income in Omaha since 1984 through its three programs: Emergency Shelter, HERO Program, and Transitional Living Program. The Omaha Downtown Rotary partners with Stephens Center in serving hot meals to its residents.
Pictured here are the January volunteers L to R:Mike Mancuso, Fletcher Reel, Steve McCollister, Scott Kinnaird, Colleen Brennan (Future Rotarian), Franco Gentile, Jim Stewart, and another Future Rotarian.
The Rotary Club of Omaha is now recruiting more members! It's your opportunity to join the Rotary Club of Omaha, click here to complete the membership application form. For questions, please contact Membership Chair Franco Gentile at FGentile@sbgtv.com.
Chase Bank
UNO College of Business
Centris
Ollie The Trolley
Carlson West Povondra Architects
DA Davidson
Elkhorn Athletics Association
Omaha Massage Therapy
Kevin Baitey
Brad Burklund
Paul Cohen Hal Daub
Gene DeBoer Dianne Desler
John Ewing
Viv Ewing
Brett Frevert
Dawn Gonzales
Okley Gibbs
Fr. Lloyd Gnirk
Tom Gouttierre
Larry Guenther Bill Harvey
Gretchen Harvey
Yolanda Hoffman
Bob Keefer
Susan Koesters
Heather Legge
Sandy Lemke
Adam Leong
John Marburger
Steve McCollister
Heidi McGinness
Camille Metoyer-Moten
Lloyd Meyer
John Mock
Jim Murphy
Fletcher Reel
Jim Scott-Miller
Deb Skinner
Jim Stewart
Jim Suttle
LeRoy Swedlund
Lisa Tonjes Moritz
Michelle Trawick
Mellissa Helligso
On Saturday, March 30, 2024, we held our first in-person RLI session since October 2019! The Rotary Leadership Institute, or RLI for short, is designed as three interactive, facilitated sessions focusing on topics designed to provide Rotary knowledge and develop leadership skills.
United States
Suriname
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