The 117th anniversary of the founding of Rotary was celebrated with the induction of two new members. Pictured from left to right are Matt Nelson (commercial lender for Resource Bank), Kathleen Smith (retired, new to the area this past fall, and sister to club president Paulette Renault), and Club President Paulette Renault. Welcome Matt and Kathleen to the Rotary Club of Sycamore!
Speaker Rick Garcia briefed Rotarians this week on the outreach and impact of the Salvation Army serving DeKalb County.
Local Salvation Army leader Rick Garcia says he originally did not pay much attention to the new building in his south side Chicago neighborhood while growing up, but his mother took a keen interest in the activities going on at the Salvation Army center. It was not until one day someone involved with the center offered him an umbrella during a torrential downpour that he associated this act with the motto ‘Doing the Most Good” and decided this was a connection he wished to pursue. Three decades later (twenty of these as an employee) Garcia finds himself overseeing a variety of services locally such as a food pantry, holiday meals, after school programs, church services, bible studies, and disaster response teams. Garcia noted the local Salvation Army center has a 123-year history in the area and that George Bennard spent time serving here prior to relocating to Michigan where he penned the famous hymn “The Old Rugged Cross.”
Garcia says their local food pantry will serve anywhere from 35 to 60 families each weekday at their 830 South Grove Street, DeKalb, location. Food pantry clients are welcome weekly. Unlike some pantries, the Salvation Army allows client choice for item selections. He noted needs are greatest for fresh fruits and vegetables. He said they are able to increase buying power from donations by turning $1.00 given into $8.00 of product using the Northern Illinois Food Bank. Besides food, Garcia said there is a need for personal hygiene products as well as pet food.
Volunteering one’s time for programs and services is one of the best ways to help the Salvation Army according to Garcia. This can take the form of helping at the food pantry, helping distribute toys through the Toys the Tots program at Christmas, and being a bell ringer during the holiday season (a yearly project supported by Sycamore Rotary). More details are available through their web site at www.centralusa.salvationarmy.org and then type in “DeKalb” for location.
Donations are currently being requested for the Sycamore Food Pantry. Bring a bottle of laundry detergent...or $10 for Julie Sgarlata to purchase one. Money is easier to handle.
Personal hygiene items (bar soap, shampoo, etc.) are also being sought.
Posted by Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation on Jan 12, 2022
We see the decision to vaccinate as a civic and humanitarian imperative. Rotary is not a political or religious organization, it is a service organization and this is the lens through which we are advising you of our position.
Global vaccination is the path to ending the pandemic and the emergence of new variants. Rotary endorses and strongly encourages vaccination for all individuals including our members who are currently able to be vaccinated against COVID-19. In areas where COVID-19 is surging, communities are facing extreme challenges, health systems are overwhelmed, and contentious rhetoric is dividing us. It is critical that the virus be contained so that the world may begin to heal. To that end, the purpose of this statement is to reinforce Rotary’s position.
Misinformation has become an “infodemic” that hinders the fight against COVID-19. In line with our Four-Way Test, Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation are committed to providing our members with science-based information.
Rotary International staff at One Rotary Center were required to be vaccinated by 10 October 2021, as a criterion for employment after that date. RI’s employee vaccination rate stands at over 99 percent.
Globally, Rotary is actively engaged in assuring equity in vaccine access to all people. Our efforts have included advocacy with the G-20, and a proof-of-concept program with GAVI/COVAX to leverage our frontline experience with polio eradication to facilitate vaccine delivery in several low- and middle-income countries where Rotarians are active. While we know many clubs are already deeply involved in COVID-19 prevention, we are working on additional strategies to multiply our collective efforts. GAVI/COVAX is a partnership including WHO and UNICEF focused on global access and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines.
Those children for whom vaccines are not currently available are at significant risk. Until vaccines are available for all children, the vaccination of adults is the best way to protect children who cannot be vaccinated. Pediatric admissions for COVID-19 are rising precipitously in areas of low vaccination.
Rotary salutes health care workers everywhere as they continue to provide lifesaving services. Local recognition of these heroes by each of our clubs can help to encourage them to continue their important work. Rotary abhors any harassment and attacks on healthcare workers.
Rotary and Rotaract clubs are encouraged to
set good examples by being exemplary role models;
redouble their efforts to support COVID-19 treatment, prevention, and vaccination efforts.
Vaccines have proven to be one of the greatest advances of modern medicine. The World Health Organization estimates that vaccines save between 2 to 3 million children’s lives each year, and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative estimates the polio vaccine has saved more than 19 million children from paralysis. Vaccines are safe, effective and are responsible for eliminating or controlling many other vaccine-preventable diseases such as smallpox, measles, rubella, and Ebola. And now, there is the opportunity to end the COVID-19 pandemic through vaccines.
The eradication of polio remains a goal of the highest order for Rotary. We can apply the lessons we have learned in fighting polio to the efforts in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
February 22, 1732 – George Washington is born in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He served as commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolution and became the first U. S. President.
February 23, 1868 – African American educator and leader W. E. B. DuBois is born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He was one of the founders of the NAACP in 1909.
February 24, 1885 – Admiral Chester Nimitz is born in Fredericksburg, Texas. He commanded Allied naval, land and air forces in the South Pacific during World War II and signed the Japanese surrender document on September 2, 1945.
February 24, 1846 – American frontiersman “Buffalo Bill” Cody is born in LeClaire, Iowa. He became world famous through his Wild West show which traveled throughout the U. S. and Europe for 30 years.
February 23, 1905 – Chicago attorney Paul Harris invites three other business acquaintances to a meeting at his office for fellowship and service. They continue to meet weekly and the group expands to eventually become today’s Rotary International.
February 24, 1582 – Pope Gregory XIII corrected mistakes on the Julian calendar by dropping ten days. The Gregorian or “New Style” calendar was then adopted by Catholic countries followed gradually by other nations.
February 24, 1867 – The U. S. House of Representatives voted to impeach President Andrew Johnson following bitter opposition to his post-Civil War reconstruction policies in the South. The effort to remove him from office failed in the Senate by one vote.
February 26, 1848 – The “Manifesto of the Communist Party” is published by German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
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