Students at South Prairie Elementary School in Sycamore will be getting the opportunity to enjoy reading, and to meet Rotarians who may inspire them in the future...with the launch of Rotary Readers.
This new project will get underway this fall, funded in part by a grant from Rotary District 6420; Rotarian Mark Spiegelhoff adapted this project from one run by the Quincy Rotary Club -- which has Rotarians come in weekly to read to students, discuss their careers, and get them excited about reading on their own.
One selected Rotarian will go to South Prairie every Thursday at 9:45 a.m. to meet with students; each one will have two books -- one will be selected for reading to the class, and both will be donated to the school library.
Basic education and literacy is one of the primary goals of Rotary, and our club expects to meet this objective through this project; our thanks to Mark for being the inspiration for this effort.
The Rotary Club of Sycamore's first Operation Warm fundraising drive has shattered expectations; with a modest goal of $1,200 to purchase coats for children in need in the Sycamore School District, Rotary has collected over $2,000 from various organizations and private donors.
By far the largest donation came from the Turning Back Time Car Show, held each July in downtown Sycamore; the organization opted to donate $1,000 towards Operation Warm, with committee member and new Rotarian Michael DeVito (left) presenting that check to the Rotary Club at its September 20th meeting. That, coupled with a $200 donation from his own company, MyInsuranceGuy, was by itself enough to meet the Club's goal. (Receiving the donation are Rotary Club President Eric Jones [center] and Rotarian Don Clayberg, one of the organizers of the project.)
But the donations didn't end there; the Rotary Club has received nearly $900 from other sources, including $250 from the Chuck Criswell Memorial Fund. Other contributors have given by way of the club's fundraising page, located at operationwarm.org
The Rotary Club will now turn its attention to ordering coats in various sizes, and preparing for the distribution; that is expected to occur sometime in November, at a time and location to be announced.
When Jim Gerry became acquainted with a Kenyan man who started his own charitable organization from the ground up, it inspired him to lead other students in doing so; and even after his retirement from the Illinois Math and Science Academy in Aurora, he continued to press for the realization of a dream -- to give students the chance to start their own businesses, while helping those in need in other parts of the world.
Gerry was one of the driving forces behind IN2@IMSA, a business incubator which gives students the opportunity to test their skills in the real world. The advent of microbusinesses, which give smaller entrepreneurs the chance to grow and expand via internet sales, has been a boon to the economy in many underdeveloped African nations.
Right now, seven different start-up companies are being operated by a total of 15 IMSA students from IN2; two of these budding entrepreneurs were on hand at the September 20th meeting:
-- Eden Gorevoy (right) helped start up Kisumu Krafts, a business which sells handmade African crafts on line as well as in street markets. Nearly all of the participants are women, who often face discrimination or unfair treatment when dealing with employers; this company gives them control over their operations, as well as the opportunity to expand beyond their limited local economies.
-- Sol Hwangbo (left) launched EnlightENT, which seeks to give badly-needed training to potential entrepreneurs; college in Kenya is out of reach for those who aren't in the upper class, and the courses they can take by way of this on-line university gives potential businesspersons a leg up on launching their own companies.
Another Club Committee Meeting Day has been scheduled for Wednesday, October 4th; any and all club committees with pending business may use the time to meet and plan out their projects.
Pending projects which may utilize the time include the Pancake Breakfast, Operation Warm, Make a Difference DKC and November Program committees.
Other upcoming projects include the Salvation Army Collection, Adopt a Family and the Holiday Party.
Make a Difference DKC is again preparing for its annual food packing event on behalf of Feed My Starving Children...and Rotarians are being asked to help, by supporting their annual raffle or buying specially designed T-shirts.
Tickets are now being sold for $20 each, with $8 going back to the organization which sells the ticket; the grand prize is $10,000, to be drawn on November 12th at the conclusion of this year's food packing event.
If you would like to buy or sell raffle tickets, tickets are available now and at upcoming Rotary meetings; sales will continue through November 9th.
T-shirts for this year's Make a Difference DKC are also on sale; these shirts are designed by a local student, and cost $22 each. That will be enough to provide 100 meals for starving children (at $.22 per meal).
Shirts are available in adult S/M/LG/XL/XXL and youth M/L.
Volunteers will be needed for the food packing itself, to be held from Thursday, November 9th through Sunday, November 12th at The Suter Company in Sycamore. Our Rotary Club will again be sponsoring the event, and providing volunteers to help pack food for distribution to needy children in areas around the world.
Please contact Heidi Wright for more information at (815) 895-9186, or at Hwright@suterco.com
We will once again be projecting the End Polio Now logo on the front of the DeKalb County Courthouse the weekend prior to Pumpkin Festival, in observance of this worldwide campaign.
The projected EPN logo will be visible from 6:00 p.m. on Friday, October 20th through Wednesday, October 25th; this will include Tuesday, October 24th, which is World Polio Day.
This has become an annual tradition for the Rotary Club of Sycamore; the projection is made possible with the assistance of DeKalb County Facilities Director Jim Scheffers, and Upstaging, Inc.
John and Cheryl Countryman tell us that their granddaughter Emma, her family and friends will take part in the in the Ron Santo Walk for the Cure for Juvenile Diabetes; it will be held in Warrenville on Sunday, October 1st.
Emma has suffered from type 1 diabetes since she was 4. She is now 13, and her life has improved with the creation of new devices like the monitor she wears to alert her of high and low in blood sugar.
Team Emma has established an online site that allows you to donate directly; click on this link to go to that site. If you would rather mail a check, payable to JDRF, they will make sure it goes to Team Emma's credit. Their mailing address is: 571 Brant Circle, DeKalb, IL 60115
Attendance Report -- September 20, 2017
Attendance: 64.71%
Visiting Rotarians: Bob Pritchard (Kishwaukee Sunrise)
Guests of Members: Dan Escatel (Eric Jones), Tuija and Esa from Finland (Ben Swedberg)
Other Guests: Luca-Sophie Giese (exchange student)
Prospective Members: Dan Escatel, Michael DeVito (pending)
