After ranging far and wide to prepare for his term as District Governor, and traveling the length of District 6420, Steve Kuhn has seen up close what the other Rotary Clubs in our district are doing to help their community, and their world. But after all that, he's glad to be back with his home Rotary Club.
Steve paid his official visit to the Sycamore Rotary Club on November 1st, customarily saving his own club for last after making official visits to every other Rotary Club in the district on behalf of R.I. President Ian Risley. He says this is the most important aspect of what District Governors, do, and that supporting local clubs is crucial -- because what local clubs do is far more important than what happens at the District or Rotary International level.
He says the End Polio Now campaign continues full force, and says he wants Sycamore, along with all the other District 6420 clubs, to step up its contributions to the Polio Plus fund and make the final push to wipe out this disease.
He also addressed one of Rotary's newer international initiatives, in combating human trafficking; he says an estimated 46 million people around the world are victims of human trafficking, becoming slaves, servants or sex workers against their will. And Illinois is not immune to this problem; Rockford now rivals Chicago, and other cities in the United States, with its problems in such trafficking...especially with prostitution, many of whose victims are underage.
DG Steve lauded the Sycamore club for its efforts in Foundation contributions, in youth services and in public image -- three of the four main objectives R.I. is pushing for local Rotary Clubs. And he hopes to see a badly-needed surge in membership, for Sycamore and for Rotary across the District.
Even though he's excelled in a variety of academic endeavors, Stephen Poorten is equally focused on athletics; and although he has experience in team sports, he says running cross-country has been the best experience he's had representing Sycamore High School.
Stephen says while he's spent time on the basketball squad, he prefers the solitude of running; he says it's appealing because even though competitors race as a team, the challenge while on the course is to relay on yourself -- no one else. He also says it allows him to escape the stresses of daily living, and to push himself to his absolute limit.
Outside of running, Stephen has served on the Student Council and has been on the Academic Honor Roll throughout high school; he's also with Youth Engaged in Philanthropy, and has acted as a running club coach in his spare time. He hopes to study business administration at either Boston College, Miami (FL) or Marquette.
In recognition of his achievements, the Rotary Club of Sycamore has provided a $100 donation to the charity of his choice; he has picked Hope Haven as the recipient.
We are looking forward with excitement to our 8th annual Make A Difference DKC Mobile Pack event on Nov 9-12th. Our goal is to raise $270,000 and pack 1.2 million meals with the help of over 5,000 volunteers!
My deepest thanks to each of you who have been selling the $10,000 Cash Raffle tickets to help pay for ingredients we will pack, and also to raise money for Sycamore Rotary. For every $20 ticket you sell, you will be feeding 54 children a meal and providing $8 to Sycamore Rotary. These raffle tickets are another way for Sycamore Rotary to make an impact in the world.
Please make a plan on how you will get your ticket stubs and proceeds to me prior to the drawing on Nov 12th. You can give them to me at Rotary, or drop them off at The Suter Company on 258 May Street, or you can even bring them to the event if you are still selling tickets.
We will honor veterans with the Rotary Club of Sycamore, as well as others in the community, during the November 8th meeting. The featured speaker will be Amy Bickner, discussing Women in the Military
Also featured at this meeting: A quartet from Sycamore H.S. will perform the National Anthem Sycamore M.S. Interact will give a special veteran's presentation Prizes will be awarded to this year's Pumpkin Bake-Off winners
The Sycamore Rotary's meeting on November 29th will feature information on the various charities we'll be supporting during the holiday season.
Neilly Berger, the Homeless Liason for the Sycamore School District, will be the featured speaker; she will update us on what the district does for its homeless students during this season and year 'round.
There will also be updates on what we're doing for this year's Adopt a Family project; we will be assisting up to five families and some individual emancipated students, by providing them with Christmas gifts and other perks for the holiday season.
Other projects to be covered include the Sycamore Food Pantry, Operation Warm, Goodfellows and Toys for Tots. Rotarians are asked to contribute to the latter, by bringing a new, unwrapped toy to the Rotary meeting; these items will be presented during the annual Toys for Tots Benefit Concert in DeKalb on Sunday, December 3rd.
This year's annual Rotary Holiday Party will be held at Taxco Restaurant in downtown Sycamore on Wednesday, December 20th.
We will be gathering at our usual meeting time, at 11:45 a.m. Details of the party are still being worked out; please keep watch for more details.
This will be our last official Rotary event of 2017; the following week's meeting on December 27th has been cancelled, so Rotarians can enjoy the holiday season with their family and friends.
District 6420 will hold its annual Foundation Dinner at Brandywine Banquets in Dixon on Saturday, November 4th. It will run from 4:45 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.
The Foundation Dinner is a celebration and recognition of District 6420 Rotary members and their support for The Rotary Foundation. The dinner is open to all district members who want to learn about The Rotary Foundation. For more information go to this link
Attendance Report -- November 1, 2017
Attendance: 64.29%
Visiting Rotarians: Jim MacMurdo (Kishwaukee Sunrise)
Guests of Members: Jessica Hayes (Eric Jones); Jenny Weber (Sally Bruch)
Other Guests: Luca-Sophie Giese (exchange student)
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