December Student of the Month Libby Swedberg presents her $100 charity contribution, provided by the Sycamore Rotary Club, to Noah Nordbrock of the DeKalb County Community Foundation.
These monies will be applied towards the Youth Engaged in Philanthropy (YEP) Young Grantmakers fund, to be used to support charitable organizations as selected by YEP. Libby is a member of both the YEP Board of Directors and the Sycamore H.S. Interact Club, and told the club upon receipt of these funds that they would be put towards this purpose.
A busy year for the Sycamore Rotary Club came to a low-key end on December 20th, as we held our annual Holiday Party at Taxco Restaurant in downtown Sycamore.
The only official business saw the installation of our newest Rotarian; Tatum Glas joined her sponsor Jeff Jacobson (left) as she took the formal oath from Club President Eric Jones. She joins Rotary under the classification of Communications Manager.
The Club also presented our exchange student, Luca-Sophie Giese, with a Christmas gift to thank her for everything she's done with us during the first half of her year in Sycamore.
The next Club Committee Meeting Day will be held on Wednesday, January 31st, 2018; in lieu of a regular meeting, all committees with projects coming up during the next quarter of the Rotary year will have the opportunity to meet and work on details of their events -- putting club time to use, instead of having to meet via e-mail or after a regular meeting.
Upcoming projects would include the February and March program committees, Rural-Urban Day, the District Conference on April 27-28 at Faranda's, Hula-for-Loota and Rotarians at Work Day. Others may be added, as required.
A therapy group of girls staying at Hope Haven has bonded together, after enduring the worst imaginable trauma while growing up…and spending the last two and a half years sharing their experiences with each other. Now as they prepare to move through their last year together, the members of this group – who have dubbed themselves “The Squad” – hope to share one last great adventure…and are seeking Rotary’s help.
Hope Haven Executive Director Lesly Wicks says these six girls have participated in trauma therapy sessions at Hope Haven, and have struggled just to find shelter at times. But through these sessions and their work with each other, these girls now have a chance at fulfilled adult lives. Part of their therapy has involved exploring the outdoors; they have been camping, hiking, kayaking, canoeing and other outdoor events in five states.
They now want to undertake their most ambitious adventure yet, with a trip to Canada; the cost of such an excursion would be high, so with the help of Dave Juday from Ideal Industries they have developed a business plan and model…and have begun manufacturing a number of items, to sell around the community and put towards their Canada trip.
Rotary President Eric Jones encourages Rotarians to not only support their sales effort, but find out what more Rotary can do to help The Squad realize this dream, and goals beyond that. He, Lesly and Dave want to expand the vision for this group beyond a single fundraising opportunity, and would like to know if any Rotarians would be interested in devoting their time and effort to help these girls further build their confidence and character.
Please contact Eric if you are interested in helping out.
Attendance Report -- January 3, 2018
Attendance: 54.41%
Guests of Members:Madeline Kuhn (Michael DeVito)
Other Guests: Luca-Sophie Giese (exchange student)