Fellow Rotarians:

 

WOW, what a devastating last few days! I wanted to provide an update of what is happening in response to the tornado last Friday.

 

Rotary member, Jane Gordon lives in Ramblewood, her home has been leveled. Jane was out of town when the storm hit but one of her sons was at home. He had minor injuries and was transported to the hospital, after being checked out, he was released. Jane is home now sifting through her house remains looking for salvageable items and personal memorabilia.

 

Rita and Rolly Kleeman own a rental house in Ramblewood, their granddaughter is living there. The house has extensive damage and is unlivable for now, they also are sifting through the rubble for salvageable items.

 

I will stay in contact with both of our Rotary family members as to what their needs will be and pass that information along to our club members that may want to help.

 

I received emails from our District Governor, Kathryn Schubert and District Foundation Chair, Mic McKinley, offering assistance for the community. They indicated there is a $25,000 district disaster relief grant available, I will be working with Mic on additional details and requirements to determine if we qualify for the grant. Kathryn has also received offers to help from Rotary Clubs in Des Moines and Western parts of Nebraska. I received an email today from a Rotary Club in Seattle, P.S. asking what they could do to help. We will reach out to those clubs as we have a better handle on what the needs are this week.

 

COPE is taking a very active role in receiving donations of all types and offering assistance to all storm affected families in Douglas County. This is going to be a long-term recovery process, so when all the big agencies and volunteers are gone, we will need to step up and continue to assist folks.

 

I will have additional information at our Rotary meeting this Thursday, but for now if you would like to help, here is a short list of requested items from families that you can bring to COPE.  You may also bring any of these items to American Interstate Bank, 3331 N 204th St. on behalf of COPE.

 

If you have a couple hours to volunteer at COPE, we have been inundated with donations that need to be sorted and prepared to be handed out. The COPE hours have been extended to 10:00AM to 2:00PM every day until further notice, this may change as the need increases, so just stop on by and help if you can.

 

Thank you very much for all your support and contributions.  

 

 

May 2^nd – Gary Bren, Polio Plus bike ride – Diane to host lunch.

 

May 9^th – COPE Golf Outing – no meeting this week.

 

May 16^th – Larry Bock will provide a speaker for this date – we will need a host for lunch.

 

May 23^rd – No speaker yet – we will need a lunch host.

 

 

Looking ahead we will need lunch sponsors and speakers for any Thursday after May 16^th, please contact Neil or Jim if you can help.

 

The next Food Pantry at DC West School is scheduled, for Wednesday May 8^th at 4:00PM. We will have chicken to distribute for our meat of the month.

 

Save the Date: The Annual Rotary Scholarship Golf Outing is scheduled for Monday, July 22^nd at The Pines Country Club in Valley. This is a great opportunity to help raise money to support 4 - $1,500 scholarships for area high school seniors, but also an opportunity to play at the now private, Pines Country Club!! Please provide your team fees and door prizes to Mike Ough as soon as possible.

                                                         

Hope to see you Thursday.