On August 29, 2026 SHRC hosted staff, students, and parents from Jewell Elementary in our 25th Annual Special Things For Special Kids (ST4SK)! 36 students received over $200 each in clothing of their (and their parents') choice. Special thanks are due to a number of people: first, Hugh Radke and Lindy Forsythe for doing the work to get a District Grant to support the program financially; second, to Jeff Kaes for spending long hours to ensure that we could actually pay Walmart for the purchases on the day; third, to the Fletcher Estate for their financially contribution; fourth, to all of the volunteers who gave up a Saturday morning to help these kids shop; and fifth, to the staff of Jewell Elementary School for making the whole thing work and then showing up on the day to add their hands in service to their students.
Now, for some pictures. As most of you know, this past year Rotary International banned taking pictures of kids for use in things like a Rotary Club newsletter or website, so our traditional kind of photos will not appear this year. So here goes:
These pictures were taken by Jeff Kaes who came up with what he called his “Wilson photos” (from the TV show Home Improvement) with kids covering their faces with the clothes they bought:
Here is the wonderful staff from Jewell Elementary headed by principal Lacey Jolly and community liaison Valentina Talamantes:
And a few Smoky Hill Rotarians enjoying the event:
Thank you all.
Fletcher Estate and Giving
Gary Fletcher's life was a driving force of Smoky Hill Rotary's success. He also included donations to the Smoky Hill Rotary Foundation and to the Rotary International Foundation in his will. A portion of this money was used to fund part of the ST4SK clothes shopping day for Jewell Elementary students. Gary was one of the three people who came up with ST4SK so it is very appropriate that he continues to be a pillar of the program.
You too can leave a portion of your estate in your will to Rotary International and/or the Smoky Hill Rotary Foundation. You can find details of the process on the RI site or ask Lloyd Gottman about it.
