Smoky Hill Rotary Club Newsletter November 23, 2025 (Nov. 24, 2025)

Rotary Foundations-What?

Lloyd Gottmand and Jeff Kaes were our program last meeting, talking about what the Rotary International Foundation is, what the Smoky Hill Rotary Foundation is, and how they are different. As Jeff and Lloyd said, both are worthy of your support.

Here are the slides from their presentation:

Polio Plus

In addition to their presentation on the foundations, Lloyd and Jeff place Polio Plus front and center on our collective radars. In many ways, Polio Plus has been the signature program for Rotary for decades now and we are so close to eradicating it. Please consider a donation now. Here is the form that was passed out last meeting for your consideration:

SMOKY HILL ROTARY ----- ERADICATE POLIO DAY

For Every $1 donated by a Smoky Hill Rotarian

Jeff, as the 1st SHR Polio Plus president in 1986,

AND

Lloyd, as Foundation Chair and Ken’s brother,

Will each match $250.00

For a total $1 to $1 match up to $500

AND,

The Gates Foundation matches all Polio Plus Donations $2 for every $1

$500 from you multiplies to $3,000 for eradicating polio worldwide.

LET'S ERADICATE POLIO

Jeff, please add $____________ to my November Invoice for Polio Plus

Name __________________________________________________________

FOOD DRIVE for Food Bank of the Rockies

FOOD DRIVE IS NOW!!
Bring food and pantry items to the meetings on November 24th. With the cut in SNAP benefits, food banks are overwhelmed with the need for food. You can also make a check out to the Food Bank of the Rockies and give it to Clay Fell.

Christmas Party and White Elephant on December 8th
Bring your spouses or significant others to our Christmas Party on Monday, December 8th along with a memorable white elephant gift. Afterwards, we will adjourn for more festivities and beverages at Dry Dock on East Hampden. Join us for both.

Coat Drive
Bring in slightly used coats, hats, scarves, and gloves on December 8th. As we did last year, we will collect cold weather items and Clay Fell will take them to the Denver Rescue Mission.

Salvation Army Bell Ringing

A message from Clay Fell:

Once again we have the opportunity to bell ring for the Salvation Army. This is a fun activity that we have actively participated in.

We will meet at the Arapahoe Crossings King Soopers (S.Parker Rd./ E.Arapahoe) in Centennial.

Shifts : 11-1,1-3 and 3-5. We will need 2 volunteers for each shift.

Let me know if this is something you would like to do.

Christmas at Jewell Elementary
Once again, Smoky Hill Rotarians will be asked to buy gifts for 35 kids at Jewell Elementary who might otherwise not have a Merry Christmas. I will be sending out a separate email with the list of kids and my address if you want to have online gifts shipped to me directly. It would be nice if we could bring any other gifts to our December 8 meeting/party (wrapped of course). I need to be able to deliver them to the school not later than December 15 and would need a few days before that to organize them, December 12 to me would be ideal.

Zelle is NOW active:

If you want to use Zelle to pay your monthly dues, you can now do so! Go into your bank account and either under “Transfers” or “Zelle” you should have the ability to Send money using the Smoky Hill email: smokyhillrotary@outlook.com

I would like to tell you a story-
I recently saw a story I would like to share with you. A young single mother trying to raise a 4 year old daughter got laid off from her job. As a result she also lost here health insurance. Later, she became very ill and without insurance she could not afford the treatments for her condition, so she stopped taking them. She died leaving her daughter alone. The father had disappeared before she was even born. The daughter stayed with an older lady next door for awhile but the woman finally told her that she could not care for the little girl. She told her to go downtown to a children’s shelter-the doors were always open and they would care for her. The 4 year old trudged through the streets of a Chicago winter to the shelter only to find the doors closed. She sat on the curb in the snow waiting for them to open. She sat for hours. Finally someone noticed her and asked what she was doing there. The little girl said she was waiting for the doors to open so someone could help her. The person told her that the shelter had been close permanently. There was no one there to help her. The little girl sat in the snow and slush absorbing this latest blow and finally looked up and asked, “Where do kids go when nobody wants them anymore?”

I don’t know if this story is true or not, but I know that it reflects some ugly truths about our world today. People are losing their jobs in the name of padding the bottom line. People are going without health insurance now and many more may be losing theirs in the future. Those people get sick and are even dying from things that are treatable. People are homeless often through no fault of their own, and 1 in 5 of those are children. The most vulnerable in our country are losing what support and safety nets they may have due to budget cuts and staff layoffs. Someone once said that a society can be judged not on how it treats its wealthy and powerful but on how it treats its poor and vulnerable. Right now, I am not sure ours would be judged very highly.

We in Smoky Hill Rotary are generally speaking very blessed and willing to give of ourselves, our time and our financial resources to those who have little. I rejoice as we buy Christmas gifts for kids from struggling families; I rejoice as we collect food to address food vulnerability; I rejoice as we ring bells to raise money for the Salvation Army’s programs for the poor. And yet I weep for the 4 year olds out there left alone feeling that the world has deemed them unwanted, unloved and thrown away by society.

Board Members for 2025-26 Rotary Year

Gary Frisch- President

Linda Forsythe-President-Elect & Secretary

Jeff Kaes- Treasurer

Bev Edwards- International Chair

Lloyd Gottman- Foundation Chair

Craig Essex- Youth Services Chair

Hugh Radke- Community/Vocational Chair

Clay Fell- Club Services Chair

Invocation:

November 24 Linda Forsythe

December 8 Hugh Radke

Birthdays and Anniversaries:

Dec. 11-Anniversary-Terry & Linda Remigio

CLUB CALENDAR