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 Community Paul Harris Fellows Named

Rotary Club of Springfield Recognizes Teresa Haley and Katie Spindell as 2022 Paul Harris Fellows

The Rotary Club of Springfield selected Teresa Haley (on left) and Katie Spindell (on right) as 2022 Community Paul Harris Fellows. The recognition is named for the founder of Rotary, Paul Harris, a Chicago lawyer who started Rotary International in 1905. The Rotary Club of Springfield has a tradition of awarding Paul Harris Fellow Recognition each year to individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the community.
 
The Club recognized Teresa Haley because of her outstanding contributions to the Springfield community as a passionate civil rights activist and leader and her strong advocacy for public policy that promotes social justice. She lives her motto of “keep it movin” through her service to her church, family, community, and the state.  In 2015, she became the first woman president of the Illinois NAACP State Conference and she is currently serving her sixth consecutive term as president of the Springfield Branch of the NAACP. She led the establishment of the first Springfield Branch NAACP Office and Education Center. She worked with local officials on the commemoration the 110th Anniversary of the 1908 Race Riots in Springfield. She serves on the Governors Justice, Equity, and Opportunity Initiative Transition Committee and the Governor’s Commission for Environmental Justice. Her numerous honors include receipt of Springfield’s First Citizen Award (2019), the first NAACP Activist Image Award in 2020, the Community Service Award from the Frontiers International Club (Springfield Chapter) in 2020, and the Alumni Humanitarian Award from the University of Illinois Springfield in 2022.
 
The club selected Katie Spindell for outstanding leadership and service in the Springfield community. She started her career in Springfield as a City Ambassador for the International Visitors’ Commission. Throughout her career she has promoted Springfield’s favorite son, Abraham Lincoln. She has served as a Greeter at Union Station, and was responsible for the installation of the Lincoln monument at the AMTRAK station, which commemorates Lincoln’s return to Springfield after his assassination. She coordinated the 2015 events for the sesquicentennial of the Lincoln Funeral including the effort to re-create Lincoln’s Funeral Hearse.  Thousands of people came to Springfield to be part of this event and see re-enactors in full Civil War attire participate in the funeral procession from the Old State Capitol to Oak Ridge Cemetery Receiving Vault and the concluding ceremony. She actively works with veterans groups and has coordinated many events at the War Memorials Site in Oak Ridge Cemetery. She was also responsible for the renovation of the Third Street Gate, which served as the original entrance to the Cemetery.  She is an ardent supporter of veterans and VFW posts in Springfield.
 
To recognize the two Paul Harris Fellows, the Rotary Club of Springfield made donations of $1000 to Rotary International’s Rotary Foundation in the name of each recipient. The funds support Rotary International’s Annual Fund, the PolioPlus program to eradicate polio worldwide, and approved Foundation grants. The Club recognized the extraordinary achievements of these two community leaders and presented each with a Paul Harris Fellow certificate and pin at the club’s annual Rotary International Found Night gathering and dinner on Monday, March 21 at the Inn at 835. 
 
Rotarians across the country have a long tradition of supporting the Rotary Foundation by honoring others. Many notable individuals have been named as Paul Harris Fellows, including Mother Teresa, entertainer Pearl Bailey, U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Russian President Boris Yeltsin, Astronaut James Lovell, UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, and Jonas Salk. Barry Tobias, President of the Rotary Club of Springfield, commented “We are honored to add Teresa and Katie’s names to this prestigious list.”
 
2022 Community Grant Applications Due by April 30
 

Organizations may apply for small grants that meet community needs.

The Springfield Rotary Foundation is seeking grant proposals from organizations for small projects that meet community needs. The priorities for 2022 are for projects that combat hunger or increase literacy, but projects that address other community needs will be considered. A copy of the Application Form can be downloaded by clicking on the highlighted text. The form provides information on eligibility, grant amounts, and application guidelines. All applications must be postmarked no later than April 30 for consideration. 
 
The article below on 2021 Grants provides examples of the types of projects that are funded.
Participate in Club Meetings In-Person or Online 

Hybrid Club Meeting Format Returns!

Starting at our February 28, 2022 Club meeting, you will be able to again participate in-person at Maldaners or online wia Webex. The in-person meeting is held at Maldaners Upstairs (image above) from 5:30-6:45 p.m. on Mondays. The calendar on this website Home Page provides information on meeting dates and outside speakers. We are extremely excited to be able to resume our face-face meetings. We are also pleased to continue the online participation for members and guests who may not yet be comfortable with participating in an in-person meeting. Guests are always welcome to join us in-person or on-line from the comfort of their own home (image below). Members and guests may reserve and purchase a delicious meal for prepared by Maldnaers for $15 a person. Instructions on how to reserve a meal for indoor dining or curbside pick up for those watching the meeting online are provided in the Club Newsletter that comes out the Thursday before each meeting. The Newsletter is available on this website home page in the left hand menu. The Webex link for the online meeting is also included in the Newsletter on the Thursday before the meeting.  Please join us for an enjoyable evening!
 
 
 
2022 Rotary Family Day at the Ball Park

Mark your calendar for June 26!

Mark  your calendar now! We have scheduled our annual Rotary Family Day at the Ball Park for June 26 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Our game time is 1:10 p.m. and will feature another exciting match up of the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals. We have 1700 tickets for Rotarians in District 6460 to sell. If you are not a Rotarian but want to join us, contact us or any Rotarian in Springfield. We are offering special Pre-opening Day ticket prices of $45 per ticket for any tickets purchased or requested on order forms postmarked before or on April 6. Opening Day for the Cardinals is on April 7, and on that day, ticket prices will increase to $55 each. So buy your tickets right away to take advantage of this special discount!
 
Rotarians, please remember to sell tickets to friends, neighbors, relatives, colleagues, or anyone who would enjoy a great baseball game and the opportunity to support literacy projects. Proceeds from ticket sales support District 6460's Literacy Grant Program that funds projects proposed by clubs in our district. So sell as many tickets as you can and be certain that your Rotary club submits a proposal for a literacy project to benefit the community. Click on the ticket order form here or download the form from the Download Files section on this website homepage (www.spirotary.org).
 
We hope to see Rotarians and their families and friends at the Ball Park on June 26!
Community Service During the Pandemic

We follow the Rotary Mantra of Service Above Self!

Covid 19 has changed the way we interact with each other and our community, but it has not changed the Rotary Club of Springfield’s commitment to improving literacy and eradicating hunger in our community. We have had a full year of service in 2021 and we are not done yet. A few highlights for our service over the past two years are provided below.
 
In 2021, we have been busy stocking the Micro-pantry we established at our adopted school, Ridgely Elementary (image above). We built four little libraries with support from a Rotary District 6460 Literacy Grant (image below). 
 
 
We acquired a large donation of books to stock the Little Libraries we provided to Ridgely and Enos Schools and the St. John's Breadline. The images below show the sorting of the donated books for our Little Libraries and the fully stocked  Little Library near the Micro-Pantry at Ridgely School.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In 2021, we also helped clean up Downtown Springfield twice (image on left below). We continued our popular Flag Service Project, which installs flags throughout our community through a subscription. The proceeds support grants to nonprofits that serve community needs (image on right below). 
We are wrapping up our John Montgomery Memorial citrus sale (see article above), which provides monies for literacy grants for nonprofits. We are working on creating "Bags of Hope" and providing a meal to Homeless individuals in our community with three other Rotary Clubs, Rotary Youth Leadership Award High School Students, and the Salvation Army with support from a 2021 Rotary District Club Grant. We are preparing to participate in a Blood Drive with all five Rotary Clubs. Before the end of the year, we will provide Angel Tree Gifts for the Rutledge Youth Foundation, work with Home Alone to provide holiday cards and gifts cards for seniors, and ring the bells for the Salvation Army. 
 
Here are just a few highlights for 2020 service projects during the pandemic. We continued to work on many of these projects in 2021.
 
In the Summer of 2020, Club Member Neal Miller built and helped install a Little Library for ImagicNation (image to left), and club members continue to provide it with books for children to enjoy. 
 
 
In 2020, white boards were distributed to four elementary schools in Springfield that helped children learn from home or school through a District 6460 Club grant we wrote jointly with the other local Rotary Clubs.
 
To help reduce hunger, our club joined with United Way Days of Action to stock micro-pantries throughout Springfield, and we provided cans, cartons and cases of food items on September 26, 2020. Our Club provided a dinner meal through the Meal Train on October 29, 2020 for 55 homeless men and women staying at the Cooling & Warming Center on 1015 E. Madison Street. We provided the meals, desserts, beverage and disposable service items. For many, it was the only hot meal they had on that day. 
 
In November 2020, Vicki and Norm Megginson filled and delivered 50 bags of essential supplies to the Springfield Police Department for distribution to homeless individuals in our community. Club members donated new hats, gloves, handwarmers, warm socks, hand sanitizer, masks, kleenex packs, lip balm, toothbrushes, tooth paste, shampoo, soap, hand lotion, and healthful treats for the bags.
 
In November 2020, Vicki Megginson arranged for the installation of the micro-pantry at Ridgely School, and Club members are stocking the pantry with nutritious food.
 
We also made the 2020 holiday season a bit brighter by partnering with Home Instead to provide gift cards and cheery cards to isolated seniors. We continued to provide holiday cheer for youth as well through our long-term partnership with Rutledge Youth Foundation. Club members purchased angel tree gifts for Rutledge youth, and we joyously rang the Salvation Army bells at Schnuck’s on Chatham Road. 
 
Don’t forget to log your service hours. Just click on this link: https://airtable.com/shr4cB7BpJjpwXDEr
 
If you need to record your hours at another time, you can go to the “Download Documents” on the left side of the Home Page Website (www.spirotary.org), click on the “Record Your Rotary Volunteer Hours” file, and then click on the link. The form is easy to fill out! 
 
Our club has a long-term volunteer relationship with the Central Illinois Foodbank. The image to the left shows rotary volunteers in 2021. Through our annual citrus sale, Rotary Clubs in Springfield and our customers also donate cartons of oranges to the Foodbank for distribution to food pantries throughout their region. 

2021 Rotary Foundation Grants

2021 Grants Awarded to 12 Non-profits and Supported Scholarships, International Projects, and Honor Flights

In May 2021, the Springfield Rotary Foundation awarded grants to local nonprofits for projects that combat hunger and promote literacy in our communities. We reaffirmed these needs as high priorities for our communities during our club’s most recent visioning process and in ensuing years. Our Club’s fundraising efforts through the Flag Service Program, John Montgomery Memorial Citrus Sales, and Club meeting fundraisers totaled $35,800. These funds allowed us to provide grants in support of 12 projects (described below), and to also set aside annual support for: 
  • Scholarships for LLCC and UIS students (supplemented by $2,200 from brag-a-bucks & 50/50),
  • International service projects, and
  • Land of Lincoln Honor Flights
The majority of our funds support local organizations that work every day to help people in our community in a variety a ways. Our grants are especially important this year given the hardships associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. This year, we are inviting some of the larger grant recipients to be our guests for dinner at a club meeting so we can thank these organizations for their work in the community and celebrate their grant projects. At our June 7 club meeting, we presented grant checks to Catholic Charities for St. John's Breadline (image above) and to Compass for Kids for food for their Backpack Feeding Program for at-risk children (image below). 
Click Read More below to see the descriptions of the projects funded in 2021.
 
Read more...
Story Direct for Rotary International
European Rotaract clubs organize to help Ukrainian refugees

Across Europe, Rotaract members are using digital tools to share information and coordinate to help people who have been affected by the war in Ukraine

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Speakers
Lashonda Fitch, Director - Oak Ridge Cemetery
May 16, 2022 5:30 PM
History of Oak Ridge Cemetery
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  • Hybrid Club Meeting
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    Jun 20, 2022 5:30 PM
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2021 Holiday Party
6-29-2020 Club Barbecue and Induction
2019-2020 Accomplishments and Awards
Installation of 2020-2021 Officers and Board
Chartering Ceremony for Satellite Club in Chatham
Celebration and Installation of 2019-2020 Leadership Team
Distribution of 2019 Community Grants
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Baseball Ticket Order Form for June 26, 2022
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2022-2023 Rotary District 6460 Domestic Scholarship Application
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Jan 3 2022 Peacebuilder Presentations
Quiltfolk Feature on Buffington
Membership Application
Record Your Rotary Service Hours
Connect for Good
First 100 years of Rotary in Springfield
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May 12, 2022 Newsletter
May 11, 2022
May 5, 2022 Newsletter
May 04, 2022
April 28, 2022 Newsletter
Apr 27, 2022

The Rotary Club of Springfield, Illinois

P.O. Box 615
Springfield, IL 62705
Phone: (217) 566-4326
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