Home Page | Rotary Club of Springfield

Shipment of Meals to Turkey and Ukraine

Posted by David Fowler

Small things can lead to big results!

In early February 2023, a devastating earthquake, followed by powerful aftershocks, struck Turkey. Rotary clubs in the Midwestern United States responded by partnering with Midwest Mission and North Star Foundation to ship a container of food, donated by Rotary’s partner, Baja Bridges in California, with the approval of the Turkish Consulate.

So far, 25,000 “Chef 5 Minute Meals” (image below) have been sent to Turkey, with 25,000 more to be sent on Friday, March 24 to Ukraine. As the war zone continues to escalate in Ukraine, so does the need for humanitarian aid.

It's common for Rotarians to visit other Rotary clubs when traveling or relocating. It's not so common for such a visit to lead to a complex collaboration impacting people in multiple states and countries. David Fowler, President, of the Rotary Club of Springfield’s Foundation, contacted Midwest Mission to see if they could get a donation of “Chef 5 Minute Meals” to Turkey. These meals were donated to the Rotary Club by Katherine Turner of Baja Bridges out of Clarksburg, California. Rotary was willing to pay the cost to bring them to Springfield, they just needed a partner to get them to Turkey. At that moment, there was no clear route.

About an hour later, Brad Walton, Midwest Mission Operations Manager, called North Star Foundation, one of Midwest Mission’s partners, to coordinate the details of an upcoming Ukraine shipment. While talking, North Star mentioned they had a contact through the Turkish consulate to get supplies into the country. Within an hour, the Rotary Club of Springfield’s Foundation, Midwest Mission, and Baja Bridges went from no way into Turkey to a clear route to get the meals into Turkey.

The first shipment of aid dedicated to disaster relief in Turkey left Midwest Mission on Friday, March 10. This shipment included 25,000 “Chef 5 Minute Meals”. The second shipment of 25,000 meals will be the first of many shipments containing meals and other requested relief items that will be sent to the region.

The shipment for Ukraine will take the same route as Turkey shipment. David Fowler stands with some of the boxes of meals that are headed to Ukraine (image on left). The donated supplies will leave Midwest Mission in a container on a truck to St. Louis on March 24, 2023 (the image below shows boxes being loaded into the container on the truck). They will then head on the railroad up to New York, and from there, will leave on a boat over to Poland. There is a warehouse set up in Poland as a distribution center for disaster relief. From this warehouse, they are able to get supplies to Ukraine, refugees in Poland, Syria, and Turkey. Because of this, future shipments full of aid have the potential of getting needed resources to people in four countries - based on need.

Midwest Mission Executive Director Chantel Corrie says, “Please remember disaster response, especially of this magnitude, is not a sprint but a marathon. If you assume what others need you can clog the transportation and storage of items that are more important or create a disaster within a disaster. That’s why we only work with trusted established partners, so we can be sure to send what is actually needed.”

This will be the first of many shipments of relief that will go to Turkey and Ukraine. The magnitude of the disaster in the region means there will be years of recovery ahead. Midwest Mission is continuing to respond to the effects of the war in Ukraine as well, sending Rice Meals, medical supplies, Personal Dignity Kits, and other requested items.

Monetary donations allow us to quickly buy supplies in bulk and buy what is specifically requested by our partners in Turkey and Ukraine. We never send items that are not specifically requested because we never want to create more chaos in their crisis.

If you’d like to help people impacted by the earthquake in Turkey and the war in Ukraine, the Rotary Club of Springfield, IL makes it easy. The Club’s Foundation partners with Midwest Mission, the North Star Foundation, and Baja Bridges to ship containers of food and needed supplies. The Rotary Club of Springfield works with other Rotary Clubs, Rotary International, and Rotary Clubs in Turkey and Ukraine to help families in need. The image below shows Rotarians from the Springfield Sunrise Club (on left) and the Rotary Club of Springfield (on right) with some of the meals that are now on the way to Ukraine.

Please send contributions to:

Springfield Rotary Foundation, P.O. Box 615, Springfield, IL 62702 Memo: Disaster Relief Fund

Midwest Mission, 1001 Mission Drive, Pawnee, IL 62558 Memo: Turkey OR Ukraine

Midwestmission.org / Tel. 217-483-7911

Baja Bridges, P.O. Box 14, Clarksburg, CA 95612

Bajabridges.org / Tel. 916-832-8965

About the Rotary Club of Springfield and their Springfield Rotary Foundation

https://www.facebook.com/RotaryClubOfSpringfieldIL/.

The members of the Rotary Club of Springfield are an active, diverse group of individuals with a common interest in making the community and the world a better place for everyone.

About Baja Bridges https://www.bajabridges.org/

Baja Bridges is a network of volunteers who provide equipment and supplies for EMTs and firefighters and other assistance for community services in Baja, Mexico. Baja Bridges builds community connections across the border and supplies the necessary tools for these dedicated individuals to perform their jobs with safety and pride.

About Midwest Mission

The mission of the Midwest Mission is to bring the hearts and hands of God’s people together to transform resources into humanitarian aid, so we can show God’s love in a practical way to those in need in their time of crisis.

Around the world and around the corner, people are lacking simple resources that could improve their circumstances. That's why Midwest Mission sends tangible resources to make an intangible difference in their lives through hope and empowerment. In times of crisis internationally and in the United States, Midwest Mission sends Disaster Relief, Health, Education, and Micro Business supplies distributed freely through trusted partner nonprofits.

In 2022, Midwest Mission sent $7.99 million of humanitarian aid in 299 domestic and 48 international shipments.

If you want to learn more about what Midwest Mission does and how you can get involved, visit www.midwestmission.org or visit our Facebook at www.facebook.com/midwestmission.

Providing Ready to Eat Meals for Shelters and Pantries

A new partnership (image above) among the Rotary Club of Springfield, Illinois; Baja Bridges and the Baja Mar Rotary Club in the Baja California area of Mexico; and the Midwest Mission in Pawnee, Illinois is sharing high-quality ready-to-eat meals with shelters and food pantries across the country. David Fowler (image above, center), Foundation President for the Rotary Club of Springfield, and Katherine Turner (image above, left), Director of Baja Bridges and a member of the Baja Mar Rotary Club, initiated the project when they secured 120,960 meals from a donor in the Phoenix area of Arizona. Chantel Corrie (image above, right), Executive Director of the Midwest Mission, joined the partnership, to provide warehouse space for pallets of the meals and assistance with meal distribution. The image above shows the partners with 52 pallets of meals in the Midwest Mission warehouse in Pawnee, Illinois.

The meals are ready to eat and consist of a main course and dessert and include a napkin, knife, fork, and spoon. Bill Smith of the Rotary Club of Springfield holds one of the meals (image on left). No refrigeration is needed, and no heating is required for consumption. They may be stored at room temperature for up to two more years. The main course for the meals includes dishes such as Chicken Pasta Parmesan, Vegetable Stew with Beef, Turkey Chili with Beans, Three Cheese Omelet with Beef Chili and Beans, and Vegetable Lasagna, and all meals come with dessert.

A total of 52 pallets, each including 576 meals, was already delivered to the Midwest Mission warehouse and was featured by WAND news on February 13. The image below shows WAND interviewing Dave Fowler about the plans for meal distribution. Partners picked up another truckload of 80 pallets of the meals on February 17 in the Phoenix area. These meals were delivered to the Food Bank in Bloomington, IL on February 21. Dave Fowler arranged for the United Way of Central Illinois to announce the availability 30,000 meals free-of-charge to shelters, food pantries, and other nonprofit organizations that distribute meals in central Illinois. As of February 23, 15 nonprofits in central Illinois have requested meals. Meal delivery is slated for March 1 and 2. David Fowler has already arranged for enough volunteers to assist in this effort.

Project Partner Katherine Turner is working her Rotary Club, the Baja Mar Rotary Club in the Baja California area of Mexico, to distribute meals in their region. As news of the availability of the meals spread, Past District Governor for Rotary District 5500 Diane Ventura-Goodyear coordinated a request from her club, the Tucson Sunset Rotary Club, for 20 pallets of the meals for distribution to seven shelters and other nonprofits in the Tucson area of Arizona (image below).

Oranges Donated to Central Illinois Foodbank

On December 7, the Rotary Clubs of Springfield donated oranges to the Central Illinois Foodbank as a part of the annual Citrus Sale Fundraiser. All five Rotary Clubs in Springfield participated in this year’s Citrus Sale. Three of the clubs—our club, Springfield Sunrise, and Springfield South—allowed Rotarians and their clients to purchase oranges specifically for donation to the Foodbank. This year, we donated 190 40-lb. cartons of oranges (image on left)—about 23,750 oranges. This is Rotary’s largest donation of oranges to the Foodbank since our club added the option to buy oranges for them in 2013.

Bonnie Styles and Bill Smith arranged for the Foodbank to pick up the donated oranges at Humphreys Market on December 7. Humphreys Market helps with the Rotary Citrus order from Florida, and Hope Humphrey joined the group (above image far right). Bill Smith (above image, second from right and image below), Warehouse Manager and overall logistics director for the citrus fundraiser, was interviewed for the Central Illinois Foodbank Newsletter by Tim Kirsininkas, Public Relations Manager for the Foodbank (above image second from left and image below). Ed Reynolds (above image, far left), truck driver for the Central Illinois Foodbank) also joined the group and helped load the oranges on the truck.

Bill Smith described the benefits of the program for Rotary, the Foodbank, and those in need of food. “It’s a win-win situation all around.” Customers buy nutritious citrus to eat and gift during the holiday season and also purchase oranges for donation to the Central Illinois Foodbank. The Foodbank delivers the oranges to other foodbanks who distribute them to those in need. The gift keeps giving because the proceeds from the sale of the oranges and grapefruit by Rotarians, including the oranges purchased for direct donation to the Foodbank, support Rotary community grants that help combat hunger, promote literacy, and meet other community needs.

Community Service in 2021-2023

Service Above Self is Our Mantra!

Under the leadership of Community Service Directors, Vicki Megginson (2021-2022) and Megan Reynolds (2022-2024) and our Springfield Rotary Foundation, club volunteers have been actively serving our community. Continuing issues with Covid have not changed the Rotary Club of Springfield's commitment to improving literacy, eradicating hunger, and helping meet other needs in our community and across the World. A few highlights for our service over the past few years are provided below. If you enjoy working with People of Action, we hope that you will consider joining our club. Links to Membership information and applications are provided on this Home Page!

Following three years of Covid Pandemic issues, we have re-established regular work events with the Central Illinois Foodbank that include packing food boxes for distribution, sorting and bagging donated foods, and labeling canned goods (images below).

We have stocked our micro-pantry and little library at our adopted school Ridgely Elementary in Springfield (images below). We also provided supplies and donated monies needed to purchase supplies for the school, and gave them a community grant for a literacy project.

We continued our work to assist homeless individuals in Springfield by teaming up with three other Rotary Clubs, local high school students who participated in the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Assembly, and the Salvation Army to pack Bags of Hope full of essential items (image below) and providing meals. This project was supported through a Rotary District 6460 District Grant that we helped write along with the 3 three other Springfield Rotary Clubs. As noted in the article above, we also provided ready-to-eat meals to central Illinois nonprofits that help feed the hungry.

We also secured a 2021-2022 Rotary District 6460 literacy grant that supported a partnership with Delta Sigma Theta Sorority to pack backpacks (images below) to deliver to Springfield agencies who work with preschool children who are experiencing homelessness. Our current Rotary District 6460 literacy grant purchased books for Black Hawk School so the Reading is Fundamental Program could be expanded to include younger students and Rotarians will participate by reading books to students.

We continued our popular Flag Service Project, which installs flags throughout our community (image below) to commemorate patriotic holidays, for a subscription fee. This project helps make our community red-white-and blue, and the proceeds support grants for nonprofits that support community needs.

Our annual Citrus Sale (image below from the 2021 sale) is a major fundraiser supporting charitable grants made by our Springfield Rotary Foundation. Our 2023 Citrus Campaign is again dedicated to the memory of John Montgomery, a member of our club for over 53 years who passed away in 2009. Over $1.4 million in grants have been provided to local charities through this annual event. Customers also purchase oranges for the donation to the Central Illinois Foodbank through this program so it's a win-win situation.

Our member volunteers annually purchase Angel Tree gifts for the Rutledge Youth Foundation, work with Home Alone to provide holiday cards and gifts cards for at-home seniors, ring the bells for Salvation Army (image below), and a whole lot more!

We also volunteer and donate to assist with disaster relief efforts in the United States and abroad and a wide variety of disaster relief, clean water, and other projects across the world. In August of 2022, our club partnered with Rotary District 6490, Midwest Mission in Pawnee, Illinois, to deliver 28,266 pounds of hand sanitizer and sanitizer wipes to Pikesville, Kentucky for distribution to Kentucky flood victims. Our club also donated funds to the assist in the delivery expenses for the products.

At the international level, we participate in fundraisers for the eradication of polio for the Rotary International PolioPlus Initiative. The funds raised from ticket sales for the 2022 annual Rotary Chicken Dinner were allocated to the PolioPlus Fund. Rotarians enjoyed serving up the delicious meals for customers (image below). Our club also contributes funds from our annual March Madness Fundraiser to Polio Plus.

At the International level, we are also contributing to Rotary International disaster relief in Ukraine, a Rotary International Grant project for increasing agricultural productivity in Zambia, and are participating in a Rotary International Grant project to bring clean water to a mountain village in Nepal. As noted in the article above, in 2023 we are assisting with disaster relief in Turkey and Ukraine.

We hope that you will consider joining our club. Service at the local and international level is rewarding.