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Meet District Governor Mark Roberts -- October 21, 2019

Mark Roberts, Rotary District 6460 Governor 2019 - 2020

Join us in Maldaners Upstairs to meet and hear from our new Rotary District Governor Mark Roberts. Please bring your significant other or a guest to this special meeting. Visitors are always welcome to join us. Mark Roberts has served as District Rotary Foundation Chair for Rotary District 6460 from 2014-2017 and is Past President of The Rotary Club of Peoria North. In 2012, he received the Ed Peterka Leader Bell Award for outstanding leadership within Rotary District 6460 and in 2018, received both a District Governor’s Citation for Meritorious Service for his work on activities related to The Rotary Foundation and the 2017-2018 Paul Harris Fellow Award from the Rotary Club of Peoria North.

Mark earned a B.A. from Eastern Illinois University and a M.A. in Human Service Administration from Bradley University. He is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE), a professional designation held by fewer than 5500 individuals worldwide. Mark was named CEO of the Community Foundation of Central Illinois in May 2008. His previous experience includes service as Director of Advancement and Community Relations for the University Of Illinois College Of Medicine at Peoria, Chief Development Officer for Lutheran Hillside Village Foundation, and Director of Development at Bradley University.

In 2009, Mark was awarded the Exemplary Alumni Award for Community Service from the Department of Educational Leadership and Human Development at Bradley University, and the Ian T. Sturrock Outstanding Fundraising Executive award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals Central Illinois Chapter. Mark is a member and past-president of the Central Illinois chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Mark and wife Pam have two children. They reside in Morton, IL.

2019 Citrus Sale Kick Off -- September 30, 2019

Marty Michelson, 2019 Citrus Chair Launches Campaign

Past President and Citrus Committee Chair Marty Michelson and other members of the citrus committee have launched this year’s Citrus Sales Fund Raiser. For over 30 years the Rotary Club of Springfield has sold oranges and grapefruit with the proceeds providing a major part of the money used to support the community grants (see story below) and international projects our club has funded. The Citrus Sale provides fresh, nutritious fruit for the holidays and allows Rotarians and our customers to purchase oranges for donation to the Central Illinois Food Bank. You can download the citrus sale flyer from the downloadable documents section of this Home Page. Ordering information is provided in the flyer.

Please Donate School Supplies for Ridgely School

Show your support for our adopted school!

A new school year will soon be starting so it is time for Springfield Rotarians to participate in our annual drive to provide school supplies for students at Ridgely Elementary School. Our Club designated Ridgely as our adopted school in 1991, and since that time we have been providing school supplies, grants for special projects (such as the 2019 literacy project pictured above), and tutoring in reading and math.

The procedure is simple, and school supply sales are underway now. The next time you are out shopping, purchase some school supplies, such as erasers, pencils, crayons, pens, children’s scissors, folders, back packs, etc., for students at Ridgely. We have attached a copy of the 2019-2020 Ridgely School Supplies list in the downloadable documents section of our website. This document lists the supplies needed by students by grade level. Buying all of the items for a single student will show you how much parents have to provide for each of their school age children. However, provision of any of the items on the list is greatly appreciated by the students and teachers. You may want to print the list and leave it in your car for your next shopping trip.

Bring the items you purchase to upcoming Club meetings. An area will be designated for depositing supplies. Club Volunteers will collect the school supplies and deliver them to Ridgely.

Starting school is difficult for some children, especially if they don't have the required supplies. Help us make sure that every student at Ridgely has the supplies they need for their education. Thanks for your support.

New Satellite Club in Chatham Chartered

On July 15, we celebrated the Chartering of the Rotary Club of Springfield in Chatham!

President Vicki Megginson and District Governor Mark Roberts led the joyous celebration for the official birth of the first satellite club in District 6460. Special guests including numerous Past District Governors, family members, and other friends enjoyed the festivities including a fine dinner and a champagne toast to the new club, a ribbon cutting by the members of the satellite club, and presentation of certificates and banners to the charter members of the satellite club. Satellite Club Chair Tim Welch and Vice Chair Megan Brown proudly display their new 4-Way Test Banner in the image above. For more images of this festive event, check out the link to the photo album on our website home page.

Distribution of Community Grants

Springfield Rotary Foundation Grants and Projects

At the June 24 meeting of the Rotary Club of Springfield, Harry Mitchell, President of the Springfield Rotary Foundation (second from left in the above image of grant recipients), presented grant checks to representatives from local nonprofits for projects that promote literacy, combat hunger, and otherwise improve our community. This story is taken from his comments for the presentations. Our fund raising efforts through our Flag Service Program, Citrus Sales, and John Montgomery Memorial Fishing Tournament allowed us to support 16 grant-funded projects (described below), and to also set aside annual support for:

Scholarships to LLCC and UIS students
Funds for international service projects, and
Support for 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. We gathered to thank 16 of those organizations for their work in the community and present those who attended the event with their 2019 Rotary grants. The organizations, grant projects, and individuals who attended the event are listed below.

Literacy Project at Ridgely School Funded by District Literacy Grant

This was a very exciting experience for Lib and me as we passed out fun fiction books to a class of third grade students at Ridgely School. We were greeted with a group hug from the whole class and celebrated on Pajama Day, the last school day this year.

We talked about our Rotary Club's thirty year involvement with Ridgely Elementary School. (I also mentioned that my first time tutoring was 50 years ago at Cabrini Greens in Chicago.) The program at Ridgely was made possible because of the encouragement of Ridgely teacher Asima Rahman, assistance from School District 186 staff, and the hard work of John Delich of Barnes and Noble. But without the 2018 Literacy Grant from our Rotary District and encouragement from Vicki Megginson and David Fowler in our Rotary Club, it would not have been achieved.

The books were specifically selected to match the reading levels of each of the 20 students, and we will enjoy discussing them after the students return from break. In January, we will begin focusing on their special interests with a series of books beginning with their current reading level and advancing two more steps. The goal is to increase their reading proficiency, spark their interest and increase their love of reading.