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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. ImagicNation now enjoys a new Little Library (image to left), while we continue to provide it with books for children to enjoy. White boards are being distributed this month to four elementary schools in Springfield that will help 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. Plans are now underway for us to provide a dinner meal through the Meal Train on October 29 for 55 homeless men and women staying at the Cooling & Warming Center on 1015 E. Madison Street. We will provide the meals, desserts, beverage and disposable service items. For many, it may be the only hot meal they will have that day. Stay-tuned for more details on how to help with this project.
We plan to make the holiday season a bit brighter as we partner with Home Instead to provide small gifts and cheery cards to isolated seniors. Home Instead will provide us wish lists in November, and our gifts and cards will be delivered in early December for the seniors to enjoy. We will continue to provide holiday cheer for youth as well through our continued partnership with Rutledge Youth Foundation. Look for the paper angels with a child’s name and wish list to be distributed at meetings.
On Saturday, December 5 we will ring the Salvation Army bell at Schnuck’s on Chatham Road. We will ring joyously between 11 am and 7:30 pm. A sign-up sheet will be coming as the date grows near.
On December 12, we are going the Extra Mile, our Fun Walk, to celebrate all who provide for our health and welfare. Look for more information soon.
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!
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Community Service Continues During the Pandemic
  
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Listen to The New Normal Recordings
The Rotary Club of Springfield hosted “The New Normal” virtual program series as part of their weekly club meetings on Monday nights in June , July, and September 21. This series featured a stellar lineup of experts who discussed “The New Normal.” The series envisioned the post pandemic world from the perspectives of leaders representing various segments of our society including the economy, healthcare, agriculture, higher education, international government relations, technology, investment markets, and art. Click on "Read More" below to listen to recordings of the June and July programs for “The New Normal” series on the Illinois economy, health care delivery, agriculture, and higher education, and art. Please enjoy the recordings from the comfort of your own home and contemplate the future.
Foundation Awards 2020 Grants to Local Non-profits
The Springfield Rotary Foundation awards grants to nonprofits for projects that combat hunger, promote literacy, and otherwise serve our communities each year. We reaffirmed needs related to hunger and literacy as high priorities for our communities during our club’s most recent visioning process and in ensuing years. Our Club’s fund raising efforts through the Flag Service Program, Citrus Sales, and John Montgomery Memorial Fishing Tournament raised $35,300 during the 2019-2020 Rotary year. These funds allowed us to award $27,759 in grants at the end of May to help support 14 high-impact projects. Ten of the projects help combat hunger, which is extremely important given food insecurity during the Covid-19 pandemic. For example, our grant to the Central Illinois Foodbank will help support the purchase of 12,000 pounds of nutritious dairy projects including milk (image above) for distribution to central Illinois counties. Four grants will promote literacy in our community. Our grant to Ridgely Elementary School will support the development of an at-home resource kit (image above) for every student at the school. The need for these at-home resources was reinforced during the pandemic when students had to shelter at home.
The monies we raised also allow us to set aside support for annual funding commitments for:
- Scholarships for LLCC and UIS students (partially paid for from brag-a-bucks),
- International service projects,
- Land of Lincoln Honor Flights, and
- Reserve funds to provide match for Rotary District grants.
The majority of our funds support local organizations that work every day to help people in our community in numerous ways. Our grants are especially important this year given the hardships associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. When we are able to meet in person, we will invite the 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. Click on "Read More" to see the descriptions for all these wonderful projects.
Rotex fills the gap after Rotary Youth Exchange
After returning home, many students miss their lives abroad. Rotex helps keep the international connections going
