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Hybrid Club Meetings are Back!

Participate in Person or Online!

On February 1, we returned to our hybrid meeting format for our weekly club meetings. You may chose to participate in the meeting in person at Maldaners Upstairs or online through Webex. If you participate in person, please wear your mask and continue to practice social distancing. Barry Tobias (image above, left front) will continue to provide online service and provide the meeting link in the Newsletter. For those participating online, curbside meals are still available for order using the link in the Newsletter.
 
Now that meeting in person is again possible, it is a great time to invite a friend or acquaintance who has a heart for serving others. That's the essence of what we do. Bring them along to see if Rotary is right for them!  
2020 Citrus Campaign 
 

Campaign Donates 20,000 Oranges to Foodbank and Supports Grants

Despite the pandemic, our annual citrus sale saw sales comparable to last year! As was the case last year, the oranges and grapefuit are excellent. The citrus cost a little less than last year, and we had increased cash donations. We anticipate that our profit will exceed $10,000. All five Rotary Clubs in Springfield participated in the Citrus Campaign this year.
 
Our Citrus Campaign's donation to the Central Illinois Foodbank continued to be a success. This year, Sunrise, Midtown, and our Club donated 150 large cartons of oranges to the Foodbank. This is an increase from last year's donation of 108 cartons. As requested by Foodbank, these cartons have smaller oranges than we sell to customers to provide a broader distribution of the oranges. This year's donation provided about 20,000 oranges for the Foodbank. They will distribute these oranges to food pantries, soup kitchens, and other such venues throughout the 21 counties that they serve. Warehouse Manager Bill Smith oversaw the transfer of the three pallets of oranges to the Foodbank (image above). Bill also donated a large carton of fruit to Ridgely School for staff members who are working at the school during the pandemic.
 
The proceeds from the purchase of the oranges and grapefruit by our members and customers, including those donated to the Foodbank, will support Rotary community grants that help combat hunger, promote literacy, and meet other needs in our local and global community. We thank all the Rotarians who participated in the campaign and all of our customers.  
Community Service During the Pandemic
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. Here are just a few highlights for 2020 service projects during the pandemic. We continue working 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 September 2020, white boards were distributed 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, 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 a micro-pantry at Ridgely School, and Club members are stocking the pantry with nutritious food (image to right).
 
We made the 2020 holiday season a bit brighter by partnering with Home Instead to provide small gifts and cheery cards to isolated seniors. Home Instead provided us with wish lists in November, and our gifts and cards were delivered in early December for the seniors to enjoy. We continued to provide holiday cheer for youth as well through our continued partnership with Rutledge Youth Foundation. Club members purchased angel tree gifts for Rutledge youth. 
 
On Saturday, December 5 we joyously rang the Salvation Army bells at Schnuck’s on Chatham Road  between 11 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.
 
The article below provides more information on service projects in 2020. They provide great examples of the work our Club does in the community. Club members are hard at work on numerous service projects in 2021 including volunteer work at the Central Illinois Foodbank (image below), stocking the Ridgley School Micro-Pantry, buying books for the Little Library and so much more.
 
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!
Service Above Self in Action!

More Community Service During the Pandemic

 
Our Club members embrace Service Above Self - the motto of Rotary International. During the 2019-2020 Rotary Year, our club members contributed over 1,100 hours of community service for 40 projects. Six of those projects occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
 
  • In April, we launched Rotary’s Ultimate Food Fight, virtual games modeled after March Madness with teams named for foods. We donated the proceeds from the games to the Land of Lincoln Community Foundation-United Way COVID-19 Disaster Relief Fund and to Titan Fuel to purchase food for food packing projects for hungry elementary students. Members also donated nonperishable items featured as the Food Fight teams to the Central Illinois Food Bank and Titan Fuel when we were able to gather outdoors at the end of June.
  • In April and May, our Club partnered with District 186 and Neuhoff Media on 96.7 BobFM (WCVS) to provide Storytime. The radio station recorded club members reading stories (first image above left) for presentation to pre-school through grade 2 learners and grade 3-5 students.
  • In May, Club members donated and packed personal protective equipment (second image above right) for the Springfield Police Department to provide to the homeless.
  • Club members installed flags for our Flag Service Project earlier in May to honor soldiers and also to recognize all the frontline health care and other essential workers who are working during the pandemic.   
  • In May, Chatham Satellite Club members helped Clean the Village of Chatham (third image above centered).
  • In June, the Chatham Satellite Club partnered with Bickford of Springfield and participated in their Chalk the Walk for Father’s Day
We launched our first project for the 2020-2021 Rotary on July 15, Club members (image below) and other volunteers cleaned up brush and litter at the IMagicNation property in Springfield and donated books for the Little Library (constructed and donated by Club member Neal Miller) that was installed there.  
 
If you like doing community service, please consider joining our club.
The New Normal Series

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.
Read more...
Springfield Rotary Foundation 2020 Grants

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.
          
Read more...
Story Direct for Rotary International
How we got there: WHO African region is certified free of wild poliovirus

In a challenging time, Rotary members and partners have shown drive in overcoming challenges.

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Upcoming Events
  • Club Meeting
    Hybrid: Maldaners Upstairs and Online
    Mar 01, 2021
    5:30 PM - 6:45 PM
  • Club Board Meeting
    Mar 08, 2021
    4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
  • Club Meeting
    Hybrid: Maldaners Upstairs and Online
    Mar 08, 2021
    5:30 PM - 6:45 PM
  • International Service Committee
    Mar 15, 2021
    4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
  • Club Meeting
    Hybrid: Maldaners Upstairs and Online
    Mar 15, 2021
    5:30 PM - 6:45 PM
  • Club Meeting
    Hybrid: Maldaners Upstairs and Online
    Mar 22, 2021
    5:30 PM - 6:45 PM
  • Membership Committee
    Mar 23, 2021
    6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
  • Club Meeting
    Hybrid: Maldaners Upstairs and Online
    Mar 29, 2021
    5:30 PM - 6:45 PM
  • Club Meeting
    Hybrid: Maldaners Upstairs and Online
    Apr 05, 2021
    5:30 PM - 6:45 PM
  • Club Board Meeting
    Apr 12, 2021
    4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
View More...
Photo Albums
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
Download Files
Club Ryla Information
Membership Application
Record Your Rotary Service Hours
2020 Rotary Citrus Flyer
Threads Newsletter
2020-2021 Ridgely School Supplies
Rotary 2020-2021 Scholarship Opportunities
2020 Rotary Foundation Grant Application
Connect for Good
First 100 years of Rotary in Springfield
Newsletters
February 25, 2021 Newsletter
Feb 25, 2021
February 18, 2021 Newsletter
Feb 18, 2021
February 11, 2021 Newsletter
Feb 11, 2021

The Rotary Club of Springfield, Illinois

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