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Building Peace and Fighting Racism

Posted by Jim Applegate

Editors Note: Jim Applegate, Chair of our Club's Peace Builder Committee (second from right in image below), spoke about our Peace Builders Committee and the Social Justice Sewing Academy at our July 8 Club Meeting. At that meeting, District Governor Dan O'Brien (second from left) and past District Governor, Bill Durall (far right), presented President Megan Reynolds and Jim Applegate with a Rotary International Certificate recognizing our Club as a Rotary International Peace Builder Club (image below). We are very proud to be recognized for our peace-building efforts.

Our Club's Peace Builders Committee secured grants from the Healing Racism in Illinois Program (https://fieldfoundation.org/healingillinois) and the Rotary Literacy Grant program to create a partnership with the Social Justice Sewing Academy (SJSA) (www.sjsacademy.org) and The Outlet (www.theoutletillinois.org) supporting an SJSA academy for the African American young men and boys (as well as some of their parents, grandparents, and young girls) served by The Outlet. The Outlet largely serves youth in families without present fathers.

For three nights about 25 participants (a) talked about what it means to be an African American male in Springfield and America (b) worked with SJSA staff and experienced quilters to translate the ideas and emotions sparked by those discussions into visual images imprinted onto quilt squares and (c) created artist statements expressing what their squares meant to them (images above and on left provided by The Outlet). Each of the young men were given a copy of the book “Stitching Stolen Lives” authored by one of our SJSA partners (image below provided by The Outlet) and a picture of themselves with their square.

The insights and high level of engagement of participants was amazing to hear and see. One retired veteran teacher/quilter called it “one of the most meaningful things I have ever done.” Everyone involved from SJSA organizers to Outlet staff, to Rotary and quilter volunteers came away in awe of the young men’s work as well as energized and motivated to make sure their message was heard far and wide to spark change.

These squares have been transformed into a beautiful full-sized quilt by SJSA. With support from a second Club Grant from Rotary District 6460, the Peace Builders Committee is organizing community events where the quilt will be displayed, and recordings of the young men talking about their work will be presented to leaders and citizens across Springfield. The goal of these events is to spark community conversations about what Springfield needs to do to address the issues raised by these young men and their quilt and build greater peace in our community. The first event will take place at The Outlet, which will be the ultimate home for the quilt.

The Springfield Outlet-Rotary quilt will also be loaned for displays at national quilting expositions and museums along with the estimated 45 other community quilts created to date by SJSA to give voice to those who are often not heard by their communities and country.

Mark Forinash Recognized as Community Paul Harris
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Our Club's Paul Harris Fellow Committee selected Mark Forinash of Cafe Moxo as our 2025 Paul Harris Fellow and recognized his team for their service to the community. In his citation, Club member Bob Stuart (image on left) noted that "Mark and his team are rising stars in the community. He and his team epitomize Rotary dedication to the community through vocational and community service at it's finest." We presented a Paul Harris Fellow Certificate, Medallion, and Pin to Mark Forinash and also recognized the contributions of his team at our Annual RI Foundation Night on February 24 (images below).

Mark and his Cafe Moxo Team have made numerous contributions to the community. In April 2020, Cafe Moxo started feeding breakfast and lunch to those in need from their Adams Street location in Downtown Springfield. It wasn’t long before they realized that there were more people who needed help than what they initially realized. After establishing a drive-through, pick-up system, Cafe Moxo later delivered meals to some who were homeless and staying in local hotels. Cafe Moxo also provided meals to The Salvation Army and local churches, even on Sunday’s when the restaurant was normally closed.

“This is an opportunity to really come together and put words into action. It’s all about giving back to the community that’s given so much to us [Cafe Moxo],” Forinash said about the food giveaways.

Mark Forinash, the owner of Cafe Moxo, sprinted down the sidewalk along East Adams Street with a replenished box of bagged meals as the restaurant delivered them to anyone in need on Sunday, November 15, 2020. Forinash, along with his wife Shawna, and general manager Brandon Hughes gave out 500 meals in twenty minutes on that day.

After the 2024 Adams Street fire forced their downtown location to close, Forinash noted that "Our goal is to keep every employee on staff....We are 100% taking care of our employees; that’s non-negotiable for my wife, Shawna, and I. These are the people who make downtown what it is.”

In response to the Adams Street fire, he and his team continued to serve the community. "We used those hours that were traditionally used in the restaurant to work at the Breadline, St. Martin de Porres, and Washington Street Mission." He pledged that “We’ll go around downtown and pick up trash and remove graffiti or paint, do things to really help out the city. There’s no reason why we can’t use this time efficiently. We’re going to put our people to work; these guys need something to do.”

The fire and structural damage and the demolition of the proximal building ultimately forced Forinash to make the decision to relocate the business from their down location. Fortunately they reopened this spring at their new location on Chatham Road. We expect that their dedication to the community will continue from this new location!

Donation of Oranges to the Central Illinois Foodbank

Since 2013, Springfield Rotarians and their customers have purchased oranges for donation to the Central Illinois Foodbank as part of the annual Rotary Citrus Sale Fundraiser. Our club takes the lead in the fundraiser, and Bill Smith manages the citrus warehouse in the Underfanger Moving and Warehouse in Springfield. In 2024, the Rotary South and Rotary Sunrise Clubs again participated in the Citrus Sale and the donation of oranges to the Foodbank. This year, these three Rotary Clubs donated 162 40 lb. cartons containing about 22,000 oranges to the Foodbank.

The Central Illinois Foodbank picked up the three full palettes of oranges from our Citrus Warehouse on December 4 (lead image). Bill Smith, Bonnie Styles, and Kevin Johnson met the Foodbank staff and vehicles at the Warehouse. Because the palettes of oranges were too heavy to all be loaded into the Foodbank Truck, Kevin Johnson loaded two pallets into the truck (image above) and one into the van (lead image and images below). Special thanks are due to Karleen Wagoner, Food Acquisition Manager, and Wes Ridgeway, Program Manager, for the Foodbank for picking up the oranges the day after they arrived in Springfield and for figuring out how to fit them all into their vehicles! The abundance of oranges was a good problem to have.

The Foodbank will deliver the oranges to foodbanks who distribute them to those in need. Bill Smith has described the benefits of the program for the Rotary Clubs, the Foodbank, and those in need of food as a win-win situation. Rotarians and their customers buy the nutritious citrus to eat, gift, and donate to the Foodbank during the holiday season. 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 citrus by Rotarians, including the oranges purchased for direct donation to the Foodbank, support Rotary Community Grans that help combat hunger, promote literacy, build peace, and meet other community needs.

Community Service Projects

Service Above Self is Our Mantra!

Under the leadership of our Community Service Directors, 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, working with individuals experiencing homelessness, fighting racism, building peace, 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 our little library at our adopted school Ridgely Elementary (first image below), and little libraries at four other locations in Springfield, including the old firehouse (second image below). We have also provided supplies and donated monies to purchase supplies for Ridgely and other schools, and provided community grants for a variety of literacy and other projects.

For one project we assisted individuals experiencing homelessness 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 develop and implement along with the 3 three other Springfield Rotary Clubs.

We have secured Rotary District 6460 Club and Literacy grants to support a wide variety of community projects. One Rotary District 6460 literacy grant supported a partnership with Delta Sigma Theta Sorority to pack backpacks with books, educational toys, and puppets (images below) to deliver to Springfield agencies who work with preschool children who are experiencing homelessness. Another of our Rotary District 6460 literacy grants allowed us to purchase books for Black Hawk School so the Reading is Fundamental Program could be expanded to include younger students, and Rotarians participated in the project by reading books to students.

For our popular Flag Service Project, we install flags throughout our community (image below) for customers who pay a small subscription fee. The flags are put in place for patriotic holidays (Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, and Patriots Day). This project helps make our community red-white-and blue, and the proceeds support grants to nonprofits for projects that support community needs.

Our annual Citrus Sale (first image below) is a major fundraiser supporting charitable grants made by our Springfield Rotary Foundation. We purchase fresh oranges and grapefruits and sell them to our customers just in time for the holiday season. In recent years, our Citrus Campaigns have been dedicated to the memory of John Montgomery, a member of our club for over 53 years who passed away in 2009. The proceeds from the citrus sales support our community grants program. Over $1.4 million in grants have been provided to local charities through this annual event. Club members also purchase oranges for Ridgely School so each student can enjoy a nutritious orange to have with their lunch. Our members and customers also purchase oranges for the donation to the Central Illinois Foodbank (second image below) through this program so it's a win-win situation.

Our member volunteers annually purchase Angel Tree gifts for the Rutledge Youth Foundation, ring the bells for the Salvation Army (image below), and a whole lot more!

For the last two years, we have volunteered for the United Way's Day of Action in the Spring and the Fall (image below).

We also volunteer and donate to assist with disaster relief efforts in the United States. 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 (image below) for distribution to Kentucky flood victims. Our club also donated funds to the assist in the delivery expenses for the products.

We also participate in disaster relief, clean water, and other projects across the World. We participate in fundraisers and projects for the eradication of polio for the Rotary International PolioPlus Initiative. Our club contributes funds to PolioPlus from our annual March Madness Fundraiser, and members also donate to the fund as individuals. We have also contributed to Rotary International disaster relief in Ukraine, a Rotary District 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.

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