The Rotary Club of
Springfield
 

January 13, 2022 Newsletter

Mark your calendar and purchase your tickets for the Springfield Frontiers International 47th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast at the Wyndham Springfield City Center on January 17, 2022. We will be participating in the Breakfast and will not have our regular club meeting at Maldaners on Jaunary 17. 
President Barry's Message
 
 
Rotary Leadership Institute Training on February 15
If you are looking to sharpen your leadership skills, the Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) is offering a Zoom session on February 15 from 5:30 to 8:10P p.m. The cost is $15.00 and we are looking for two members to attend this session.
 
RLI seeks to have Rotary Clubs in its member districts identify those Rotarians who appear to have the potential for future club leadership (not necessarily as club presidents) and provide those so identified with a quality education in Rotary knowledge and leadership skills that are so important to volunteer organizations.
 
The actual Rotary Leadership Institute event is a series of fast-paced, interactive, one-day courses offered to refine a Rotarian’s leadership skills and increase their base of knowledge in Rotary.
 
Courses are fun, topical, interactive, and geared toward busy business and professional persons who want to be more effective leaders in their vocation and club and more knowledgeable Rotarians.
 
If you are interested, please let us know and you can register for the session at www.RLIHOA.org
 
2022 Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast on January 17
As many of you know, fellow Rotarian Robert Moore who is also a member of the Frontiers International Group has invited our club members to this special event and breakfast. This breakfast celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. and during this breakfast you will hear Dr. Charles Person speak (see story and link below). If you are interested, please reach out to me or Robert Moore so that we can get you a seat for this special breakfast. The cost is $30.00, and it will be something that you will not want to miss.
2022 Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast
Robert Moore has invited club members to participate in the Frontiers International Springfield Club's  47th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast. The breakfast will be held in person on Monday, January 17, 2022 at 8:30 a.m. at the Wyndham Springfield City Center at 700 E. Adams. Please participate in this important community event. We hope enough participants from our Club will purchase tickets to reserve at least two tables. Bob Moore already has a table and is looking for more Rotarians to share it. Please let Barry Tobias (btobias@cisco.com) know if you are planning to attend so we can get a count for our tables. To purchase a $30 ticket, contact Bob Moore (rma.moore@yahoo.com). Tickets will also be available at the door.
 
Frontiers International has scheduled Dr. Charles Person to speak. Dr. Person was the youngest of the original 13 Freedom Riders sponsored by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). He was on the Trailways bus attacked in Anniston and Birmingham. Click on Dr. Person Bio to see a full copy of his inspirational biography, which we copied from the Frontiers International Springfield Club Website. 
 
Club members are supporting the breakfast through the purchase of breakfast tickets. Our club also purchased a $175 ad in the event booklet to show our long-term support for the Frontiers International Springfield Club and this important memorial tribute to Martin Luther King Jr.
 
As noted above, because club members will be participating in the breakfast, we will not be holding our regular evening club meeting at Maldaners Upstairs on January 17.
This I Believe Essay Program Underway
 
 
The 2022 This I Believe Essay Program is underway now. National Public Radio Illinois (NPR 919 UIS) has sponsored this program since 2007 with support from numerous sponsors (see logo above) including The Rotary Club of Springfield Sunrise and the State Journal-Register. The program invites high school seniors to write and submit an essay that expresses their beliefs that guide their lives. The essays are reviewed and finalist are selected. The Rotary Club of Springfield Sunrise provides a scholarship to selected finalists. The State Journal-Register publishes the selected essays in the Newspaper, and NPR  runs and streams recordings of the selected essayists reading their essays on their website (nprillinois.org, Community Voices tab). Covid-permitting there is also an evening live and live-streamed event where the selected essayists read their essays. 
 
The essays are always heartfelt and reaffirming of the potential of the younger generation. If you know a high school senior, who would like to participate, guidelines and instructions are provided under the Community Voices tab on the NPR Illinois website at the link noted above. Essays are due on January 27, and finalists are selected in early February, essays are presented in the SJ-R (Feb. 18 and 25) and on NPR (Feb. 14-18, Feb. 21-25), and the evening event is slated for March 30.
 
Harry Mitchell has suggested that our Club might consider ways to partner for this exciting program.  
2022 Volunteer Opportunities
Ridgely School Micropantry
Volunteers are needed to monitor and stock the pantry for the last two weeks in February and for March. The image on the left shows the micropantry at Ridgely School. Thanks to Bonnie Styles for monitoring and stocking the Ridgely School micropantry during the first two weeks in January and to Harry Mitchell for taking the last two weeks in January. Please consider signing up for a two week shift.  
 
Little Libraries
There will also be opportunities to assist with our Little Libraries by sorting and stocking books. The image below shows the Little Library at Ridgely Elementary School. Details will follow soon from Nicole Kinkelaar.
 
 
Thanks to all of you who volunteered for our numerous service projects in 2021! 
 
Contact Vicki at megginson.vicki@gmail.com if you wish to:
Help stock the Ridgely School Micropantry and Nicole Kinkelaar if you are interested in helping with the Little Libraries
Suggestions for Pantries from People Who Use Pantries
We are repeating a list of suggestions of foods and other items to stock in the Ridgely Food Pantry. These suggestions came from people who use food pantries to help feed their families. 
 
1. Everyone donates Kraft Mac and Cheese in the box. They can rarely use it because it needs milk and butter, which is difficult to get from regular food banks.
2. Boxed milk is a treasure, as kids need it for cereal, which they also get a lot of.
3. Everyone donates pasta sauce and spaghetti noodles.
4. They cannot eat all the awesome canned veggies and soup unless you put a can opener in too or buy pop tops.*
5. Oil is a luxury and needed for Rice a-Roni, which they also get a lot of.
6. Spices or salt and pepper would be a real Holiday gift.
7. Tea bags and coffee make them feel like you care.
8. Sugar and flour are treats.
9. They fawn over fresh produce donated by farmers and grocery stores.
10. Seeds are cool in Spring and Summer because growing can be easy for some.
11. They rarely get fresh meat.
12. Tuna and crackers make a good lunch.
13. Hamburger Helper goes nowhere without ground beef.
14. They get lots of peanut butter and jelly but usually not sandwich bread.
15. Butter or margarine is nice too.
16. Eggs are a real commodity.
17. Cake mix and frosting makes it possible to make a child’s birthday cake.
18. Dishwashing detergent is very expensive and is always appreciated.
19. Feminine hygiene products are a luxury and women will cry over that.
20. Everyone loves Stove Top Stuffing.
 
* At our November 29 club meeting, Ross Hodel reported that he followed this advice and stocked numerous can openers in the Ridgely Pantry. He noted that they were quickly snapped up.
Encourage Membership in Rotary
Do you know or are you someone who has a passion to give back to your community? The Rotarians in this image are helping pack essential items for the Illinois Police Department to give to homeless individuals in our community. As a Rotarian, you adhere to the principles of the 4-way Test., which are:
  • Is it the Truth? 
  • Is it Fair to all concerned? 
  • Will it build Good Will and Better Friendships?  
  • Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?  
If you find value in these ideals and want to be part of a great organization, right click on the attached link to open our Membership Application in a new window. You can also download a copy of the Membership Application from our Club's website Home Page (www.spirotary.org) in the Download Files section. You can send the completed application to the Membership Committee at illinoisdelta@hotmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you! 
 
Regards, 

Downtown Rotary Membership Committee
 
Thank you. 

Travis
 
Record Your Service Hours and Contributions
Please remember to report your service hours and related contributions. Just follow this link:
 
 
Please email images of service activities to Bonnie Styles at bonstyles@yahoo.com. It's easy to take pictures if you have a smartphone, but even an old style camera works just fine. Send me an email (bonstyles@yahoo.com) to let me know when you will be volunteering for a service project, and I will come out and take some images. The image below shows David Fowler with supplies Rotarians are storing and delivering to local organizations in Kentucky following the devastating tornadoes there.    
 
 
 
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