Start the holidays off early by joining us for an off-site Social Night at Abe's Hideout in Springfield on November 25! We wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and extend special thanks to the Rotary Club of Hazleton for this beautiful image. After the Thanksgiving holiday, we will gather at Maldaners Upstairs for a December 2 presentation by Mike Herman, the new Athletic Director at UIS. On November 18, Mike Murphy updated us the activities of the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce. On November 11, Erica Smith gave us a heartfelt description of her recent experience in Ukraine for the distribution of medical supplies by Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach. The stories below and Upcoming Programs and Events provide for more information on all of these topics.
Erica Smith, Executive Director of Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach gave an inspirational presentation on her experience and observations in Ukraine for the distribution of medical supplies from her organization (image above). John Webb provides an excellent summary of this work in his article below. I was happy to present her with our Rotary Mug (image to left) and encouraged her to consider rejoining our Rotary Club. She was a member in the distant past.
Mike Murphy Presentation on the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce
At our November 18 Mike Murphy, President and CEO of the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce spoke about the myriad of initiatives underway by the Springfield Chamber of Commerce (image below). Check out the story below by John Webb for more information on this exciting presentation.
November 25 Off-site Social Night at Abe's Hideout!
Please don't miss this opportunity to gather with Rotary friends for another off-site Social Night! Abe's Hideout (image below) is located 1t 2301 S. Dirksen Parkway in Springfield. Since 2009, this restaurant has been known for its diverse menu and home-made recipes. There specialty is their char-broiled hamburgers, but also serve seafood dishes including shrimp and salmon, as well as home-made pastas and soups. We will start gathering around 5:00 p.m. I hope to see you there.
Mike Herman Featured Speaker for December 2
Please join us at Maldaners Upstairs for our December 2 club meeting. Mike Herman, the New UIS Athletic Director, will talk about new developments on and off the playing fields at UIS. He will discuss how improvements in UIS Athletic Programs, including new personnel and new facilities, enhance the UIS mission to be excellent in all areas. The UIS considers athletes as students first so they are expected to be committed to academic excellence and good citizenship.
Club Holiday Party will be held on December 17!
It official! Our annual Holiday Party has been scheduled for Tuesday, December 17. We will hold our event at the Christ the King Parrish Hall in Springfield. A delicious meal will again be provided by Chef Randy Williams. The Williamsville Madrigals will provide our musical entertainment. Mark your calendar now, and don't miss this wonderful chance to celebrate the holidays. Stay tuned for more details.
When we meet at Maldaner's, please submit your reservations for dinner! Click on the link embedded below and enter the date, your name, dine in/carry out and number of meals being consumed in the restaurant and/or carried out prior to each meeting. Preferably, everyone will fill out the form by noon on the Friday before the upcoming meeting. We have given Jesse at Maldaner's access to the view, so it will help him with planning. As always, we will direct him to have a few additional servings available for members who forget or last minute guests.
The same link will work for the entire Rotary year and will be shared within each Newsletter, so do not delete the Newsletter until you have submitted your dinner information. Please remember that the three most recent Newsletters can also be accessed from the Website Home Page (www.spirotary.org) so you can also access the link for reservations from the Website Home Page (www.spirotary.org).
At our November 18th meeting at Upstairs Maldaners, Mike Murphy, President and CEO of The Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce (GSCC) provided our Club with an update on their initiatives that enable the Chamber to enhance its members’ success and advocate on their behalf (image below).
With approximately 1,300 members, the GSCC is the second largest chamber in Illinois.
The GSCC is a U.S. Chamber of Commerce 5-star accredited chamber and one of only six in Illinois. Accredited with 5 stars is the highest rating, and it signifies that the GSCC meets high standards in operations, programs, governance, and other areas across a comprehensive review process.
Mike explained that the GSCC aims to be a voice for business and an advocate for the wellbeing of our community and its economy. This result is accomplished through the following functions:
(1) Advocacy, which is accomplished via federal, state, and local elected official events and forums.
The GSCC also has partnered with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation to host a National Civics Bee. This civics competition encourages 6th, 7th, and 8th graders to engage in civics and contribute to their communities.
(2) Business Resources & Support, which encompasses events like an economic outlook breakfast, a disaster recovery seminar, job fairs, and an update magazine.
(3) Leadership & Professional Development, which includes:
• Leadership Springfield - 14 week series of half day programs during which participants gain leadership skills and in-depth exposure to critical issues affecting the Springfield area.
• RISE Springfield - Real Interactions Support Education (RISE) Springfield is the GSCC young professionals networking group that is designed to engage emerging business leaders ages 21-39.
• Ask HR Seminar
(4) Visibility & Connections That Matter, which are interactive events that GSCC members both sponsor and participate in to enable members to receive increased exposure and visibility. These events include, but are not limited to, the GSCC annual gala, Small Business Awards, and the Corporate Cup Challenge (golf tournament).
Our Club is thankful for the work President Murphy and the GSCC puts in to ensure the success of its business partnerships and vitality of our community. We wish them continued success.
On Veterans Day, our Club learned about the medical supply and distribution services provided by Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach from the organization’s Executive Director, Erica Smith. Erica’s presentation highlighted Mission Outreach’s ongoing efforts in the Ukraine.
Mission Outreach, an affiliate of Hospital Sisters Health Systems (HSHS), addresses the unmet medical needs of people in low resource communities around the world by collecting, repairing, packaging and distributing medical supplies and equipment to hospitals and clinics worldwide.
In 2023, Mission Outreach sent 114 shipments of medical supplies and equipment that helped hospitals and clinics with a combined population service area of 28 million people in low-resource areas around the world.
To date, hospitals and clinics in 101 countries have been better able to meet the clinical healthcare demand of their patients after receiving medical supplies and equipment from Mission Outreach.
Erica focused upon Mission Outreach efforts to provide needed medical supplies and equipment to Ukrainian hospitals and clinics.
Mission Outreach has shipped five 40’ containers of requested medical supplies and equipment to urban and rural Ukrainian hospitals and clinics during the Ukrainian war. These items include EKG/ECG units and trauma, surgical, and general medical supplies.
These need medical supplies are valued by the Ukrainian healthcare providers because, not only are they needed, but they are of higher quality to properly diagnose and treat their patients than what can be accessed and obtained because of the war.
Erica recently spent 3 weeks in Ukraine, and the map below shows the areas that received medical equipment and supplies from Hospital Sisters Mission and that she visited on her trip.
Erica highlighted visiting two rural hospitals (images below) that received some of the equipment provided by Mission Outreach. While thankful for the equipment, hospital and community leaders stated still more equipment is needed. These hospitals are struggling to sustain quality healthcare within their communities due to an influx of displaced persons from battle zones and both civilians and soldiers wounded by war.
She finished by articulating to us the following realizations after her interactions with Ukrainian physicians, health care administrators, and other community leaders during her time in the Ukraine:
1. The importance of established relationships are vital in sustaining the health and wellbeing of many, many people in communities throughout the Ukraine;
2. Internal displacement (in some cases homelessness) further stresses already overwhelmed Ukrainian healthcare systems’ ability to provide care within communities;
3. Multiple layers of trauma, including secondary trauma caused by interactions with people who had suffered trauma, are an everyday occurrence being dealt with in Ukrainian communities; and,
4. Traumatized people continue to care for others and that problems caused by the war will go on for a very long time.
Mission Outreach continues to support recovery and rebuild efforts in Ukraine, even as the war continues.
Our Club commends Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach for its continued, impactful efforts to improve health outcomes for individuals and communities in the Ukraine and throughout our world.
The Springfield Downtown Rotary Club was recently designated the first Peace Builder Club in the District by Rotary International. For the last two years the club focused on teaching financial literacy to low-income youth, supporting efforts to eliminate homelessness in the next five to seven years, and launching a program to combat the toxic effects of racism in Springfield.
The Club worked with Goodwill to deliver financial literacy programs to low-income youth. We are now in conversation with the Illinois State Treasurer’s office to deliver their many financial literacy resources to those who need them.
Following that effort, the Club joined with “Helping Hands,” a key player in the fight against homelessness in Springfield, to provide access to computing resources to their clients in a new expanded facility. This was crucial to connecting them to jobs, family, writing resumes, and more. Computer Banc in Springfield, a non-profit led by a fellow Rotarian, and Central Baptist Church partnered with us to provide high quality refurbished laptops with proper security and printers.
The Peace Builders Committee has visited the new, expanded Helping Hands facility. We seek to be a continuing part the community effort to eliminate homelessness.
The third, and largest, peace building initiative addresses the toxic effects of racism. The club secured grants from “Healing Racism in Illinois” (https://fieldfoundation.org/healingillinois) and a 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 (as well as some of their parents and grandparents) served by The Outlet. The Outlet serves youth without present fathers.
For three nights 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. Each of the young men were given a copy of the book “Stitching Stolen Lives” authored by one of our SJSA partners and a picture of themselves with their square.
These squares will be transformed into a beautiful full-sized quilt by SJSA. The Springfield Outlet/Rotary quilt be on display 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.
The club will organize community events this year where the quilt will be displayed locally, and the young men will talk about their work with leaders and citizens across Springfield. The goal of these events is to spark community conversations and ACTION to address the issues raised by these young men and their quilt and build peace by reducing the impact of racism.
The insights and high level of engagement of participants was amazing to hear and see. We heard inspirational and heartbreaking stories. 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.
Downtown Springfield IL Rotary recently became the first designated Rotary Peace Builders Club in our district. It took time but the rewards have been rich and promise to increase, as we grow partnerships with the International Rotary Action Group for Peace and like clubs around the world. Dr. Jim Applegate, co-chair of the club Peacebuilders Committee that spearheaded the work said, “what we discovered is that peace building work is at the heart of what Rotary is all about. We learned from groups across our community as we tackled tough issues like racism, homelessness, and financial literacy. We realized that the key to real change is partnership with these groups.”
Club President Megan Reynolds spoke to the value of the peace building work in this way, “As the President of the Rotary Club of Springfield-Downtown, I am immensely proud of our club for raising the bar for others as we embrace our designation as the first Rotary Peace Builders Club in our district. This journey has deepened our commitment to collaborative solutions, fostering partnerships that tackle pressing issues like racism and homelessness. We are excited to continue our work, not just building peace, but creating lasting change that resonates throughout our community."
At the outset the club wasn’t ready to jump feet first into a club designation, so it formed a peace builders committee. Over the last two plus years that committee met with community partners dealing with poverty, homelessness, racism, and other needs of neighbors who were struggling. Armed with that information we went through a series of exercises to prioritize our work, set goals, and identify partners. We knew in most cases our club would not be the “lead” dog. Others had more expertise and resources. But we could be a part of the solution team.
In another article the actual work Peace Building work done will be described in detail. Here the focus is on the lessons learned in making a successful Peace Builder CLUB.
Create your projects from a base of knowledge that extends beyond your club. Your conversations with others will educate even the most veteran Rotarians about your community. Please do not just “come up” with an idea on your own that your club is totally comfortable with. It will not go as far or do as much good.
Commit to partnerships, outside your comfort zone. Dealing with threats to community peace requires difficult conversations within and outside the club.
Nothing should happen unless the club and your partners are totally on board.
Prioritize. If you have five priorities, you don’t have priorities. Do so with the people/time/money resources the club and its partners realistically can commit.
Report regularly to the club on the work. Build support, engage more members within and across clubs if there are more in your area.
Never embark on a project until you are clear on what success will look like and agree on metrics to measure whether you are making progress toward that success.
It may sound like a lot of work, but it is fun and rewarding. On one of our projects with young African American men without fathers a veteran teacher called the experience “one of the most rewarding of her long career.” The comradery is real as are the benefits. Already, the work has helped us secure thousands of dollars in outside funding for peace building.
It is still early times. We look forward to attracting new (younger?) members, increasing external funding, expanding partnerships, connecting to global Rotary peace building resources, and making a difference in the problems that threaten the peace of our community. If Downtown Springfield Rotary can be of help, or you want to join us to see what is going on, contact our Peace Building Committee Chair, Dr. Jim Applegate, jameslapplegate@gmail.com.
Our club is famous for taking the 50-50 drawing to the end! We are a club of generous losers. We were down to only six cards, and we still had three more losers. Here are the faces of defeat:
And then, there was Roger who selected the winning card from the three remaining cards. He also generously agree to leave about half the monies in the pot! Congratulations to Roger.
Twenty two members attended our Club Assembly on Monday, October 28 and participated in discussions regarding the challenges we face with a declining members (image below). Those attending participated in lively discussions. Discussions took place at each of the four tables dealing with three topics: the strengths of our club, the weaknesses of our club, and ideas to attract new members. This article presents the outcomes from these discussions. I also sent members a Clubrunner email with this information.
Club Strengths (as stated by the four groups)
Note: * indicates more than one group listed this topic
Participation *
Diversity *
Comradery and fellowship *
Loyalty
Flexibility
Civic minded *
Generous philanthropists *
Welcoming & committed members
Veteran club leadership
Hardworking
International / National presence
Peacebuilders designation
Robust Speakers *
Continuity of members
Can do attitude
Well-funded club foundation
Good public exposure through fund raisers
Quality of meals and comfortable location for hospitality
Club Weaknesses (as stated by the four groups)
Note: * indicates more than one group listed this topic
Lack of ethnic / racial diversity
Communicating our value / work to the community
Attrition – aging members *
Declining membership
Financial: high cost of dues plus meals and expectation of outside contributions *
Resistant to change, skeptical of new ideas
Overwhelming work on new members
Burnout for labor
Lack of understanding of how Rotary works for new members
Behind the times on social media and public relations
Volunteer opportunities not well attended
Time and location of meetings *
Lack of public awareness
Number of clubs in Springfield
Lack of corporate memberships
Not introducing potential members
Internal conflicts with work and other organizations
Insufficient interaction with other Springfield clubs
Declining coverage of local news
Ideas for Attracting New Members
These were the best ideas brought forward from each table’s discussion. They are ranked by the number of votes cast for each idea. Twenty one members voted (as facilitator, I abstained) with each member allowed to cast 4 votes. No member could vote for any idea more than once. A total of 84 votes were cast (image below)
.
Members Ideas for Attracting New Members
The number of votes for each idea is shown (21 voting – 4 votes each) in ranked order:
Social Media – expand (IG, snapchat, threads), expand all media (12 votes)
Identify companies who may be open to discussions on corporate memberships (11 votes)
Change time of meeting so fewer conflicts with family obligations (10 votes)
Set grant recipient expectations: engagement, year round promotion, social media, co-branded volunteer opportunities (9 votes)
Open house reception / party with food and drink for potential new members (7 votes)
Consider potential Rotary club mergers (6 votes)
Advertise on flag lights (5 votes)
Look for members who would be part of the peace work and honor flight (5 votes)
Provisional membership for non-members to return to more meetings (4 votes)
Engage district membership committee to identify resources to increase membership and clubs that are successful to learn from them (4 votes)
financial incentive (discount for first year) (4 votes)
Branded attire for flag deployment (3 votes)
Create “new member” campaign (3 votes)
Springfield magazine (1 vote)
Note: 21 members cast 4 votes each or 84 votes (Total votes=84)
The following suggestions received no votes:
Forums in the community to find out what potential members want from a service club
Start using a tagline
QR code in Illinois Times and business cards
Utilize GSCC Membership for visibility events
What’s next?
A second Assembly will be held on Monday, December 9. Attracting new members is important but retaining and engaging members is also critical. Retaining and Engaging will be the topic of the December 9 Assembly.
A Membership Work Group has been formed to take the outputs of the Assemblies and turn them into actionable plans. The Group is made up of President Megan, Immediate Past President Travis, President Elect John, and Past President Barry who is a member of the District 6460 Membership Committee. This group will make recommendations to the Board regarding Membership related plans. As was pointed out Monday, if we decide to expand our efforts supporting these ideas, we may have to stop some of our current activity. The Work Group will also have to be cognizant of this fact.
What can you do? First, if at all possible, you should plan to attend the December 9 Assembly. Second, if you have interest in one or more of the topics that this week received a high number of votes, please let Megan, Travis, John, Barry or me know. Third, we can all do a better job of inviting folks to be our guest at a meeting.
Thanks again to all who participated on Monday. As always, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.
Allison Montney notified us that she attended the 100+ Who Care in Springfield Charity Event at the Ace Sign Company on Thursday, October 17, 2024. Attendees that donate $100 get to nominate a non-profit organization that they would like to be a recipient of up to $10,000. Three names are then randomly drawn. The nominators for three nonprofits that are drawn then do a brief talk to those in attendance about their organization and what they do for the community. Attendees who donated then do a blind vote for the non-profit they would like to see win. Allison noted that her donation enabled her to nominate a nonprofit, and she nominated our Rotary Club. John Webb also donated $100 and also nominated our Club, but was unable to attend the event. Our name was drawn; Allison discussed what we do for the community; and we finished second in the vote, thus winning $2,000 for our Club. As her membership in the 100+ Who Care attests, Allison actively serves her community. The image below shows Allison (on left) with President Megan volunteering with our Rotary club for the United Way Day of Action Spring event. She also coordinates the stocking of our club's little libraries and our Ridgely School Micropantry. We appreciate her nominating and promoting our club at this event.
Thank you Allison! Thanks to your generous action, we received $2,000 for our club! We are thankful for this donation and will put it too use for the good of the community.
On a smaller note, because our citrus fundraiser was highlighted in the verbal presentation on our Club, we also garnered a $60 purchase of mixed citrus from one of the 100+ Board members. John Webb took the order. We thank John for also nominating our club and for selling citrus to one of the members of this group.
At a recent club meeting, a Board Member of 110+ presented President Megan Reynolds with our check for $2000. We are thankful for this donation.
For the last 20+ years Rutledge Youth Foundation has coordinated an Angel Tree for the youth we serve. At first, it was more focused on the boys living in our group home but as the foster care and intact programs grew, so did the scope of our angel tree. The Rotary Club of Springfield has partnered with Rutledge for the Angel Tree for 10+ years. So, first we want to give you all our gratitude for partnering with us in this way.
Meeting the needs and wants of an angel provides the youth with a sense of normalcy this time of year. They feel cared for in the midst of their uncertain lives. Being involved in the child welfare system is not easy, as you can imagine. The holiday season adds an extra layer of discomfort. The generous act of providing presents at Christmas time can help these youth feel seen and known when they receive the presents they specifically wanted. Meeting these needs and wants also gives the parents and caregivers a sense of dignity and pride. Many of our parents and caregivers would not be able to provide these gifts without community support. Thank you on behalf of these families.
We have some Angels if you would like to partner with us again this year! We have close to 175 Angels in total this year. The greater Springfield community has been active in stepping up to cover much of this needbut we can't meet them all without you. I hope you connected with Heather or Marsha at the registration desk at our November 18 meeting to select an angel if you are interested. We also have an option to donate money for gifts through the Rutledge Youth Foundation Venmo account if you would rather not shop but you would like to support this program.
Thank you again for your generosity in the past and your continued support. We simply could not provide for these wants and needs without you.
The Red Kettle Kick-off challenge between the Rotary Club of Springfield and the Kiwanis Club is underway. The official launch was on November 16 at Scheels in Springfield, IL. President Megan Reynolds made the challenge, and the Kiwanis Club took it up. We will see which club is able to log in the most red kettle, bell-ringing service hours and raise the most monies for the Salvation Army. For the lead event we staffed the craft table at Scheels and some members helped with bell ringing. We had a great time!
Members should register for bell-ringing shifts on the Salvation Army's online at www.registertoring.com, and track your hours of service. On November 13, President Megan Reynolds sent our information through a ClubRunner email on how to sign up for our group. Here is the text for the email:
It's officially time for our long awaited Battle of the Bells! Please check out the November 13 ClubRunner Email from Megan Reynolds for a Word document and pdf instructing you on how to register to ring with our group. Please note that our group name is the Rotary Club of Springfield-Downtown.
Please register for as many shifts as you can between now and Christmas! Shifts are available all over the city, including Chatham and Sherman, and all different times of the day and evening.
Encourage others to ring under our group name and we will get credit for all their dollars raised!
Please let Megan know if you need help registered for a shift and she will be happy to walk you through it or register for you: www.registertoring.com.
Make sure to wear all your Rotary wear and take pictures! We WILL win the contest.
Please sign up and help us outcompete the Kiwanis Club.
Channeling their inner Betsy Ross, some of our Club’s Rotarians (Bill Sturm and John Webb) spent Halloween morning repairing flags with bent poles or torn flags to ensure their readiness for our 2025 Flag Service Program.
Flag service proceeds help finance our Club’s service projects.
While there is a “trick” or two to be applied during the repairs, it was a real “treat” knowing that when our Club’s Flag Service Program is deployed next year, these flags will fly straight, tall, and mighty!
Ken Gilmore and I attended the Compass for Kids Program Updates for Rotary Members on October 23, 2024 at their facility on South 4th Street.
They provided updates on the following three programs that serve disadvantaged, low income youth:
1. Club Compass - The original program designed to provide academic and social-emotional support to kindergarten through 5th grade students from 3 pm to 6 pm. There are currently 88 students in the program.
2. Youth Leadership Development Program (YLDP) - The newest program (2-years old) to prepare middle and high school Club Compass Alumni to prepare to graduate from high school and be ready for life afterwards. There are currently 25 youth in the program.
3. Camp Compass - In partnership with Public School District 186, it is a large summer program designed to prevent summer learning loss, close achievement & opportunity gaps, and provide a sense of belonging within a safe, supportive environment. The program recently received national recognition from the U.S. Department of Education as one of 13 “Engage Every Student” program champions in the nation and the only program from Illinois. This program served 924 students in 2024.
All three programs have experienced success in achieving and exceeding the stated goals.
The major takeaway from the update and the focus of the update relates to Camp Compass.
Camp Compass no longer has access to federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds. As a result, the program needs to raise $2 million dollars by late January in order to support 750 students at 5 school sites. Without this private funding, the Camp Compass program will face further significant service cutbacks. SEE pictures below for more details.
Compass for Kids seeks Rotary help in raising awareness about the program’s needs and providing financial support where possible.
At or September 30 club meeting, we launched our annual Citrus Drive: The John Montgomery Memorial Citrus Drive. Let me explain why we honor John Montgomery (image above) in this manner. We began honoring him after we started our fishing tournament in 2010. We were looking for a name for the tournament. It became the John Montgomery Memorial Fishing Tournament. The fishing tournament was interrupted in 2020 by the pandemic and has since been halted. We decided to continue honoring John by naming our annual citrus drive after him.
So, who was John Montgomery? Born in Mason City, he overcame a difficult life to become a leading citizen of Springfield. He was a WWII Army veteran. Following his military service, John began work as a postal carrier in Mason City. He then went to work at the Springfield Clinic. He eventually became the administrator, today he would be called the CEO. He held this position for thirty-five years. When he joined the clinic in 1955 there were only 30 doctors; when he retired, there were over 100 doctors. He laid the foundation for what today is the outreach of the Springfield Clinic.
John was active with church, medical and civic groups. He joined our club in 1956. He was a Paul Harris Fellow and a past president of our club. He had 53 years of perfect attendance as a Rotarian. He was president of our club for the 1965-1966 fiscal year. Under his leadership, the club made four decisions that even today impact the way we operate, he did so by:
Sponsoring the Rotary Club of Springfield South as the second Rotary Club
Holding the club’s first community fundraiser, which was an auction
Organizing donations to local charities
Establishing the Springfield Rotary Foundation
John Montgomery was born on December 10, 1923; he died on September 13, 2009 at the age of 85. Last December was the 100-year anniversary of his birth. From humble beginnings, to community leader, that was John Montgomery!
We are proud to remember John Montgomery as a wonderful citizen and Rotarian. We keep his memory alive through the John Montgomery Memorial Citrus Drive.
The annual John Montgomery Memorial Citrus Drive is underway and final sales need to be reported by November 11 (see my article earlier in this Newsletter). As noted at our November 4 meeting, we are going to have California oranges again this year.We are using California oranges because of their quality versus the high maintenance aspect of Florida oranges. And as you know, we couldn’t get Florida oranges last year and Florida oranges were not available again this year. The source of the grapefruit will not be Florida because of storm damage to the groves. We are working with Humphrey's Market to find a quality source for the grapefruit and they may come from a Texas grove. The cost for a large carton of California oranges is $8.00 to $10.00 higher than what we paid for a large carton of Florida oranges. Consequently, this year we have raised the price for all large citrus cartons to $60.00 except for grapefruit which will be $55.00 for a large carton. Accordingly, the price for all small citrus cartons will be $35.00 except for grapefruit small cartons which will remain at $30.00.
In selling citrus; the question remains: How do you convince a potential customer to buy a large quantity of citrus? First of all, the citrus will keep for an extended period of time, so it doesn’t have to be used in a short period. The oranges can last for five to six weeks; the grapefruit can last for ten to twelve weeks. If there is still resistance to buying the citrus, you can always present the idea of buying citrus for the foodbank. This choice provides citrus for food pantries, and the profit from the sale will be used to help other local charities.
This year’s Citrus Drive lasts for six weeks and concludes on Monday, November 11th. I hope you didn't wait until the last minute to get started. Good luck in your efforts to sell citrus!
The fruit will be delivered to and stored at the Underfanger Warehouse, 3601 Mayflower Boulevard in Springfield. Rotarians delivering fruit to customers and customers picking up their own fruit may do so on Friday, December 6, 2024 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday, December 7, 2024 from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Customers must bring their Customer Copy of the receipt for fruit pick-up.
Please remember that we are including some social night meetings at locations other than Maldaners. Please pay attention to the meeting schedule listed the Newsletter, on our website home page (www.spirotary.org), and on our Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram pages for the dates and locations of the meetings. I am in the process of scheduling speakers now and will provide more details as soon as they are available.
November 25, 2024 Off-Site Rotary Club Social Night, 5:00-6:45 p.m.
Abe's Hideout, 2301 South Dirksen Parkway, Springfield, IL 62703
Join us for a engaging evening with your Rotary colleagues.
December 2, 2024 Club Meeting at Maldaners Upstairs, 5:30-6:45 p.m.
Mike Herman, Director of UIS Athletics Program: New Developments at UIS on and off the Playing Field.
He will discuss how improvements in UIS Athletic Programs, including new personnel and new facilities, enhance the UIS mission to be excellent in all areas. The UIS considers athletes as students first so they are expected to be committed to academic excellence and good citizenship.
December 9, 2024 Club Meeting at Maldaners Upstairs, 5:30-6:45 p.m.
Harry Mitchell: Club Assembling on Retaining Members
December 16, 2024 No Rotary Club Meeting
December 17, 2024 Rotary Club Annual Holiday Party
Bill Sturm needs a few volunteers to help repair flags with bent poles or torn flags. Please consider volunteering to assist with this important project. Contact Bill Sturm via email at SturmDMD@hotmail.com. Please help us keep the flags in good shape like the one Roger Randolph is holding in the image above.
Springfield Public Schools need Real Men Read Volunteers!
You can make a big impact for less than an hour a month!! Join the Springfield Public Schools' expanding Real Men Read program! Volunteer to read to 1st or 3rd graders and inspire young minds. It’s easy—books and discussion ideas are provided, and your schedule is flexible!
The Springfield Public Schools offered an optional informational meeting on Thursday, September 12th at the District Office (3063 Fiat Ave, Springfield, IL). Regardless of whether or not you attended this meeting, you may still volunteer by signing up using the link. Let me know if you have any trouble signing up.
Little Libraries are free book exchanges that aim to expand book access within our communities. The prevailing concept of “take a book, share a book” reigns.
Our Club supports this literacy initiative and has helped build up the Little Library system in our community with support from a District Grant. We continue to help Little Libraries at five locations remain stocked with books. The locations are as follows:
1. St. John’s Breadline, 430 North 5th Street;
2. Springfield Firehouse No. 5/“The First Black Firehouse,” 1310 East Adams Street (shown in the image above);
3. Ridgely Elementary School, 2040 North 8th Street;
4. Enos Elementary School, 524 West Elliott Avenue; and
5. The Outlet, 3306 South 6th Street.
We have been visiting these Little Libraries and adding additional books to their existing stock. If you are interested in helping stock books, please contact Allie Montney at onedirtymartini@gmail.com. To keep the supply of books up-to-date, the club has announced a book drive to solicit book donations from club members on October 7 (see President's Comments and article below for details) and a book drive for community members will be scheduled later.
Here's your chance to be a pantry superhero! Join John Webb and I in stocking the Ridgely Elementary School micro pantry for two weeks. Your commitment will ensure that families and children have access to essential items when they need them most. Whether it's a can of soup, a box of cereal, or toiletries, your contribution will brighten someone's day. Reach out to Allie Montney at onedirtymartini@gmail.com or call 217-494-6901 to become a beacon of hope for those in need. Every item you place on those shelves is a small gesture that collectively makes a huge impact!
At our September 9 club meeting, a Food Pantry Volunteer Form was passed around. I’m glad to report we have 7 slots filled as well as some volunteers for April 2025. If you would like to pick up a shift, see the open slots below & e-mail onedirtymartini@gmail.com.
September 15 - September 30: Thank you, Ross Hodel
October 1 - 14: OPEN
October 15 - 28: Thank you, Ken Gilmore
October 29 - November 11: Bill Sturm
November 12 - 25: OPEN
November 26 - December 9: Harry Mitchell
December 10 - 23: Bonnie Styles
December 24 - January 6: Vicki Megginson
January 7 - 20: Steve Rudd
January 21 - February 3: OPEN
February 4 - February 17: Rod Buffington
February 18 - March 3: Bill Kempiners
April Dates: TBD Sheila Mack, Judith Pensoneau-Feurer, and potentially Connie Locher-Bussard
Thank you for signing up for a micro pantry volunteer shift. Your time and effort are greatly appreciated by the community we serve.
Below are the details including the location of the pantry, and suggestions on items to collect and distribute. If you are unable to complete your shift, please reach out and we'll work on a better period of time to meet your needs. If you have suggestions for future volunteers, please let me know and we'll adapt the program along the way.
Ridgely Elementary School
2040 North 8th Street
Springfield, IL 62702
Main entrance to the school (look for the yellow and purple pantry by the front doors).
The image below shows the location of the pantry at the entrance to the school.
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.
The image below shows a fully stocked pantry.
The image below shows me stocking an empty micropantry on June 4. Let me know if you are interested in taking a shift!
Micro Pantry Coordinator: Allie Montney with assistance from John Webb
Phone 217-494-6901 (for the quickest response, please text)
Things I've noticed that may be helpful: Stocking the pantry on a weekend or after 4:00PM during the weekdays means less people and easier to get a parking spot. Ask friends and family to donate unused household items for the pantry that you can collect. If purchasing bags of fresh fruit or veggies, stock them individually so that more in need can take what they need. It's going to be freezing outside soon, so consider if the items will no longer be good if frozen. ALDI grocery stores have prices that cannot be beat.
We thank all the volunteers who gave and are giving generously of their time on service projects this Rotary Year. Work on our ongoing service projects continues, and we thank all who have stepped up to help coordinate these activities and especially Ken Gilmore, our Community Services Director for the 2024-2025 Rotary Year.
Volunteer Opportunity for Real Men Read! Program
We are encouraging members of our club to volunteer for the Springfield Public Schools' Real Men Read! Program. See article by Ken Gilmore in this Newsletter.
Successful Bed Building for Sleep in Heavenly Peace
The bed-building event on September 14, sponsored by Sleep in Heavenly Peace, was successful!
October 7 Book Drive for Club Members
Thanks to all the members who brought in books for our Little Libraries.
October 4 United Way Fall Day of Action
Thanks to all who participated in this service project. We received a thank you note from the United Way (image below).
Stocking our Little Libraries
Allison Montney (onedirtymartini@gmail.com) and John Webb (jwebb.dr@gmail.com) are coordinating the stocking of our Little Libraries. We previously built a series of Little Libraries with a support from a District Club Grant and secured a large number of books that were donated by a group in St. Louis. The books are stored in the Computer Banc warehouse. To keep the books up-to-date, they have requested that club members bring in books to supplement the donated books stored in the Computer Banc warehouse. Contact them if you would like to donate books and/or stock Little Libraries.
The image of the Little Library at Ridgely School (to the left) clearly shows that this little library needs to be regularly stocked. Thanks to Allison and John for coordinating this project and ensuring that it is well stocked. Let them know if you would like to help.
Stocking of the Ridgely School Micropantry
We previously installed a Micropantry at Ridgely Elementary School (our adopted school) with support from a District Grant. At our October 23, 2023 meeting, Allison Montney volunteered to coordinate the stocking of this micropantry with food, cleaning, and toiletry items. She maintains a schedule of volunteers to stock the pantry for a two week period, and John Webb has also volunteered to help with this project. If you would like to volunteer to stock this important and regularly used pantry, please let Allison know (onedirtymartini@gmail.com) and check out her article on micropantry volunteers for more information on this service project.
Flag Service Work Continues after the last Deployment
We have completed removing of flags following the commemoration of Patriots Day. The flags are now being stored in the warehouse.
The work on the flag project continues after the last deployment for the year. Bill Sturm needs at least two volunteers to assist with repairs for flags with bent poles and torn flags. Please contact him at SturmDMD@hotmaill.com to volunteer. John Loftus also has a small project that requires a few volunteers. Please contact John Loftus (jlloftus@aol.com) if you would like to help with this project or any aspect of our Flag Service project. It's rewarding work and raises lots of money for our community grants program!
John Montgomery Memorial Citrus Campaign
We launched the 2024 John Montgomery Memorial Citrus Drive at our September 30 club meeting. At this meeting Bill Smith launched the campaign and provided background on the outstanding Rotarian that the campaign is dedicated to (see Bill's articles in this Newsletter). If you would like to volunteer for the citrus committee, let Marty know. All members should be selling healthful oranges and grapefruit to raise monies for our community grants program!
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 online Membership Applicationin a new window. You can also click on this link to download an electronic 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 hmitchell11@comcast.net. We look forward to hearing from you!
Please remember to report your service hours and related contributions. Travis Magoulias has added the 2023-2024 Rotary Year to the form. You will be able to enter your hours now and correctly assign them to the correct Rotary Calendar year. 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.
Be sure to turn in your hours for any volunteering that you do on behalf of Rotary.
The image shows club members returning flags to the warehouse in September during the 2024 Rotary Flag Service Project.
These images show Rodd Hodel and his granddaughter Audra Hodel on the final 2024 flag pickup in September, 2024 (image on left) and clothing sorting for Safe Families for Children for the United Way Fall Day of Action on October 4, 2024 (image below).
Erica Smith, Executive Director of Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach gave an inspirational presentation on her experience and observations in Ukraine for the distribution of medical supplies from her organization (image above). John Webb provides an excellent summary of this work in his article below. I was happy to present her with our Rotary Mug (image to left) and encouraged her to consider rejoining our Rotary Club. She was a member in the distant past.
Please join us at Maldaners Upstairs for our December 2 club meeting. Mike Herman, the New UIS Athletic Director, will talk about new developments on and off the playing fields at UIS. He will discuss how improvements in UIS Athletic Programs, including new personnel and new facilities, enhance the UIS mission to be excellent in all areas. The UIS considers athletes as students first so they are expected to be committed to academic excellence and good citizenship. 
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The Red Kettle Kick-off challenge between the Rotary Club of Springfield and the Kiwanis Club is underway. The official launch was on November 16 at Scheels in Springfield, IL. President Megan Reynolds made the challenge, and the Kiwanis Club took it up. We will see which club is able to log in the most red kettle, bell-ringing service hours and raise the most monies for the Salvation Army. For the lead event we staffed the craft table at Scheels and some members helped with bell ringing. We had a great time!
Channeling their inner Betsy Ross, some of our Club’s Rotarians (Bill Sturm and John Webb) spent Halloween morning repairing flags with bent poles or torn flags to ensure their readiness for our 2025 Flag Service Program.
These images show Rodd Hodel and his granddaughter Audra Hodel on the final 2024 flag pickup in September, 2024 (image on left) and clothing sorting for Safe Families for Children for the United Way Fall Day of Action on October 4, 2024 (image below).
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