The Rotary Club of
Springfield
 

January 27, 2022 Newsletter

Please join us on February 7 for our Virtual Club Assembly on Peacebuilders (see article below)! A link for this special meeting will be sent to you through Clubrunner! There will be no Newsletter on Feb. 3.

All of our club meetings will be fully virtual from January 31 through at least February 28 (see Barry's comments below!) 

President Barry's Message
 
Rotary Downtown Meetings Fully Online for a Month
As many of you know the number of COVID cases has been on the rise throughout our nation and in Illinois. During last week’s board meeting, the board decided to go fully remote using WebEx starting with our January 31 meeting and continuing through the end of February. Over the last two years, the downtown club has adapted to both fully remote and our hybrid model so this should go quite well. This will also allow anyone who we invite to present the ability to participate and adapt quite easily.
                                         
You and your guests will also be able to pick-up the delicious meals that Maldander’s prepares. The process will be the same as before where you include in a sealed envelope either your tickets for a meal with your name on them or the $15 per person. This will also allow you to pick up a meal for others in your house, which will help at home with meal preparation and help Maldander’s during this pandemic. When you make the reservation, please indicate the number of meals so that we can get Maldander’s a count of the number of meals making it easier when you pick them up. All meals will be picked up in the rear parking lot behind Maldaners. You can just pull up starting at 4:45 and let them know the number of meals, hand them the envelope with your name on it with either your tickets or money and head home. They make it quite easy for you. We are allowing you plenty of time to pick up a meal and get home to participate in our Monday evening meeting.
      
January 31, 2022 Meeting Link
When it's time, join your Webex meeting here.
 
 
More ways to join:
 
Join from the meeting link
 
 
Join by meeting number
Meeting number (access code): 2573 170 1320
Meeting password: kdNeKHgA544
 
Tap to join from a mobile device (attendees only)  
+1-408-525-6800,,25731701320## Call-in toll number (US/Canada) 

Join by phone  
+1-408-525-6800 Call-in toll number (US/Canada)  
Global call-in numbers
 
Join by video system, application or Skype for business
Dial 25731701320@webex.com 
You can also dial 173.243.2.68 and enter your meeting number.
 
If you are a host, click here to view host information.
 
Need help? Go to https://help.webex.com
 
January 31, 2022 Meal Reservation
 
Please remember that all club meetings will be fully virtual through Webex from January 31 through at least February 28, 2022! Don't forget to order your meals online for pick-up behind Maldaners. The meals include the main course, sides, salad, and dessert, are well packaged, and are hand deliverd by Maldaner's staff, sometimes by Chef Michael Higgins!
 
Please make reservations for take out so we can estimate our food needs and so Maldaners knows you are coming. The deadline for reserving dinner for the January 31 meeting is Saturday, January 29 at noon. Meals are $15 each. Please use the following link to make your reservations for the meal for curbside pickup by clicking: 
 
 
 
 
For curbside takeout, please place your meal tickets or cash in an envelope with your name and “for Sheila Mack” on the outside of the envelope and give it to the Maldaners staff member that gives you your food. They will get the envelopes to Sheila Mack. Curbside pickup is between 4:45 and 5:15 p.m. To pick up food, turn into the alley behind the building and pick up the food at the back door. It's easy to pick up your food an the food is delicious!
Club Assembly on Peacebuilders on Feb. 7
 
As stated by Rotary International:
 
Rotary creates environments of peace.
 
As a humanitarian organization, peace is a cornerstone of our mission. We believe when people work to create peace in their communities, that change can have a global effect.
 
By carrying out service projects and supporting peace fellowships and scholarships, our members take action to address the underlying causes of conflict, including poverty, discrimination, ethnic tension, lack of access to education, and unequal distribution of resources.
 
The Rotary Club of Springfield’s Ad hoc Peacebuilders Committee was formed 18 months ago to explore ways that our club may further improve civility and peace in our community through service.
 
The Club Assembly has been rescheduled for February 7 and will be held virtually through Webex. The link to this meeting will be sent to all members through a ClubRunner email. The Club Assembly will provide members with the Committee's report including the committee’s specific objectives, research findings, and recommendations for 2022 and beyond that will hopefully help to address underlying causes that inhibit a fairer and more just community. We will also consider the Club’s application to be an official Rotary Action Group for Peace and why this will be useful. 
 
Joining us for this assembly will be Barbara Jones (image to left) and Timothy Bartlett (image below) from the Rotary Club of Urbana, an officially designated Rotary Action Group for Peace club. 
 
 
Please join us virtually via Webex on February 7. As noted above, the online link will be provided via a ClubRunner email to all members. Click on  Peacebuilders  to view a copy of the PowerPoint for this presentation.
Upcoming Club Programs
Planning is underway for a number of outside speakers and in-house presenters. All speakers and club meetings are virtual through webex from January 31 through at least February 28, 2022. Programs in March will be hybrid if we are able to return to in-person meetings at Maldaners.
 
January 21: Rotary Social Night
 
February 7: The Peacebuilder Club Assembly has been rescheduled for this date and will provide member's with our Peacebuilder Committee's specific objectives, research findings, and recommendations for 2022 and beyond that will help to address underlying causes that inhibit a fairer and more just community. We will also consider the club's application to be an official Rotary Action Group for Peace and why this will be useful (see previous article).
 
February 28: Joe Crain (on the left in the image to the left), Public Programs and Community Engagement Director for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, will speak about programs for low income students. Joe Crain was born and raised in Cairo, Illinois – at the very extreme tip of Illinois. He started working at a local radio station before he could even drive when he had barely turned 15! That was the start of a long career in radio and, eventually, television that took from him on a grand tour of the Midwest from St. Louis to Duluth, Green Bay to Omaha, Peoria, and finally, Springfield 26 years ago. Along the way, he picked up a Radio/TV Sales and Marketing degree from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and a certification in broadcast meteorology from Mississippi State University. He’s been married to Ann for over 25 years. They are the proud parents of Megan, who works for the athletic department in media and marketing at West Virginia University and Thomas, currently a junior at Michigan State University. His hobbies include model railroading, golf, and following the St. Louis Cardinals.
 
March 21: We will have our annual Foundation International Night. Our Club will present two Community Paul Harris Fellows (image to right). Our six Paul Harris Circles will also present their selections for Paul Harris Fellows. Wear your Paul Harris Fellow medallion, and bring a guest whether participating in person or online.
 
 
March 28: Jennifer Thomas, a Williamsville School District Science Teacher, will speak about her experiences on two NASA flights on the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). More information will be provided later.
 
If you have suggestions for future speakers, please let me know.
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.  
Thanks from the Lincoln Land Community College Foundation
On December 10, the Lincoln Land Community College Foundation thanked the Rotary Club of Springfield for investing in their students. Our Club funds the annual John Giavaras Scholarship to a Lincoln Land student. The annual scholarship currently provides $1500 for a student for one academic year and is administered through the University Foundation. As a sign of their gratitude they informed Bill Smith, our Springfield Rotary Foundation Treasurer, that the Rotary Club of Springfield is being recognized on their "Circle of Friends" donor wall at the Humanitarian Level. According to their records, our club has donated $33,166 for scholarships!
2022 Volunteer Opportunities
Ridgely School Micropantry
Volunteers are needed to monitor and stock the pantry for two shifts each month (Shifts A during the first half of the month and shift B during the second half of the month). The image on the left shows the micropantry at Ridgely School. Thanks to the members who have volunteered to cover the following shifts
 
January A    Bonnie Styles
January B    John Loftus
February A  Harry Mitchell
February B  Christine Banks 
March A      Jasmine Gibson
March B      Loretta Meeks
April A        Ross Hodel
April B        Sheila Mack 

Please consider signing up for a two week shift, provide food to the individuals stocking the pantry, or drop off items anytime you are in the vicinity of Ridgely School. The article below by John Loftus highlights the great need for this pantry. The article following John's provides good guidelines for the types of items that are needed.  
 
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. Barry Tobias needs help locating movable carts for two little libraries that are otherwise ready to be installed.
 
 
Valentines Day Cards and Treats for Seniors
Vicki will be sending out a ClubRunner email invitation to participate in a service project to provide Valentines Day cards and small bags of treats for seniors through the Home Instead Program.
 
Let Vicki know if you have ideas for other community service projects. 
 
Contact Vicki at megginson.vicki@gmail.com if you wish to:
Help stock the Ridgely School Micropantry  or suggest new projects and Nicole Kinkelaar if you are interested in helping with the Little Libraries
Read more...
The Ridgely Micropanty is Greatly Needed
Food and other items are going fast at the pantry this winter. I've made four trips out there since January 15 and each time the shelves are bare except for six cans of vegetables that don't have pop top lids. Linda and I have restocked each time with large cans of dinner-sized meat and vegetable canned soups (with pop top lids), jars of peanut butter and jelly, loaves of bread, taco shells, toothpaste and brushes, feminine products, packages of sugar, salt, pepper and cinnamon, individual packages of oatmeal, boxes of cereal, dish soap, individual packages of honeybuns and peanut butter crackers. They are gone in two days. I expect to make two more trips in January.
 
It's quite a change from the fall when the micropantry didn't appear to be as heavily used. I wanted to alert everyone stocking the pantry that they should plan on more frequent visits and note what items are in demand.
 
The image below taken by Bonnie Styles shows the depleted status of of the pantry before stocking in early January 2022. 
 
 
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 to the right shows Club members assisting with our "Bags of Hope" packing project for the 2021 District Club Grant project to assist homeless individuals in our community. 
 
 
 
 
Website, Facebook and LinkedIn
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