Please note that the Community Service Committee will collect funds and donated items in January for the "MITTEN TREE PROJECT" to provide warm clothing and needed health and hygiene supplies for the children at our Adopt-a-School Partner, Skinner Magnet Center. We appreciate your support. Your donations will make a difference in the life of a child!!
Rotarians from West, Suburban and Southwest Night will be packaging 30-40 thousand meals for local food pantries using a matching grant from District 5650. Approximately 80 volunteers are needed from 8:00-9:00 a.m. and 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. People of all ages are welcome. If you sign up kids please note their ages (kids under 12 will work with their parents). Also, if a volunteer needs seating please note that as a comment. Volunteers of all ages and abilities can be accommodated. Meals will be picked up at the end of the 2nd shift by local food pantries. Several volunteers (8-10 people) will be needed to help set up for the event on Friday, February 19th. Sign-up is available on the club website or at the noon Rotary meetings.
The meal packaging will take place at Heavy Duty Specialist, Inc, 11357 South 146th Street, Omaha, NE 68138.
The Club’s award-winning Rotary Readers program is in action again. That’s the program where members give an hour a week to help develop reading skills with grade school students one-on-one. You are invited to become a Rotary Reader. Why? Three quick reasons: you will enjoy meeting and working with a couple of kids who need your help; studies show children who can’t read well in second grade will almost certainly drop out of school and cost you a lot of tax dollars, and Skinner Magnet Center is our adopt-a-school partner and they are looking for help and support from our club.
Interested? Contact Bob Fell (robertfell68@gmail.com) or Vickie Backman (vbackman@cox.net) and we will set up contact with the school. Typically, readers spend an hour and work with two students each visit. The visits can be weekly or bi-weekly (or whatever your schedule allows), typically on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays during school hours.
Reading with the 2nd and 3rd students is a great volunteer opportunity. Don Otis is reading at the school twice a week and would be happy to introduce a new volunteer to the project and the teachers at the school.
Don Otis and students in the Rotary Reader's program.
A change to note - the Heartland USA Division is now going to serve District 5650 and District 6000 in Iowa. Additional dates and locations will be added to the schedule of sessions - Feb. 27, 2016 Iowa City, IA; Apr. 23, 201 Omaha; June 11, 2016 Des Moines, IA. The March 12, 2016 RLI session previously scheduled has been cancelled with this change. Check the RLI Heartland website (see link above) for more information.
How to engage members . . .
Making our projects more successful . . .
Understanding the value of The Rotary Foundation . . .
When asked what participants want to get out of Rotary training and meetings, we hear things like the statements above.
Meeting all of those needs is a challenge - but there is an answer – the Rotary Leadership Institute.
Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) was designed to provide discussion and activity-based programs. There is time to go into detail on many topics. It is not focused on a particular Rotary position but allows an opportunity for participants to truly discover Rotary.
RLI is a three-part program. Each RLI participant attends three one-day sessions. Sessions are offered a number of times during the year.
All Rotary members benefit from the RLI experience. Rotary Club leadership can be more effective because of their expanded knowledge and connections made during RLI sessions.
Gretchen Radler, Vocational Service Committee Chair, will be contacting members to schedule a vocational talk. We would like to schedule two vocational talks each month. Your talk should be 2-3 minutes in length and will give you an opportunity to share information about your profession, yourself and your family. Please say yes when asked to schedule your vocational talk. We look forward to learning more about our fellow Rotarians.
West Rotary has met both of our goals for giving to the Rotary Foundation Annual Fund and the PolioPlus Fund. The Annual Fund goal is $10,300 and giving for that fund is currently at $13,361 and PolioPlus giving is at $7,256. We still ask members to please give a minimum of $32 during the month of their birthday if they have not already donated to the PolioPlus Fund. We thank the members that have donated to the Rotary Foundation this year. Those members are listed below. (Note: The donations recognized have been received during the 2015-2016 Rotary year or since July 1, 2015.)
1/2 DENNIS HEIN; 1/8 KIM KUHLE; 1/9 PAT KNOWLES; 1/13 HENRY KAMMANDEL, JR.; 1/14 MARSHA KUBICA; 1/17 NUZHAT MAHMOOD, ROD ANDERSON; 1/20 GRETCHEN RADLER; 1/21 GREG KEY; 1/25 BILL SUTTON; 1/27 JILL SLUPE; 1/30 DICK STURGEON
POLIO ERADICATION – We are asking you to donate $32 during the month your birthday is recognized. The District has set $32 per person as a giving goal for PolioPlus. Your donation will be given to The Rotary Foundation in your name for PolioPlus. Rotary has led the private sector in the global effort to rid the world of polio for over 30 years. The PolioPlus program helps Rotary fund operational costs, such as transportation, vaccine delivery, social mobilization, and training of health workers, and support surveillance activities. Your donation can help "End Polio Now."
Metro Area Rotary Club weekly programs available are listed here.
MONDAY BELLEVUE (DJ's Dugout, 10308 S. 23rd St.) NORTH (Omaha Eppley Airport Conference Room) MILLARD (German American Society, 3717 South 120th Street) 1/25 Madonna Hospital Foundation
TUESDAY MORNING (Happy Hollow Country Club, 1701 S. 105th St.) 1/26 UNO Basketball Coach Derrin Hanson,Summit Conference leader at 5 and 0 NORTHWEST (Champions Run, 13800 Eagle Run Drive) SOUTHWEST NIGHT (DJ's Dugout at 17666 Welch Plaza, northeast corner of 180th & Q streets)
WEDNESDAY COUNCIL BLUFFS CENTENNIAL (Hy-Vee in Mall of the Bluffs, I-80 Exit 5) DOWNTOWN (Field Club, 3615 Woolworth Ave.) 1/27 Business Networking, various locations, reservations needed
THURSDAY COUNCIL BLUFFS NOON (The Center, 714 S. Main St.) SUBURBAN (Anthony's, 7220 F St.) 1/28 Debbie Blank- Pres. Living World Ministry
Will there be Peace in the Middle East?
WESTERN DOUGLAS COUNTY (Elkhorn Common Ground Community Center, 1701 Veteran's Drive)
FRIDAY WEST (Champions Run, 13800 Eagle Run Drive) 1/22 Club Assembly; 1/29 Keith Zimmer, Sr. Associate Athletic Director
Life Skills Department, UNL
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