Join us Wednesday, March 9th at 7:30am in the Great Lakes Ballroom, Holiday Inn Downtown Duluth as we hear from Harbortown Rotarian, Rick Oase. Rick will share with us memories, stories, and images from his last mission trip to Kenya.
Join us at the Goldberg Boys and Girls Club on Wednesday, March 16th, 4:00pm - 6:00pm.
Volunteers will be interacting with the kids at the club, participating in activities, being present, chatting, playing games, and handing out pizza for the pizza party!
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Northland—Dave Goldberg Family Branch
Help Rotary in Warsaw, Poland with Relief for Ukrainian Refugees
Skyline Rotary is working with two clubs in Warsaw, Poland to support Ukrainian refugees.
Mark Leutgeb and Bob Sherman will be talking to the District Governor for his support. There are special disaster relief funds available for Ukraine from Rotary Foundation for each district under an expedited process. Harbortown's co-sponsorship of the application (due at end of April) would be greatly appreciated.
Help Rotary in Warsaw, Poland with Relief for Ukrainian Refugees
As you know, over 1.6 million refugees have fled to Poland from Ukraine after the war started by Russia began. Bob Sherman has connected with two Rotary clubs in Warsaw that are providing medical supplies and starting education efforts for children who cross the Poland/Ukraine border as refugees. $5,000 has been raised so far and more is needed.
Warsaw Rotary, the oldest club in Warsaw, has sourced medical supplies in Germany (few such supplies are available in Poland due to the war). This club is shipping them via businesses owned by German and Polish Rotarians via truck to a hospital in Lviv, Ukraine. Warsaw Rotary is working with Rotary clubs in Germany and the UK and well as our club to raise funds to buy these supplies. Here is a link to the Warsaw club Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/rotarywarsaw
As of now, direct donations can only be made in euros to a Warsaw Rotary bank account. Until a US dollar account is set up, donations can be made by sending funds (checks only, please) to Bob Sherman who can send your donation in euros with others. Bob is at rtshermanjr@gmail.com or 612.386.3354 (mobile and WhatsApp). Checks should be made out to him and designated for Warsaw Rotary Refugee Relief. If you are willing to give donations in euros, Bob can give you direct transfer information.
Warsaw Club Fryderyk Chopin is organizing a program for children in Warsaw that will help educate kids of refugees. Many children are crossing the border alone as their parents have been killed or are in military service. This effort is new and will take more work to get going. If you are interested in being the Skyline Rotary contact person for this work, please let Bob know ASAP. He needs help and can’t manage both the work with Warsaw and the Chopin clubs.
Donations are currently not tax deductible but are badly needed now. District 7630 DG Hugh Dawkins (Poland) and DGE Piotr Jankowski D-2231 are working with Rotary Foundation to secure disaster response funds for Warsaw clubs and others helping them. These grants will be on an expedited basis, not via the normal global grant process. D-5580 can also apply for up to $25,000 of these funds. Bob has more information and needs someone to help apply for this grant. When we have a grant number to which tax deductible donations can be made for our specific projects, Bob will let us all know.
This is the largest refugee crisis in Europe since WWII. Our friends in Ukraine and Poland urgently need our help. Please do what you can: donate or help coordinate our club’s work with Bob.
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
Planting trees, conducting blood drives, screening people for diabetes: These are a few of the ways Rotary members have responded to President Shekhar Mehta’s challenge to think big this year by organizing a Rotary Day of Service.
"Rotary kindled the spark within me to look beyond myself and embrace humanity," Mehta told incoming district governors during the International Assembly in February 2021. "Service became a way of life for me." Believing that Rotary can do the same for others, members as well as nonmembers, Mehta asked clubs to plan a service day — an event where people in their communities could learn more about Rotary and see the impact of their local club, all while providing service to others.
As clubs were tackling these projects, Mehta asked them to work with at least one local business, community organization, or government or municipality; to include a community discussion about how clubs can continue to empower their community; to promote their events on social media; and to follow up with participants afterward, inviting them to get involved with a future Rotary project or attend a club meeting.
Mehta often says he subscribes to the philosophy that "Service is the rent I pay for the space I occupy on this earth."
Safety and Health Considerations: When attending in-person Harbortown events, the club strongly encourages unvaccinated individuals to wear a mask at meetings or other gatherings. If for any reason, a member or guest would like to wear a mask regardless of vaccination status, we encourage them to do so. Thank you for your efforts to keep all of our Harbortown Rotarians safe!
If you have an upcoming program duty (please check the upcoming duty roster), please be sure to secure a speaker and provide notice to Rick Oase (rickoase@yahoo.com) or Stephanie Judd (sljudd@gmail.com) as soon as that speaker is confirmed. If you are unable to confirm a speaker, consider other program ideas like a Ted Talk, presenting yourself on a relevant topic or your business, or creating some excitement for a community organization you are passionate about. It is your program, so think about what is interesting and engaging to you and share it with others!
If for some reason you are unable to switch duties with another member or you have simply exhausted all efforts to find a speaker, please notify Rick or Stephanie no later than 3 business days before the meeting (the Friday before the meeting your program is scheduled).
The Holiday Inn has dedicated a laptop for weekly Harbortown use. All presenters need to bring is a USB drive with the PowerPoint presentation (or whatever is wanted to be shown on the projector while speaking). Please share this information with your program's presenter.
Because Harbortown is asked by the Holiday Inn for RSVPs each week, Rob will RSVP each weekly presenter to ensure the presenter gets breakfast. If the presenter is bringing a guest, please let Rob know so he can RSVP the guest, as well. Questions? Please contact Rob Haglin (rhaglin@awkuettel.com).
Thank you for your help and thank you to all who are working hard to find engaging content for our upcoming sessions!
For news, announcements, event promotion, social media, media releases, and more, please contact Charity Johnson (csjohnson@starbasemn.org / 218-788-7288) and Chloe Strand (chloe.strand@hdchrc.org / 218.340.2531).
For Scuttlebutt: If you are hosting the program speaker, please copy Charity and Chloe on the speaker's name, organization, and email. If you are the chair of a Harbortown Committee, please update Charity and Chloe on relevant information regarding grants and awards, meetings or news. Charity and Chloe will use this information to create more dynamic and engaging content to share with potential club members and on social media!
It is our goal to continue to share the good work that Harbortown Rotary is doing in our community, so your help and support is greatly appreciated! Thank you!
