Happy New Rotary Year, District 6420! As we step into a new chapter together, I’m filled with hope and anticipation for what this year will bring. Rotary is more than a collection of clubs—it’s a movement powered by connection, purpose, and people like you. Thank you for saying yes to leadership, to service, and to impact.

This Rotary year, we’re creating more ways to stay connected, informed, and inspired. That’s why we’re launching Quarterly Town Halls—open Zoom calls where all Rotarians in District 6420 are invited to engage in real-time conversations with district leadership and each other.

Rotary District 6420 is proud to share that our commitment to ending hunger reached two major milestones this month, with donations to both Northern Illinois Food Bank and River Bend Food Bank—together providing tens of thousands of meals to neighbors in need.

 

We've all seen the heartbreaking news from Texas on July 4th. In times like these, many of us are asking the same question—how can we help? Supporting communities in need is at the heart of what Rotary does best. 

The Morrison Rotary Club provided a donation to the Odell Public Library to support their summer reading program. Pictured here with books that were purchased with that donation are: (l-r) Kevin Schisler, President Stanley Steines, Scott Vandermyde, Mick Welding, Literacy Chair Ellen Smith and Jennifer Rangel- Kelly.

The Rotary Club of Rock Island dedicated the installation of five Peace Poles in Rock Island with a ceremony June 17 at the Quad City Botanical Center, which is one of the Peace Pole sites. The other Peace Pole sites are Rock Island High School, Friendship Manor, the downtown branch of the Rock Island Public Library and the Rock Island Fitness and Activity Center.

It's not often that you can turn a pony's "road apple" into $1,000 -- but this is that chance! On Saturday, September 27, Putnam County Rotary will host its annual Road Apple Bingo event at Boggio Apple Ordhard's fall festival and craft fair, walking a pony up, down and across a grid of 500 squares painted on the turf, until she decides where to land her $1,000 "road apple! "

And a great day was had by all! The Rotary Clubs of Marshall and Putnam Counties -- including Putnam County, Henry and Toluca Rotary Clubs -- annually join Co-Host Rotarians Mike McCuskey and Scott Shore and their spouses to sponsor a special program for senior citizens at the Marshall-Putnam Fair. This year's event was held on July 17, with a record number of 170 seniors attending. 

River Cities Rotary sponsored a week of the Cordova Cares-Summer Lunch Program. This program provides 5 lunches each week for kiddos in Cordova, IL and is distributed at Cordova District Library

Four Morrison Rotarians and an honorary member applied Rotary Stickers on 4 boxes of bike helmets. Thank you to Scott Vandermyde, Stan Steines, Mick Welding, Ellen Smith and honorary member Bart Smith for taking time to apply stickers to the bike helmets.

These Rotarians and some of the kids from Second Story Teen Center braved the heat to paint the fence at Lovejoy Homestead. Thanks to Lynn, Joanne, Rex, and Cathy (not pictured) and these great kids for demonstrating service above self!

The QC Illinois Rotary is hosting a wine tasting event on Sept. 18th to benefit the Rock Island County Children's Advocacy Center. The Children's Advocacy Center's mission is to reduce trauma for child victim's of sexual and physical abuse by coordinating the investigation, providing advocacy, prevention and therapy.

The fourth Saturday of every month, the Mount Carroll Rotary Club sets up at our Wonderful Mount Carroll Farmers Market to sell warm pretzels. The money being raised will be used to match funds that we were awarded thru our District grant.

Rotary International challenged local Rotary Clubs to install a Peace Pole. Why a Peace Pole? A Peace Pole is a monument that displays the message May Peace Prevail On Earth in the language of the country where it is placed. It displays 3 additional languages in addition to English which are meaningful to the host site.

At its June 10 regular weekly meeting, the Rotary Club of Rock Island made a $10,000 gift in memory of longtime Rotary member and leader Anne McGlynn to the Quad City Botanical Center (QCBC) for immersive and experiential signage in its Children’s Garden. The gift in memory of Anne McGlynn was composed of memorial gifts collected from Rock Island Rotary Club members.

Rotary Club of Toluca was honored to have Assistant District Governor, Tina Curtis, in attendance to our regular weekly meeting on Thursday, July 17, 2025. Tina spoke briefly to our members about the vision and goals of this year's District Governor, Melissa McCormick. We were happy to have Tina join us, and we enjoyed sharing a meal with her. 

The 78th annual Mendota Sweet Corn Festival was last weekend. The Rotary Club of Mendota entered a float in the parade for the first time. We won 3rd place in the community group.

Angel Ball is a fundraising event benefiting three local organizations: Oregon Rotary Club, Serenity Hospice and Home, and The Village of Progress, hosted annually by The Oregon, IL Rotary Club.

 

𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲 - 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟲, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 Join us for the 30th Annual Angel Ball! Use code "EarlyBird" when checking out to secure your discounted tickets! >> https://charityauction.bid/AngelBall2025 <<