Rock Island Rotary President Mark Mayeski (left) and Friendship Manor CFO/Rock Island Rotarian Rick Devinney present a $1,000 check to Friendship Manor Development Director Jeff Condit (middle) for their efforts during the pandemic. Keeping social distancing in mind of course!
Your gift helps Rotary clubs provide disaster recovery and support rebuilding efforts, including projects related to COVID-19. Contributions are combined into one fund and made available through Rotary Disaster Response Grants; they cannot be directed to a specific disaster.
District 6420 Ambassador Scholar Joy Pitelka (now Clady), who we sponsored to study in Madrid Spain in 1990-91, graduated this month from University of Kansas with a PHD in Personal Financial Planning; Joy's dissertation was presented and accepted -- virtually, over the internet! Congrats, Joy! We are proud to have been a part of it all !
Do you know of other successes and good news of Rotary Alumni Scholars, Interactors, Rotaractors, Youth Exchange participants or others? Please share their success stories with us all !
BV High School Interact, sponsored by Walnut Rotary, went "global" for this project! Members sold handmade wooden bracelets made in Guatemala to raise funds for the education of a student in Zimbabwe, and corresponded with him throughout the school year. The Club raised over $2,100 before school, and therefore sales, were shut down this Spring. WOW !
(This was the best picture they were able to provide)
The MHS Interact Club's main project this year was hosting MHS's participation in the annual Quad Cities Student Hunger Drive -- a huge Fall effort by 17 Quad City high schools to collect food and funds for the Riverbend Food Bank, a very large Illinois - Iowa regional food bank system. High schools compete to collect / raise the most food & funds, measured in "meals equivalents".
Efforts included daily collection of food and donations, staffing collection points at area grocery stores and sporting events, and an MHS Empty Bowl event, selling hand-sculpted, decorated and fired empty bowls. The bowls were sold at an evening community supper event at which numerous area restaurants and organizations prepare and provide, at no cost, their signature soups or other dishes for sampling by those attending who have paid admission charges. This event is attended by hundreds of students, parents, and other community members, and is a HUGE undertaking for the students and faculty. For more, click onTHIS LINK!
They raised thousands of dollars, all towards the QCSHD. Overall, Quad Cities students collected food and cash, equivalent to 568,317 meals. Moline High School won the 2019 "Mission Challenge" award. THAT'S SERVICE ABOVE SELF, MHS INTERACT CLUB!
PCHS Interact Club started the 2019-20 school year with two big projects... sponsoring a 9-11 Red Cross Blood Drive in September, and offering an all-county Halloween Parade and Party for youth of all ages, in October.
The 9-11 Blood Drive was promoted as a way in which students could pay homage to the fallen, and to honor first responders, in the attacks that shook our country on September 11, 2001. Students, staff and community members were reminded that their donations not only save lives, but also contribute to the school's entitlement to Red Cross Scholarship awards that are provided based on the number of units donated at the school throughout the year. PC Rotary co-sponsors with volunteer help and the offer of free school breakfast to every donor.
The Halloween Parade and Party is a lot of fun for all concerned, with prizes for the best three in each age category and the best group effort too. The event was preceded by a pumpkin-carving event for all District Inbound Exchange Students who then stayed to help with the parade. The kids' party that followed included games, mummy-wrapping in toilet paper (before it was a precious commodity!), cakewalks, and lots of Halloween prizes and treats.
"Shelter In Place" has a different meaning for many people in the world. SHELTER BOX is a Strategic Partner with Rotary International, founded by a Rotarian, providing very sturdy tents and supplies to those in need following natural disasters around the globe.
Mendota High School Interact Club has undertaken two fundraising projects to support the Project, selling German Advent Calendars last fall and selling smoothies at the Mat Master Wrestling Tournament for kids 3-14 years old, held in February -- just before our projects and fundraisers took a "turn for
the different!" Kudos to MHS Interact for helping those in need worldwide!
The Rochelle Township High School Interact Club made history – literally! The Club obtained a $3,500 grant from Rockford’s “In Youth We Trust” organization to benefit the Rochelle History Museum. The grant includes needed restoration of museum walls and museum refurbishing with the help of Interact Club volunteers and a professional painter. This project was important to protect the history of Rochelle and gave lasting benefit the community. The project is on hold due to COVID 19, but the work continues! Meanwhile, The Club is using Facebook, Twitter, and Remind to keep in touch, and appointed one of their current board as interim 20-21 president pending elections next fall. They held an 8th grade night in December to tell incoming freshmen about Interact, hoping they will remain interested when school resumes!
Volunteers Maddy, Gabrielle and Alexis will also help produce a video documenting the project. WAY TO GO, ROCHELLE THS INTERACT!
Illinois Valley Community College's new Rotaract Club was chartered on November 18, 2019 with 45 guest Rotarians from sixteen area Clubs, the District Governor line, and all top College administrators in attendance. They immediately set course to accomplish good things on campus and in the community, helping out at PADS homeless shelter in Peru, and co-hosting a Santa's Workshop in December, a free event for children that included fun activities, crafts, cookie decorating, and writing letters to Santa. Rotaract President Grace McCormick said "this is an opportunity for our clubs to get involved and give back to the community."
We can proudly note that several of the Rotaract members are "second generation" Rotarians -- and that the top IVCC administrators and Rotaract Faculty Advisors are also members of local Rotary Clubs!
Our District Youth Exchange Committee congratulates ALL EarlyAct, Interact and Rotaract Clubs District-wide for their students' SERVICE ABOVE SELF this past year -- a year like no other, to be sure! We also express appreciation to the Faculty Advisors and Rotarian Liaisons who helped make the students' accomplishments possible! The projects showcased here are just a few of many and we hope to continue to hear about many more!
Of those who submitted entries, the Youth Service Committee has selected THREE WINNERS each to receive $100 toward their next Interact project! Congratulations to the Interact Clubs of MENDOTA , BUREAU VALLEY and MOLINE HIGH SCHOOLS!
Does your Club sponsor an EarlyAct, Interact or Rotaract Club in your community? If not, YOU CAN! Please contact District Youth Services Co-Chair PDG Scott Shore to learn more ! DGScott6420@gmail.com.
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