All teams have either met or have meetings schedule to help determine what we want our club to look like in the next three years. Thanks to all the club members that have been participating in or club visioning process. We have defined our new Mission and Motto:
Mission Statement: People of action creating positive change for our local and global communities.
Motto: People of Action, making it Happen!
Rotary at Slice of Shoreview
Arden Hills Shoreview Rotary participated in the parade and operated Bingo at the Slice of Shoreview. The highlights of this fun weekend are:
The parade watchers applauded while watching Mike and Ken do the Rotary rotation (circling quickly while carrying the Rotary banner). Mike and Ken did this several times while Jerry and Charlie followed in the Crossfire convertible.
Rotary Super Bingo operated Friday, Saturday and Sunday. There were a large amount participates. They enjoyed the cash prizes but they also like the prizes from the magic prize box, especially the spam and designer sunglasses from the Dollar Tree. The results are now in and Rotary Super Bingo was voted best Bingo at Slice of Shoreview and we raised almost $1,670!
Thanks to Ken and the Bingo volunteers!
Around the District
White Bear Lake Club is involved with YouLead. This is a program that sponsors youth exchanges between Minnesota and Ukraine. This is to help develop leadership skills for the participants. They are due to have 18 students (age 13-18) coming to our area for a 5 week stay. They are looking for host families or for donations to help cover the costs. If you are interested, please contact Irina Fursman at Irina.fursman@hue.life. or by phone at 763.232.2338. For more information click here
August 27th – Pedal Prior – Family friendly bike rides– 11-69 miles (Prior Lake Rotary)
August 17th - Taste of Lakeville, a fun community celebration at the Lakeville Area Arts Center from 5 pm – 9 pm – 21+ event
August 14th – Bridge the Valley Bike Rally – Family Friendly – 10-70 miles or a 75 mile gravel challenge (Stillwater Sunrise Rotary)
August 12-14th - REHT Music Festival - (Rotary Ends Human Trafficking) - Step on out and support a 5950 event to raise money to combat Human Trafficking. This occurs in Pine City MN
August 6th – Taco Johns’s Run Baby Run –Family Friendly - 5-10K – Strive Scholarship Race Series – this is the first of 3 (White Bear Lake Rotary)
Thursday, August 11th, 2022 5:00PM – 8:00PM Snail Lake Park
This should our biggest event ever. Beer, wine, soft drinks, food, wine toss, 50/50 game, silent auction and more! To make this even successful we need you! If you haven’t been signed up to setup, please show up at 4pm to help.
Next Community Service Event
McCullough Park cleanup Saturday August 20’th 10am-11am. We skipped July because of the Slice events so we’ll have a little more than usual. .
Pollinator Garden Update
The contract has finally been signed by the city and forwarded to the contractor. We hope to have a better idea of our planting date in a few weeks.
May 2022 Update on the Amaravati Sewing School Project
With all of the difficulties that we have faced organizing the Rotary Grant for this project, we are now facing a further difficulty that threatens the further operation of the Sewing School, just as the school has re-opened again.
As some of you are aware, sending funds to charitable organizations in India is not a simple matter. The Government has created rules for receiving such funds that essentially require the receiving organization to have a government registered permit to receive and/or distribute charitable funds. The government may also selectively audit these transactions. The expense for seeking such a permit is fairly significant and Pushpa does not have such a permit. As such, we need an intermediary to receive and distribute charitable funds to Pushpa in India.
We previously reached agreement with the Rotary Community Service Trust (the Trust) in Vuyyuru to receive and distribute our project funds to our partner, Pushpa, to reimburse it for its expenses in establishing and operating the Sewing School. In view of the potential cost of such an audit, however, the Trust has reconsidered the prior agreement and informed us that it is no longer willing to receive and distribute funds from our grant to our partner, Pushpa. The Trust apparently fears that it will have to bear the cost of such an audit. As such, unless we can find another entity to receive and distribute such funds, it is possible that we may have to return the bulk of our grant to our main funding source, Rotary International (RI).
This leaves us without an appropriate means for transferring the remaining funds set aside for the Sewing School, and under the terms of our agreement with RI, we may have to return a sizeable amount of the remaining funds to RI if a new intermediary cannot be found. We have been working to find such a new intermediary or some other work around, but we have advised Pushpa that the remaining funding may have to be returned if we are unable to find such a work around. The picture of the new class of students shown above was taken shortly after the news of this development was released.We have been working with Rotarians in District 5960 and elsewhere here in the U.S. and in India to find a new means for transferring the funds that have been raised to support the Sewing School that follows government guidelines. Unfortunately, in spite of the hard work of Glenn Bowers and other District Rotarians, we have been unable to identify a new means for transferring such funds to India and it appears that the project may have to be unwound and that a good portion of the remaining grant funds received from Rotary International (RI) that have not been spent, will need to be returned to RI. This further difficulty comes at a time when, as previously reported, the Amaravati Sewing School has once again reopened to a new class of students. The new class has ten students and Dr. Franklin reports that, in consultation with community leaders and Pushpa, the Lead Teacher has directed that one of the six sewing machines in the school is to be designated for production of products to be sold by the school in an effort to introduce elements of entrepreneurialism into the curriculum and to develop a means for raising funds to keep the school open when the funds from the initial Rotary grant from Rotary District 5960 are depleted. We believe this is, at least in part, a response to encouragement that was provided when the grant was given.
The school has been in existence now for nearly three years and, although the school has been closed for two different periods of time during the Pandemic, the promise that the school brings to the community has been an encouragement to the community leaders and the community as a whole.As readers of our prior reports will recall, the school came together very well initially. With the onset of the Pandemic, however, everything was disrupted. The elders in the community had wanted the school to remain open as much as was practical, but the leaders at Pushpa and the teachers have taken a somewhat more conservative approach as has been needed.
As previously reported, the first graduating class received their certificates of completion prior to the Pandemic. A picture of the graduating class seated with their arms raised as they wait for their certificates is shown above.
Two of the graduating students from the earlier graduation are pictured in the two pictures below, one, who was chosen to speak to the gathering at the graduation ceremony and another who is receiving her certificate from Chairman Franklin. Also with the students and Chairman Franklin is the Lead Teacher (Suzanne) and a teaching assistant.
Pushpa's mission has been to help marginalized community members of rural Guntur District villages transition from migrant, subsistent lifestyles, dependent on seasonal labor and temporary shelter, to sustainable livelihoods in healthy communities. Its mission has not changed. The organization’s main goal is to work together with underprivileged (tribal) members of rural Guntur District villages to find ways to enable socio-economic change in small ways, one person, one family, one student, at a time, through projects in which the recipients themselves participate. (See http://pushpaproject.org/vision_mission.htm )
As shown in the picture below, a group of the local elders look on, as one of them cut a ribbon to the entrance of the school after he was given the honor of doing so in a ceremony for the opening of the school in May of 2019.
A lot of hard work has gone into establishing the school and there are many people to thank for their hard work and significant contributions. Pushpa is working hard to keep the Sewing School open out of respect for the hard work that went into opening the school and out of respect for the critical funds needed to do so that were received from Rotary District 5960.The leaders of PUSHPA, both here in Arden Hills and in Andhra Pradesh are especially grateful for the support for the new sewing school from the Arden Hills Shoreview Rotary Club and Rotary District 5960 and have continually expressed their gratitude for our assistance to the school.We and Pushpa are thankful for the matching grant received from Rotary District 5960 and to the following Rotary Clubs for their generous support of our project: Belle Plain; Brooklyn Center; Forrest Lake; Fridley Columbia Heights; New Brighton Mounds View; Prior Lake; Roseville; St. Croix Falls; St. Paul No. 10; Siren Webster; West St. Paul Mendota Heights; and White Bear Lake.
Anoop Mathur provided a "Member Minute" at the start of today's meeting. He used this time to reflect on the nearly 50 years that has passed since he came to the U.S. from India. He talked about the people who have had great influence and positive impact on him during this time and the importance of leaving one's mark in the world. Our speaker was Robyn Coquyt from Africa Classroom Connection. Africa Classroom Connection was founded in 2006 after a visit by Founder Henry Bromelkamp) (Rotarian from the Minneapolis Rotary Club), who returned from a visit to South Africa and wanted to make change. The organization exists to provide much needed funds to build classrooms in the Eshowe, Kwazulu-Natal area of the country. To date, they have helped more than 37,000 kids by building 109 classrooms. When apartheid was abolished in 1994, the South African government found itself saddled with decades worth of unmet needs. While education was a high priority, building classrooms in rural areas such as those near Eshowe, was not. Thus, the effects of apartheid are still apparent in the lack of infrastructure facilities. By using a standard building plan each time and working with the local community members, ACC is able to build each school facility for only $13,000. Given this, local governments are more than happy to allow ACC to build facilities, which are then turned over to the local governments to operate.
Rob Thomas, Executive Director of the Lakeshore Players Theatre was our speaker today. Rob also leads the White Bear Lake Historical Society. His focus today was on his own very interesting history. Rob grew up near Bemidji, MN as part of the Dakota band of Native Americans. As a lighter-skinned member of this group, he had a hard time deciding where he fit in and did not celebrate his culture. This changed after he graduated from college and moved to Florida for work. He gradually gained a great sense of pride for the culture and customs of his native people. He does not have children of his own but he shares his history with nieces and nephews so that they will have that same sense of pride. As we know, our government has made some terrible mistakes, including forbidding Native Americans from practicing their religion and languages for a time. There is much tragedy here but Rob focuses on the positives. One custom he spoke about was the Dakota saying "Don't ever take something unless you are prepared to give something in return." He saw this in practice every day growing up and tries to live by it now.
Our speaker today was Jonathan Turner, Volunteer Coordinator for the MSP Airport Foundation. This highly organized and comprehensive program through the Foundation is the only one of its kind in the world. Volunteers provide information and services to travelers and help more than two million people each year. Prior to the pandemic there were 600 Traveler Assistance Volunteers and 100 Animal Ambassadors. Those numbers fell during the worst of the pandemic so there is opportunity for those who might be interested in joining. The minimum time commitment is 2 shifts per month and each shift is between 2 and 4 hours. Traveler Assistance volunteers work at information booths and walk the terminals assisting travelers with directions, flight status, lost and found, transportation, hotels and local tourist attractions. Customs and Border Protection volunteers welcome incoming international travelers while assisting U.S. Customs personnel. Animal Ambassadors are registered therapy animals, and volunteer with their human handlers in casual meet-and-greet activities at designated petting stations. In addition to these activities, the Foundation also handles art exhibits and performing arts events at the airport.
New Shoreview City Council member John Doan introduced himself at today's meeting. John is filling the seat vacated upon the death of Terry Quigley earlier this year. Coincidentally, John also is Vice President of Operations and Equity at Trellis, where we are now holding in-person meetings. John is a Shoreview resident and has served on the City's Planning Council for a number of years.
Our own Dave Newman provided today's program. Dave has been a member of Rotary for over 40 years, having served with several other clubs before joining ours a few years ago. Dave chaired the "Fast For Hope" (FFH) program for many years and this was the focus of his presentation. FFH is unique to District 5960. It does not receive Foundation money and is funded entirely by individual and club contributions. Efforts are focused in Nicaragua, which has been mired in systemic poverty for many years. FFH has a unique approach. It is not project-based. Instead it focuses on "social innovation", which is akin to the old saying about giving a man a fishing rod instead of a fish. It was inspired by, amongst other things, a book by Jeffrey Sachs called "The End of Poverty" as well as a book by Bob Lupton called "Toxic Charity". In addition to the ongoing work of FFH related to systemic issues in the country, Dave also covered a large water project that is underway to El Corozo. This project is sponsored by the Stillwater Sunrise Club and has received both a global grant from RI as well as a district grant and involves drilling a well in the town of El Corozo.
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