The month of August brought us our annual Taste of Hops & Vines fundraising event and boy did it not disappoint! Each and every one of you should be incredibly proud of your efforts. Even with a lighter slate of vendors and lower than expected ticket sales, your efforts saw us to our most successful monetary event to date. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
We heard from the Sheriff's department and the owner of Dependable Solutions on the topic of fraud and scams this past month. There was lots of great information and ways to best protect ourselves from bad actors trying to access our information and take what they can. Reflecting on the information presented, I can't help but think how great it is organizations like Rotary exist. It's so, so easy to get caught up in all the 'bad' we hear on a daily basis, but it sure is nice to belong to a group of people doing good.
If you know of someone who you think would bring good information to the club, be a dynamic and thought-provoking speaker or have an interesting topic to share, there is room on the speaker list. Please just let me know if you do fill a speaking slot.
We had two club activities in November-a business tour to VivaQuant and bowling at Flaherty's. Mike Spellman is shown in the first photo doing a Rotary recruitment pitch to the CEO of VivaQuant. Our Ukrainian mom Svitlana works there. They make a patch-style remote cardiac monitors. The last photo shows Mike again with the Erno's discussing bowling strategy. This 'Strike Out Polio' event raised over $700 for the Foundation.
Today we welcomed Dawne Brown White, Executive Director of COMPAS (Community Programs In The Arts). This organization began in 1968, when The National Endowment for the Arts reached out to Twin Cities resident Molly LaBerge (now Molly Taylor), to create a pilot program connecting high school classes with living professional poets. Originally named "Poets in the Schools", the organization incorporated and was renamed COMPAS in 1974. Over time their repertoire of arts programs for local schools expanded to include theatre, music, drama, visual art, spoken word among others. Their approach has become a model for teaching artist residencies nationwide. Over the years, COMPAS artists have worked side by side with over two million kids and countless adults, teaching them how to find their inner voice, write poems, paint pictures, create sculptures, improvise music, tile a mosaic, and have become recognized nationally as an exemplary provider of arts education programs. In 2020, COMPAS received Avivo’s Champion Award for their partnership to provide arts programming for adults living with mental illness.
Today we heard from our own Dave Newman who provided an update on Rotary District 5960's "Lift" program, formerly known as "Fast For Hope". Rotary's work under this program has been centered in Nicaragua. Lift's mission is to end poverty and sustainably transform lives. This is what distinguishes Lift from the typical project undertaken by Rotarians. The Lift model addresses the causes of poverty related needs, along with addressing the needs themselves. The most critical phase of the Lift program is listening to local citizens about what they need. Nicaragua was chosen for several reasons. It is the 3rd poorest country in the western hemisphere, is relatively easy to get to, and the local language is Spanish, which many people have some familiarity with. One large project that has sprung out of the Lift program is the El Corozo Water Project which has both District and Global RI funding. An 800 foot deep well has been dug and is being connected to 130 individual homes. Rotary has several important partners in Nicaragua -- Planting Change Foundation (PCF), Engineers Without Borders (EWB), and Opportunity International (OI).
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