Recently, I had the good fortune to visit St. Maarten in the Caribbean. As I was heading to my hotel from the airport, I saw something that looked familiar, but I couldn’t immediately place how I knew it. Then, we went around a bend and I saw another message that clicked . Wow! I was impressed! The 4-Way Test is front and center for everyone coming into St. Maarten! It turns out there are FIVE Rotary Clubs on St. Maarten, one Interact Club, and one Rotaract Club!
Not only did I see the 4-Way Test on the roundabout, but there is another set on the hill on the way to Philipsburg, the capital! Very impressive, indeed! It reminded me that I could search up one of their meetings, which I did! I attended the St. Maarten Sunrise Meeting and enjoyed breakfast with their group and learned about their programs and projects. It was so fun to meet others with the same ideals and goals! Although I have to say, I did not know the St. Maarten song. I did know the 4-Way Test!
We have a wonderful lot of projects coming up. We are so lucky that our club has so many opportunities to benefit so many folks in need.
1.Connie Dejarlais at Mounds View High School has asked us to help her fill up the emergency closet that she keeps for kids who are homeless or unable to purchase hygiene items.Please bring any/all of the following items to the club meeting on January 14:
Male and female deodorant Skin lotion
Hair gel
Chapstick or Vaseline
Gloves
Hat
Mittens
2. On January 28, Jessica Bartholomew from ACT United will be presenting a program on Social Media Safety to middle school students at Quincy House.She will repeat the program for high school students on January 30.Stephanie Cosgrove will fill us in on how we can help at the meeting on Tuesday, Jan 14.
3. On February 1, we are looking for 2 shifts of volunteers (3-4/shift) to host a breakfast and a lunch at Highview Middle School (New Brighton) for the volunteers who are working with the group Play for Patrick Foundation.This group screens youth for heart defects/disease, providing EKG, echo cardiograms, and other screenings for kids at no charge.You will hear more about this program on January 28 as Mike Schoonover, the Founder, will be our speaker.There is a sign up sheet for this event.
4. On February 2, we will function as judges for the Youth in Government competition.It is great to be able to work closely with more of the high school groups.
5. On February 13, from 4:00-6:00 PM, we will head over to Bridging and build dressers, with the help of the Mounds View High School Volunteer Club.It should be a hoot to work with these kids—I believe we will see some energy—and perhaps some high jinx!!!!
We had another successful fundraiser this November to raise money for the Rotary Foundation. Matt Rossetter had the highest score and won $10.00 and his name enshrined on the Rotary bowling pin. After our game we enjoyed food and drinks in Flaherty's restaurant. Pictured here are fellow bowlers Jerry Peterson, Mike Spellman, Matt's wife Casey and Matt. Rotarians-you have a full year to sharpen your skills for the next "tournament."
The final results from our Club’s support of the Winter Coat Drive for the families at Solid Ground are now in. And, once again, thanks to the generosity of our members the families, and especially the children, will be much warmer this winter. Here is a summary of your contributions, and it is noteworthy:
Five of you directly contributed a total of $325 to Solid Ground for the purchase of winter wear, especially for buying hard to find sizes. Of those contributions, two of you donated $100 or more.
Twelve of you contributed a total of 119 coats and a wide assortment of hats, gloves, jackets and sweaters. This total included 39 new children, women and men coats costing an estimated $700. The breakdown of the coats you contributed to the families at Solid Ground looks like this:
27 new girls and boys coats
12 new women and men coats
78 gently used women and men coats
2 gently used girls and boys coats
Although hard to estimate, the value of all those gently used coats and assorted other winter wear amounted to about $1,300.
In summary, the grand total of all your contributions - including direct money donations, new coats, and a host of gently used winter garments - amounted to nearly $2,325.
As a result of our partnership with Incarnation in the winter coat drive both of us were able to multiple our efforts to improve the lives of families struggling to escape poverty. It demonstrates once again that the sum is truly greater than the parts.
Dave Newman is working on a District Grant “LIFT – processing center update and rent” for supporting a community in Nicaragua that is paired with a Global Grant that Stillwater Sunrise is working on for the same community. There has been a significant development related to the government of Nicaragua requiring Rotary International to work with the Department of Interior. Rotary International will not agree to those terms. In addition, Rotary International has decided in order to comply with sanctions applied by the U.S. Government to Nicaragua it is not possible for The Rotary Foundation funds to be sent to Nicaragua. Our district and our club are in the midst of figuring out what these means to the overall LIFT project, projects that are supporting other efforts in Nicaragua and to the folks in Nicaragua that are relying on commitments we have made.
Don Martin is working on a Global Grant “Ear & Hearing Care (EHC) for Liberia” which will provide instruments for 7 hospitals in Liberia for hearing testing. The fundraising portion of the Global Grant was met in October! That is a milestone! We can thank 20 clubs that pitched in from $100 to $5,000 in support of this grant. The next step is authorizations by the presidents of the Host club in Liberia, and the International club (us), as well as DDF authorization from the districts. Once that is accomplished, (finally) The Rotary Foundation will review the proposal that was approved by our district back in August.
We continue to evaluate requests for funding. At our meeting in October, we considered:
A water project in Kenya from Forest Lake
Additional funding for an ESL project from Columbia Heights – Fridley
The Guatemala Literacy project from Rice Lake (Wisconsin) for $500
The first 2 projects were already fully funded by the time we offered support, so we have withdrawn our offer of support.
Today's speaker was Wendy Goodman from the Ramsey County Children's Mental Health Collaborative. This organization, started in 2013, works across systems and with families to support children's mental health. Before the pandemic, 20% of youth had a mental health disorder that affected their life at home, school or in the community. But a 2021 poll of Ramsey County youth showed that more than 70% were struggling. Last year, the Collaborative served over 450 families by understanding and helping families find resources to address the myriad of problems that individuals within a family are having. They also focus on caregiver support, which is another area of great need in our communities.