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Meeting Notes 9/15

Posted by David Grant

Guests:

Matt Butler joined us and we announced that subsequent to a 7-day notice, he will be joining the Club with his business partner Michael Goldenberg. Michael is the CEO and Matt is an Investment Executive at Afin Family Wealth Management, a Northfield investment company.
Lee introduced Howard Sipe, a platform tennis friend of his who works at Rose Pest Control.

Announcements:

Rich reminds us of the Operation Warm party on 10/14.
Barb asks for volunteers for a ‘committee on caterers.’Marie will join her to review our lunch options.
Barb also asks for volunteers to follow up on the ‘music mends minds’ speaker initiative to start a local music group for people with memory loss. Please contact her to join the committee!

Happy Bucks:

Marie has been working on her ancestry, and she discovered that her 17^th Grandfather is James the 4^th, King of Scotland. Now we have proof of Royalty for our very own Queen!
Bob Baker officially retires this week with the sale of his business VJ Killian.
Sylwia announced a promotion to the commercial side of Wintrust.

Speaker: Our speaker was Dave Rodelius, the 91-year-old Chief Engineer Emeritus of the Chicago Botanic Garden Railroad. Dave helped the Garden open the railroad display in 2000, and he oversees the volunteers there to help you enjoy the elaborate setup.

Meeting Notes 9/8

Posted by Keith Reed

The meeting was called to order by both our Co-chairs Barb and Patti around 12:40. There were 12 members present and two guests—Mary Bak attended on Zoom and Michael Goldberg attended his 3rd Rotary meeting and looks forward to becoming a member of the Club. He is a financial advisor from Glenview. The Dig N Grin was handled by Barb subbing for Tom Evans.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Birthdays were celebrated by Heather Higgins, Mike Shelton, Wes Bauman and Terry Dason. Club membership anniversaries were celebrated by Todd Stephens (24 years), Fred Schwimmer (10 years) and Tony Kambich (43 years with our Club and 8 with another Rotary organization). Patti reminded everyone of the Operation Warm benefit to be held October 14 at the Valley Lo Club in Glenview to provide winter coats for Chicago Area Kids in Need. Barb announced the “Firsty Thursday” event in the WCH garden that evening featuring snacks and other refreshments and live music. Happy Bucks were given by David Grant and Keith Reed who cheerfully recognized each other’s work as Club scribes, along with Patti filling in when necessary, and who again mentioned the need to get one more scribe to help with this duty.

SPEAKER ROB LEACHMAN and AUTHOR OF “ONE RIDE AT A TIME”.

Rob is a 20 year Rotarian who recently moved to Arlington Heights to be close to his children/grandchildren who live in Winnetka and love its schools and the community. His career had been in education and consulting and when he retired he and his wife decided to venture on an amazing 42 day bike ride across the USA (ala Forest Gump on wheels). It was such an awakening experience for them as amateur bike riders that Rob decided to write a book about the experience. Some of the details of the ride were: they started at San Diego and ended up in St. Augustine (3000 miles); there were 42 riding days with the longest daily ride being about 100 miles; there were 9 amateur riders and Rob’s wife was the only female; they had a support group of 8 experienced riders who planned the trip, rode with them, repaired bikes, arranged for hotel/meals/luggage transfer etc. Being amateurs, Rob and his wife had new experiences such as riding up the mountains in the West; desert conditions in Arizona; 40-60 mph winds blowing westerly against them which turned into a sand storm; a Texas rain storm; and many other things that really made them appreciate this spectacular Country. Needless to say, this was a binding experience, especially for the amateur riders. Unfortunately one of the riders from Scotland fell in Georgia about 300 miles from the finish line in Florida. He broke both legs, was hospitalized for 2 months, but eventually recovered. At that time he decided to go back to Georgia to finish the last 300 miles of the planned trip. When his fellow cyclists on the trip heard of that, many of them , including Rob and his wife, flew to St. Augustine to be there when their friend finished his trip. It was partly due to this nostalgic event that made Rob want to write his book to describe the wonderful bonding experience they had with the other cyclists who were total strangers before the trip.

After several Q and A, Barb adjourned the meeting by leading the Rotary 4-Way test.

Meeting Notes 9/1

Posted by David Grant

Patti chaired the meeting.

Announcements:

Patti thanked the club for participating in the ‘ Club Assembly’ the week before.
Reminder to all Board members that the next meeting is before the 9/15 meeting.
The club survey highlighted a desire to have more social events, so we are encouraging Rotarians to gather and socialize at the Winnetka Community House ‘Firsty Thursday’ event this Thursday, 9/8.See the Bulletin story for details!
Patti & Barb are forming a committee to explore starting a local ‘music mends minds’ group to help people with memory loss.Please contact them to join the committee!

Happy Bucks:

congratulated Terry Dason for the Saturday Farmers Market.
Fred also asked us all to support food pantries: as inflation is rising, the need is greater!
Sylvia brought two bags of donations for the New Trier pantry.

Speaker: Our speaker was Glenn T. Garlick. He is a proud member of the Buffalo Grove Rotary Club and the District 6440 Polio Now Chair. After the meeting he sent all our members the following email, which recaps his discussion:

Thanks for the time you took today in letting me speak at your Rotary club, about what's happening in the world pertaining to Wild Polio eradication. Rotary International has made Wild Polio Eradication the #1 cause for the last thirty years and we are very, very close to the end. I am also very excited about the new "game changing" vaccine that was recently developed. I have outlined below the process to join the PolioPlus Society. Please consider this promise that Rotary International has made on behalf of all Rotarians to all of the children of the world and consider joining the Polio Plus Society.

To Join the Polio Plus Society;

1) Sign in to Rotary6440.org

2) Scroll down on the Right Hand Side to the Polio Plus Society box and click on the box

3) You are then taken to the Polio Plus Society page

4) PLEDGE first - then go back and DONATE $100

If you would like to donate to Polio Plus but not join the Polio Plus Society please go to rotary.org and follow the "Donate" button. If you are currently unable to donate then I ask you to "Tell the Polio story" to your family, friends and co-workers. Perhaps they will give you a donation to prevent another "crawler" in the world. What is your Polio footprint? Thanks again for your time today.

Local Citizens Joining Rotary Club of Winnetka-Northfield with Benefit Party to Support Operation Warm- Coats for Kids in Need in Chicagoland

A team of local citizens is throwing a benefit party to support the Operation Warm program of the Rotary Club of Winnetka-Northfield. This will be the fourth time in five years for this fun event that brings warmth, confidence and hope to Chicago area children living in need with the gift of a brand new winter coat.

The party will be held at Valley Lo Club in Glenview on Friday October 14 and features the soulful music of Gerald McClendon- “The Soulkeeper.” A buffet dinner will be served with a cash bar. A silent and live auction will enable attendees to acquire great items while supporting this important cause.

“Our club has partnered with Operation Warm since 2009 to bring new coats to thousands of Chicago area children,” said Barb Tubekis, Co-President of the club. “We are so grateful for the support of the community, especially the team of volunteers who plan this annual party that allows us to serve more children.”

Meeting Notes August 25

Posted by Keith Reed

Co-Chair Barb T called the meeting to order around 12:40. There were 18 members present, plus 7 on Zoom, and we had one guest, Peter Hansen.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: The Glencoe Community Garden harvesting project is Oct. 6th at noon with a box lunch to be served—the harvesting will take about one hour; the New Trier Township food pantry still needs more essential items like nonperishable food items and hygiene supplies—contributions can be made at any of our regular meetings for the next couple of weeks and donations can be dropped off at the WCH every other day of the week.

DIG N GRIN: Connie gave several riddles involving parents and school children coming home after their first day back from summer vacation.

HAPPY BUCKS: Robert was so happy that the WCH parking lot was full of Rotarians who attended today’s meeting; Rich thanked Robert for letting him win the Cubs tickets at our recent benefit and for Moha donating some Opus One wine to the Operation Warm Benefit which is coming up Oct. 14th at the Valley Lo Club in Glenview; David Birkenstein endorsed the eating and entertainment activities at Fred’s Garage every Wednesday night from 7:00 to 9:30 pm and what the Village has done to draw people to its downtown merchants and restaurants.

PROGRAM FOR THE DAY: Co-Chair Patti first encouraged members to continue bringing their pop tabs from cans and chips from bread to the WCH. Then she introduced Amy Skalinder, our membership Chair who, along with a small group of members, created a survey that was sent to members a couple of months ago. Amy reviewed a video showing the results of such survey which is available through David Grant. Her general conclusions were: 28 out of our 40 regular members took the survey; that the members thought that the time, type of meetings and the logistics of same were generally very good with the only negative comment being about our lunches; 64% of our members have been attending our recent meetings in person with the rest using Zoom; about 70% were generally satisfied with Rotary and was a “good use of their money”; 70% think our speaker program is very important; and most members agree that recruitment of new members and retention of current members continue to be very important.

GROUP SUGGESTIONS: At this time the members were divided into 4 groups and their reports at the end of the meeting were:

Terry Dason’s group—our speakers are generally good but more of our members need to help recruit them; our corporate members should be urged to speak at one of our monthly meetings at least once a year and they should send a representative to our meetings at least once a month; and we should all try to go to the Winnetka Farmers’ Market as often as possible to showcase Rotarians involvement in the community.
Robert’s group-- reported that we should consider having more different kinds of meetings (e.g. more sociable events like a “fireside meeting in the winter”, attending or sponsoring an event at a Northwestern football game, involving our “significant others” more in our Rotary activities, and having joint meetings with other Rotary Clubs.
The Zoom Group-- they suggested creating a community activity that would benefit and get the attention of its residents—the example given was helping residents dispose of old electronic equipment.
Bob Baker’s group—we should go after corporations (especially small businesses in the community) for new members; we should study why our local Chambers of Commerce are so successful in getting members; we have a good brochure about Rotary that we should use more; and we should initiate programs/activities locally that our new/young residents can observe and appreciate the importance of Rotary in the community.

Patti thanked Amy for all the work she and her committee did on the survey project and recommended that Rotary get more involved with the WCH’s “Thirsty Thursday” gatherings as a way of promoting Rotary, the next one being September 8. The members also thanked Amy and our officers for their work on the survey and suggested that we have more “Club Assembly” type of meetings in the future. A recording of the Club Assembly can be viewed: https://youtu.be/KHygk_taqag

The meeting was adjourned with the reciting of the Rotary 4 way test.

Meeting Notes August 18

Posted by David Grant

Patti chaired the meeting.

Announcements:

David Grant reviewed the line-up of speakers scheduled for the next 8 weeks.
A rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday” was sung for David Birkenstein.

Happy Bucks:

is happy the club sang for David B’s Birthday.
is happy that David B was his sponsor for the Club.

Speaker: Paula Turelli is the ED for Mother’s Trust Foundation, which is a Lake County charity that funds individuals – mostly kids. Social workers, therapists, and counselors refer needy childern to the Foundation. Their giving guideline is DRT (Do the Right Thing). They fund many different needs including back to school clothing, fees for after-school programs, bus transportation, baby gear, utilities, rent checks, summer camps, prom dress giveaway, etc.

Meeting Notes August 11

Posted by David Grant

Barb Tubekis chaired the meeting.

Visiting Guests: Matt Butler was introduced to the Club by Robert.

Announcements:

Patti & Barb both attended Nancy Badger’s service. Barb appreciates her as a wonderful woman to emulate, and Barb also contributed happy bucks in honor of Nancy. Other opportunities to donate are listed in this bulletin.
Rotary International announced the R.I President for 2024/2025 will be Stephanie Urchick. More Info: Stephanie A. Urchick selected to be 2024-25 Rotary International President | Rotary International
Amy calls our attention to a new program guide for the WCH featuring adult programs with evening speakers. The next program is the Fantastiks Musical Show 8/26 – 9/4.
Rich organized a planning committee meeting for the Operation Warm concert for next Thursday, 8/18. The concert will have the same outstanding band as last year: the Soul keepers. Ron Bernardi has agreed to auction items at the event. Proceeds will go to distributing coats at local libraries.

Happy Bucks:

Bill & Therese Leske celebrated their 40-year wedding anniversary.
Patti is happy that Donna Goodman is reading the Club Bulletin and following our Club.
Peter & Betty Skalski both passed their driving tests.

Speaker: Carol Rosenstein is on a mission to start musical groups around the country for people with degenerative or cognitive impairments. Rich and Bob met her at the Rotary International Conference and were impressed with her mission even before Carol appeared on the front cover the May edition of the R.I. Magazine. Carol’s husband had Parkinson’s dementia, and his participation in a music group helped him. Carol shared several videos with us. During the pandemic, zoom saved their ‘Music Mends Minds’ program. She is now trying to help other rotary clubs start similar programs. Do any of us want to help organize such a group?

Meeting Notes August 4

Posted by Keith Reed

Patti chaired the meeting which was called to order at 12:15. There were 18 members present and 3 attending on Zoom. Our special guest was Safiyyah Hassan’s 4 year old son, Muhamed.

ANNIVERSARIES: There were no birthdays but Brooke Peppey has been a Club member for 26 years and Peter Skalski for 30 years.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: There will be no Board meeting in August; the August 11 Club meeting will feature Carol Rosenstein speaking on how music therapy can “mend minds”; our August 18th Club meeting will feature Paula Turelli from Mothers Trust Foundation; and our August 25 regular meeting will be the Club Assembly meeting to discuss status, future and development of our Club. Rich reminded everyone of the Club Benefit (this year benefitting Operation Warm) to be held October 14 at Valley Lo Club in Glenview and featuring star blues singer Gerald McClendon.

HAPPY BUCKS: Tony donated $100 in honor of his and wife Carolyn’s 61st anniversary and also his 25 year old son who is getting married soon. Fred donated in honor of his and Ellie’s wedding date which was one week before Tony’s. Robert then donated subject to the condition that Tony does not count his Son’s wedding dinner as his special night out with Carolyn in celebration of their 61st!! Barb donated for the relief she’s had completing the clean out of her Mother-in-law’s house. Patti donated due to her experience in coordinating efforts of North Shore Country Day and a Wilmette Rotary Club in providing sleeping bags for the homeless.

PAUL HARRIS AWARD: Patti presented Chuck Norton with his 4th Paul Harris award which means he has donated at least $4000 to Rotary over the last few years.

SPEAKERS: BETTY GRIEBNOW (Winnetka Library Assistant) and SYDNEY CLARK (Northfield Branch Librarian). The most important message from these library representatives was that these library operations found a way to prosper and develop new programs/services during the pandemic!! It seems that the most beneficial development was the use of virtual communication in presenting most of their programs. Their Summer Booklet listed the following programs for the 3 summer months: Books on the Beach, Mystery Book Club, Cookbook Book Club, Nonfiction and Fiction Book Clubs, Author Events, Dramatic Performances, Food & Drink, Health and Wellness, Business & Financial, Home & Garden, Poetry & Writing,Travel, History-- just to name a few. They had an extensive summer reading program for kids and adults of all ages with prizes given to kids who read at least 20 minutes a day for at least 40 days. Another interesting program was the “Library of Things” collection that members could borrow from the library things that the no longer keep at their home—for example a metal detector, telescope, VHS to Digital Recorder, 8mm converter, DVD player, VCR, sewing machines and even knitting needles. Another successful development was for 100 or so libraries in Illinois joining together to have big name authors make virtual presentations which were seen by hundreds of interested readers. It was easier to get big name authors because they didn’t have to spend money for travel and lodging and all the participating libraries could share in speakers’ honorarium charges.

To summarize, the local libraries have been very energetic and creative in remaining a very valuable part of Winnetka and Northfield. (It was mentioned that these services are available only to residents of these two villages who live in the two library “districts” within the villages, but any questions regarding this condition should be discussed with the local librarians.)

ADJOURNMENT: At 1:25 pm, Patti led the group in the Rotary 4 Way Test and the meeting was adjourned.

Ongoing social service opportunities

Posted by Safiyyah Hassan

1. Call to Action! The New Trier Township food pantry needs our support. The pantry is low on essential items that support Township residents and workers. We will be collecting non perishable food items and hygiene supplies at each Thursday meeting. Donations can also be dropped off at the Community House every other day of the week. This service project will run through the end of September. In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is more important than ever that we support and uplift one another.

2. Additional items that we will be collecting at each Thursday meeting are pop tabs from aluminum cans and bread clips. The pop tabs will be donated to Ronald Mcdonald House for recycling and they go towards offsetting the costs of helping children and their families.

The bread clips will be donated to 'Scarcely Resourced' who will be recycling them in partnership with 'Danielle Cares for Chairs'. A few thousand of these bread clips will purchase a wheelchair for a child in need. The bread tags are also now being utilized by a prosthetic clinic to strengthen the molding process of making a prosthesis.

Meeting Notes July 28

Posted by Patti Van Cleave

President Barb called the meeting to order at 12:20.

Patti offered some thoughts from famous people about England in honor of our guest from England.

David Grant led the Pledge.

Visiting guests & Rotarians

Andy Vass visited us from the Northbrook Club. He is also a board member of Hunger Resource Network and a former Assistant Governor.

Barb introduced her guests: David, who runs the Volunteer Center in Chesterfield, England, and local Volunteer Center board members Darlene Kolton and Colleen Harlow.

No Birthdays or Anniversaries.

Announcements

Sylwia and Safiyyah, our new Community Service chairs, are organizing a food drive for the New Trier Township Food Pantry.

Bill thanked all who participated at the Farmer’s Market last Saturday.

Happy Bucks:

Rich shared a picture of his new granddaughter Claire, born on Sunday afternoon.

Patti shared a buck of gratitude to Bob Baker for his quick response in installing a new hot water heater at her house on Monday morning.

Barb gave $20 in honor of meeting Dave in 2020.

Dig N Grin: Andy shared a joke, followed by Fred. A double header!

SPEAKER:

Bill introduced Kerry Smith, who is Director of Development for Hunger Resource Network. HRN is “taking a bite out of hunger”, serving many non-profits by providing frozen chicken, as well as a food program for students in Northbrook.

President Barb adjourned the meeting at 1:25, when we recited the 4 Way Test.

Meeting Notes July 14

Posted by Keith Reed

Our new Chair Barb Tubekis called the meeting to order and reported that our other new Co-Chair Patti Van Cleave, is doing better with her Covid problem. There were about 15 members present at the meeting with no Zoom participants. There were no anniversaries but Mary Lou Bilder-Gold had a recent birthday. Liz Taylor had the “thought of the day”.

“Dig N Grin” was handled by Bob Baker who listed all the famous events that occurred on past July 14s—such as U.S. landings on Mars in 1965 and the moon in 1969—plus Henry Aaron hit his record breaking 500th home run on this day, but not sure the year.

Announcements—this is the last day our Club can make donations to the Highland Park July 4th victim funds through our Foundation—such donations have been significant to date; Rich announced that our annual benefit (this year benefitting Operation Warm), will be held at Valley Lo Country Club on either October 7 or 14; it was announced that our Club now has a “budding” R n R singer with Amy Skalinder being featured with a band at one of the WCH garden “Thirsty Thursday” evenings which are held once a month with the next one being August 4th. In addition to this musical career, Amy is in charge of our Club’s survey of members regarding their assessment of our Club’s performance. This survey needs to be completed by members ASAP so that the Board can take action on the results—so far only 22 out of 40 members have responded.

SPEAKER ELISE LARSEN, Executive Director of Special Gifts Theatre based in Northbrook.

This is the only educational and therapy based theatre in the Chicago area. It deals with all sorts of disabilities including cognitive, physical, social and emotional. It has 12 programs operating in 7 locations on the North Shore with about 330 students participating and about 32 part time staff including special education teachers and therapists.

It operates throughout the year primarily through 4 activities/programs: Creativity in Motion is for students age 7 or older who engage in embodied storytelling using music to tell stories through movement; Musical Theatre is for 10-22 year olds with its purpose to enhance social skills, develop emotional literacy and increase self esteem; Musical Theatre Winnetka actually produces a musical play performed at Skokie School in Winnetka; there is a Peer Mentor Program for those 10 years and older who work with experienced peers on educational activities, choreography and stage work; and then there is the Creating Outside the Lines for those over 22 years of age to develop team work, public speaking and self confidence leading to employment readiness.

The overall organization operates with about a $500,000 budget provided by donations from several organizations like Rotary clubs and the New Trier Township, benefit campaigns/ activities, ticket sales and government grants. There is no required tuition payment, and any such payment is usually based on ability to pay. It uses training and performing space at local grade schools and studios located primarily in Winnetka, Northbrook and Northfield. It does draw students from at least 8 North Shore suburbs as well as some Chicago schools such as Edison Park in Chicago.

We were treated with a presentation by Ruthie, a junior at New Trier who has been an active mentor in the program specializing in teaching musical numbers and communication skills to non-verbal children. She thanked our Rotary Club for its contribution to this very important community activity for special needs young people.

At approximately 1:25 Barb adjourned the meeting and lead us in Rotary’s 4-Way Test.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY, July 7 2022

Posted by Robert Mardirossian

Shock, despair, anger, frustration, fear, sadness, concern for our country, impotence, withdrawal, distress, relief, denial.

These are just a few of the many thoughts, feelings and actions people have had since Monday’s horrific assault on our neighbors in Highland Park.

There is no script how one should feel or respond, as much as we wish we could find relief and peace. We each try to find a path that allows us to move forward.

For many of us, part of moving forward first requires pausing to acknowledge the horror of what happened and share it with those we care about.

The tragedy of what occurred in Highland Park, is not an isolated incident. This year alone there have been four mass shooting that have taken place. The impact of the other tragedies can have a cumulative effect on how we process Monday’s shooting. Try to be understanding of our feelings and responses and the feelings and responses of those around us, even if they don’t seem to make sense.

In the midst of witnessing the worst of what one person can do to many, we also heard and saw what the best of what many human beings can do for one another.

To the extent possible, let us strive to exemplify the best of humanity. Let us extend kindness and compassion to ourselves, to those we love and even to strangers we encounter.

In memory of the seven people who lost their lives Monday:

Katherine Goldstein

Irina McCarthy

Kevin McCarthy

Stephen Straus

Jacquelyn Sundheim

Nicolas Toledo-Zargoza

Eduardo Uvaldo

and all those who suffered physical and emotional harm, let us have 30 seconds of silence and send healing thoughts, energy and prayers to their families and friends, and the entire Highland Park community. Thank you.

Every Rotarian, Every Year- Contribute to The Rotary Foundation

As the 2021-22 Rotary Year concludes, please join the millions of beneficiaries of projects funded by The Rotary Foundation in thanking our members who have honored their commitment of Every Rotarian, Every Year, contribute to The Rotary Foundation's Annual SHARE Fund.

These gifts support the local and international work of Rotary Clubs and Districts through District and Global Grants. A significant portion of these gifts support projects of our club like our recent contribution to Shelter Box, our annual Operation Warm coats and shoes for children projects, local COVID-19 relief efforts, Kids Against Hunger, and our Ecuador "Farm to Table" Global Grant.

Year to date, we are 57% of the way to Presidents Bill and Greg's goal of $12,000 for the 2021-22 Rotary year.

Please thank these 20 Rotarians (plus our good friend Donna Goodman) for already making their annual contribution, especially those in bold who are Paul Harris Fellows:

Sam Badger*⁺, Wes Baumann, Connie Berman, David Birkenstein*⁺, Eric Birkenstein, Moha Bouacha, Donna Goodman, David Grant*, Tony Kambich*, Marie Kuipers, Rich Lalley*^{+^}, Bill Leske, Robert Mardirossian, Lee Padgitt, Bob Sanfilippo, Heidi Sibert, Peter Skalski, Todd Stephens, Liz Taylor, Barb Tubekis, and Patti Van Cleave.
* signifies a Major Donor ⁺signifies Paul Harris Society ($1,000 per year) ^Bequest Society

There are many reasons to give to the The Rotary Foundation:

Contributions support humanitarian and educational projects initiated and run by Rotary Clubs and Districts in seven areas of focus- Disease prevention and treatment, maternal & child health, education & literacy, water and sanitation, economic & community development, protecting our environment, and peace & conflict resolution. Learn more by reviewing the Foundation’s annual report.
Contributions come back to support projects of our club's projects, like Operation Warm Soles, support for ShelterBox, last year's COVID-19 Response efforts, Kids Against Hunger and International grants projects like our Farm to Table eco-agribusiness project in Ecuador, the water and sanitation projects we helped fund for schools in Guatemala and Kenya, and the digital x-ray/community health clinic project organized by District 6440. This year, we received $3,671, and next year we will can receive $4,876. But we must give to receive.
Charity Navigator gives The Rotary Foundation its highest “Four Star” rating, giving it a score 100 out of 100.
The Association of Fundraising Professionals named The Rotary Foundation the World's Outstanding Foundation of 2016!
Giving to The Rotary Foundation is an easy way for you to participate in Rotary’s service work beyond our club, providing you a personal connection to this great organization and the good it does throughout the world.

It’s easy to give. Bring a check to made payable to “WNRCF” (mark TRF in the memo line) to our club, (or mail it to our club at 620 Lincoln Ave, Winnetka, 60093); you can donate via PayPal by clicking here, or you can donate directly to The Rotary Foundation at www.rotary.org or by calling 866-976-8279. One very convenient way to give is by making a recurring monthly gift on your credit card or from your checking account, which you can set up on Rotary’s website.

If you have not already supported The Rotary Foundation this year, please do so now.

If you have any questions about The Rotary Foundation or how to give, contact Rich Lalley.

Meeting Recordings

One of the nice features of meeting virtually is that our meetings can be recorded. This of course depends on your meeting host (me) remembering to start the recording (sometimes I'm a bit late in starting it).

Here are links to view our recent meetings:

Suburban Rotary clubs team up to collect new shoes for children in need

Rotarians from Cook and Lake counties partnered with Operation Warm this month to provide 1,530 pairs of new shoes to area children.

The shoes were delivered to local nonprofit organizations and schools for distribution to families. The 11 participating Rotary clubs gathered Saturday morning at a Northbrook warehouse to pick and pack shoes for Operation Warm’s new Warm Soles program.

“It’s all about the kids, it’s all about taking care of the kids in the area,” said Bill Kolb of Zion, who delivered shoes to northeastern Lake County recipients.

Rotarian Gary Moriello of Northbrook helped deliver shoes to Waukegan.

“We have so much ourselves,” Moriello added, “and then to have a chance to give to somebody else who doesn’t have (new shoes) is a great idea.”

The program was funded from contributions from each participating club and a matching grant by Rotary District 6440 and The Rotary Foundation.

Read the rest of the article by clicking here.

Got Questions about Rotary or our club? We've got answers.

Posted by Richard (Rich) Lalley on Mar 11, 2013

Are you thinking about joining our club, but have some questions? Or have you recently joined and want to know more about how things work? Check our our new FAQs:

Still have questions? Send them to info@wnrotary.org and we'll send you an answer and update our FAQs.

Doing Good in the World

Posted by Richard (Rich) Lalley on Feb 10, 2013

Last year, our club helped fund a Rotary Foundation Matching Grant program supporting a Rotary Club sponsored prosthesis clinic in Bolivia. Our club's funds were matched with funds from The Rotary Foundation; $2.50 for each $1 we contributed. Take a look at the impact this program has had on one gentleman!

Our club was able to participate in the matching grant program because our members contribute each year the the Annual Programs Fund of The Rotary Foundation. You can make a contribution via PayPal by clicking here.