A Year We’ll Never Forget. Finding The Silver Linings of 2020.
Even during a global pandemic, we couldn't escape the hustle and bustle that this time of year brings! I hope you were able to partake in some of your annual holiday traditions and make new Christmas memories with friends and family. As we countdown the days left of 2020, and turn the page to a new year, it's hard not to reflect on the challenges we've taken head on and be grateful for each of you and what you've helped After Hours accomplish. The virus may have stopped us from having every club meeting in person, but it did not rob us of the IMPACT we've been able to make in our community.
The past month and a half has brought us opportunities to ring bells and raise money for the Salvation Army's Red Kettle campaign. We recognized and celebrated our club's first ever Major Donor (Bill Pritchard) to the Rotary Foundation. We've heard first hand from two very impactful organizations at recent club meetings: ShelterBox, providing shelter and more to over 1.6 million people displaced by conflict or disaster and Big Brothers Big Sisters, where our very own Lucas and Laramie Severson shared their personal story of being a "Big Couple" and the positive impact they are making in their "little's" life. We shared laughs and tears as we gathered to play trivia and remember our good friend and great Rotarian, Dave Knutson.
And last but not least, we pulled off our Ugly Sweater 5k virtual style! (Stay tuned to the next cRAHnicle for a full recap.) True to 2020 style, if something could go wrong, it did! Our lights on the marsh malfunctioned; we lost volunteers to quarantines, COVID tests and injuries... and even lost the keys to one of our UTVs! Despite it all, the event was a success and we gave our friends in the community a safe activity to partake in! Thank you to all of you, who pitched in and helped, donated or participated. The fruits of our labor will allow us to do impactful projects to make the Coulee Region and a far a better place for all.
We will remember 2020 for the rest of our lives. We will tell people decades from now, “This is what I did in 2020. This is who I was. This is what changed.” (I bet many of you can relate to some of the "Best Life Lessons from 2020" (excuse the poor language).) We made everyone.
I hope you all have a very happy New Year and take time to relax and enjoy the blessings that surround us!
I look forward to all the good things we'll continue to do in 2021.
Many thanks to all of you for your input and help to create the Rotary After Hours' strategic plan and road map for the next few years! The writing team and committee chairs collectively spent several hours off line helping to formulate this plan. You are encouraged to read through the goals identified and the actions that will help us achieve our goals (full plan will be emailed separately). After Hours has always been known as the "club of doers." We are ambitious and this plan certainly shows that, but no doubt, it will help us prioritize and see continued success in the future. If anything resonates with you in particular and you'd like to help the club achieve it, please reach out to Marissa or any of the committee chairs/vice chairs!
Our January 26th Club Meeting will be our Annual Assembly in which the plan will be shared in more detail. Committee chairs and their committee members will each share what they've outlined as priorities for the upcoming months. Please plan on attending and hearing more about how we plan to conquer the world!
In the spirit of gratefulness, we'd like to recognize Brandon Harris as our November Rotarian of the month.
Our most current past president of After Hours, Brandon continues to represent and serve Rotary both in our club and our great community.
Brandon has been instrumental the past several months creating our new Ugly Sweater poles to hang lights from. Long are the days of us climbing ladders and fearing for lives, thanks to him! He’s built the storage boxes and is devising the plan for the course set up and take down. No small job! Brandon has been instrumental and a huge help in successfully executing our hybrid meetings; offering his technology expertise to get equipment set up for all of us to be able to stay engaged. Outside of After Hours, Brandon continues to lead, as the president of Rotary Works Foundation.
Brandon, thank you for your leadership, your service and your friendship.
Please Congratulate Brandon the next time you see him, as our November Rotarian of the Month.
Our club had the privilege of recognizing Bill Pritchard as our first ever Major Donor; an individual whose cumulative donations to the Rotary Foundation reach $10,000.
Rotary friends of Bill’s share that “Bill Pritchard talks the Rotary talk and walks the Rotary walk. Monetary giving is important to keep Rotary afloat, but involved and dedicated members like him are really what Rotary is about. Most of the Youth Programs all have a Bill Pritchard stamp on them. He is able to connect with and motivate people of all ages. He truly enjoys the fellowship, the learning opportunities and the personal growth that you can achieve if you fully commit yourself to being a Rotarian.”
We are so thankful for Bill's generosity and the good that he brings to our club, our community and our world every day.
All topics were on the board at our November Foundation Jeopardy meeting
Local gameshow host Andy Trebek hosted our annual Foundation meeting. Teams tested their Rotary IQ. It was a close race, but in the end, Team Brandon emerged as the winners and have each been awarded 100 Paul Harris Fellow points. Please consider a gift to the Rotary Foundation this time of year. It is tax deductible. Since it was founded more than 100 years ago, the Foundation has spent more than $4 billion on life-changing, sustainable projects. With your help, we can make lives better in our community and around the world.
For as little as 60 cents, a child can be protected from polio.
$50 can provide clean water to help fight waterborne illness.
$500 can launch an antibullying campaign and create a safe environment for children.
Visit Rotary International's website for more information and/or to donate.
Josh Mansee, our club and District's Foundation Committee Chair can answer any questions you may have.
“I want my daughters to be educated. I wish for them to achieve all their goals in life.” – Nadir
Earlier this year, our club committed $5,000 and became a major sponsor of the "Wheels of Hope" project. The $45,000 has been raised in partnership with area Rotary Clubs, for the Razia Jan's Zabuli Education Center to purchase a bus for girls attending to be safely transported to and from school.
This story is from Razia's Ray of Hope Foundation newsletter. With our help, a life-changing opportunity is given to these Afghan girls, young women, their communities and generations to come.
"Nadir and his wife are blessed with five daughters. Since his oldest daughter was born, Nadir has been his daughters' greatest advocate for a fair and rigorous education in a region of the world where there is little support for such ideals. In the last sixteen years, Nadir has become arduously resilient to those who try to discourage him from educating his daughters. Unlike some fathers in Afghanistan, he believes in the power of education for girls and young women to create opportunities for a brighter future.
Today, Nadir's five daughters all attend the Zabuli Education Center. Their schooling has led each daughter to set goals and ambitions that are only possible through education: Meena (age 16) aims to be a doctor, while her 14 years old sister, Mubashira, wishes to study engineering. Both Maimona (age 12) and Mashooda (age 7) love their teachers and aspire to be teachers one day themselves. And the youngest one, Mehria (age 6), is a budding artist who would love to be a painter someday."
Rotary opens opportunities. Rotary creates opportunities. Thank you for helping to give the opportunity of education to these young girls.
In three hours, local Interact Clubs raise over $6,000 to benefit local food pantries.
"Members of Rotary Interact Clubs at Central, Logan, Aquinas, Onalaska, Holmen, West Salem and Caledonia collaborated on a drive-through raffle to replace their annual iFeed event.
"This year we obviously couldn't do that just because given the circumstances, it was really hard to do some sort of packing team and stuff like that, so we couldn't do the normal event given the pandemic. We really wanted to help out the community and do that in a way that was really safe," said Onalaska Interact Vice President Isaac Killilea.
The drive-through raffle event raised more than $6,400 total, $5,000 of which was given to the Hunger Task Force. It will also benefit more localized food shelves in Holmen and Caledonia.
Executive Director Shelley Fortner said, "This year especially we're going to see people in more need. It's not just the chronically low income but folks like you and me who are going to be struggling this season. So, this is the perfect time to get this check, and we just want to thank them for their support." For their continued fundraising efforts, Interact clubs were named this year's Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy by the Association of Fundraising Professionals Upper Mississippi Valley Chapter."
Many thanks to Logan Interact Advisor and RAHtarian extraordinaire - Nick Ragner for helping with this successful event!
Established in 1957, Paul Harris Fellow recognition is given to individuals who contribute, or who have contributions made in their name, of $1,000 to the Annual Fund, PolioPlus, or an approved Foundation grant. Recognition consists of a certificate and pin. Paul Harris Fellows can also be given on behalf of someone through Foundation Recognition points or through a combination of points and outright donations. Since the creation of the Paul Harris Fellow, over 1.6 million people have become Paul Harris Fellows, including notable figures such as U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Russian President Boris Yeltsin, polio vaccine developer Jonas Salk.
Are you ready to become a Paul Harris Fellow and join your fellow Rotarians in financially supporting The Rotary Foundation?
Challenge: Invite a friend, co-worker or acquaintance to join a RAH event to check it out! There may be an entire group of individuals in our communities who would make great Rotarians… but could not find a comfortable way to join in person. Perhaps now is the time…
