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Message from DG Stephanie Meyer
It’s officially Spring in Kansas (complete with the wild swings in weather)!  This is the time of year when everything comes back to life, and for Rotary, a time of year when we begin making the final preparations on our next service year, while buttoning up all of the great work of the last twelve months.
 
With that in mind, two important notes this month – one, on this year’s fantastic Foundation efforts.  We’ve had a strong year, but we’d love to exceed last year’s contributions (what can I say?  I’m competitive), and one of the easiest ways for us to do that is to have a wildly successful Gathering for Good.  This year’s event is taking place at Maceli’s in Lawrence this Saturday, May 6, and it’s not too late to join us!  If you’re unable to attend, we’d still love your support of the silent auction…look for a link from Mandy when it goes live on Friday.   As you know, this is our biggest fundraiser of the year, and proceeds go directly towards critical projects across our region and the globe. 
 
My second item is looking towards the future – of our Rotary calendar, but also our world.  Every year, our youth exchange program does an amazing job of preparing and placing outbound students, while also finding hosts for our terrific inbound students…and this is no easy task!  This year, we’re still a few homes short for our inbound students; would you be able to help?  I know many previous host families, and they’ve all raved about the experience.  If you’re interested in learning more, let me know and I’d be happy to connect you! 
 
As always, thanks for all you do for our communities, and our organization.  I look forward to seeing many of you on Saturday in Lawrence, and a few of you in Melbourne, Australia in a few weeks! 
 
Stephanie Meyer
District Governor

Club & District News and Events

Rotary and Polio Plus
IMAGINE” A WORLD WITHOUT POLIO!
MEETING THE GATES MATCHING GIFT CHALLENGE
 
During last month which wrapped up and promoted the importance of World Immunization Week, 24-30 April, District 5710 clubs made great progress toward our commitment to help the Polio Plus Fund meet the challenge of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s $2 Match for every Rotary Dollar up to $50 Million.  While many of our clubs have not only set, but met, and even exceeded their Polio Plus Goals for 2022-2023, there are still opportunities and enough time for the clubs and members who have yet to donate this year to make that added commitment. No matter how small or how large a donation your club can make to Plus before June 30th, remember that every $1 we donate will protect one more child from ever having Polio.

We need to continue vaccinating the world’s children against polio, because polio anywhere is a threat everywhere.
 
Our District 5710 Leadership has set a great example by already sending $30,000 of our District Designated Funds (DDF) to PolioPlus to help meet our District’s Goal of donating more than the $145,000 that 5710 donated last year.  It’s not too late for members and club’s to use the remaining weeks and months of this Rotary Year to make those extra fundraising efforts and send your donations to Polio Plus. Let’s see if we can beat last year by 10% and hit $160,000!
 
Thank you for helping to keep the promise we made to children everywhere...a polio free world.
 
And “We are…This Close” as shown in our “Countdown to History”
Call or email me for ideas or help: Jim Arnett, Polio Plus District Chair
 (913) 200-0514 ~ maajca@gmail.com
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Wild Poliovirus Weekly Update
COUNTDOWN TO HISTORY!
Week Ending 30 Apr 2023
Total number of wild cases in 2019:  176
Total number of wild cases in 2020:  140
Total # of wild poliovirus cases in 2021: 6
Total # of wild poliovirus cases in 2022: 30(20 in Pakistan!)       
Total # of wild poliovirus cases this week: 1(1 in Pakistan!)
      (compared with Total of 1 for the same period in 2022)
Total number of Circulating Vaccine Derived cases - 2023:46
 (vs. totals in 2020: 1113; & 698 in 2021, with 829 in 2022)
 
Please Donate @ https://www.myrotary.org 
OR CHECKS TO YOUR CLUB’S CHARITABLE ACCOUNT DIRECTED TO “POLIO PLUS”
Rotary Youth Exchange 
The District 5710 Youth Exchange Committee is hard at work trying to find homes and host clubs for the 10 inbound students we have coming to our district in August. We have students coming from South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy, and Austria. Students come with their own spending money and health insurance. Host families provide a welcoming home and room and board.  
 
Key points that clubs need to know about:
    -Host families do not have to be Rotarians
    -Host families do not have to have kids at home
    -Host families can be a single parent
    -Host families can host as little as 3 months up to a year 
    -Host clubs give a stipend every month and cover school registration
    -Smaller clubs can host with help from the district
    -Hosting is beneficial for families, clubs, schools and communities
 
If you or your club want more information about hosting please reach out to district YEO Stephen Wheatley at wheatleydc@sbcglobal.net or district inbound coordinator David Beck at david.beckrye@gmail.com.  
The Rotary Foundation 
Registration is still open for the Gathering For Good Foundation event on May 6th!  We just added a New Orleans trip and a Cancun trip to our live auction. We, also, have a Vegas condo, three tasting experiences involving beer, bourbon, or wine, signed sports memorabilia, a play-n-stay golf experience at Colbert Hills, and a very special quilt made in memory of PDG Jon Wilhite. Our live entertainment for this event will feature Tyler Korso Illusionist. This year’s Rotary theme of “Imagine Rotary” will be showcased in this night to remember. The live auction will feature our auctioneer extraordinaire, Charlie Moon, once again. This year, the Gathering For Good will be held at Maceli’s in Lawrence. This event will be a very fun filled night with all of the funds raised going to The Rotary Foundation Annual fund in the name of the person purchasing any item that is available. DGN-D Chuck Udell has over 20 club baskets along with a few other exciting items for our silent auction. You will be amazed at some the ideas our clubs have come up with for their basket! If you have an idea for a silent auction item, please contact me (fbarr@t-mfinancial.com) or Chuck Udell (chuckudell@msn.com). Also, do not forget our wine/liquor pull. DGN Tamara Sevcik already has 50 bottles that will be available and we are expecting more. We have over 100 people registered for this event. I hope you can join us for this fun filled night of supporting Our Rotary Foundation!
 
I am very happy to announce that Roger Aeschliman from the Rotary Club of Topeka has agreed to be our new Endowment/Major Gifts starting on July 1, 2023! Roger will be following Dr. William Richter who has been doing a wonderful job as our E/MG Chair. Please welcome Roger to his new role. I am certain that he will continue the good work that Bill has been doing in this capacity.
 
Your District Foundation committee has been speaking to many of our clubs on several Foundation topics, including Endowment/Major Gifts, Global Scholars, Global grants, District grants, Paul Harris Society, Polio Plus, and alternative ways to give a significant gift to The Rotary Foundation (TRF). I encourage you to reach out to us if you would like us to present to you.
 
As of April 27th, we have, as a district, given 65% of what we contributed last year to TRF Annual fund and 87% to Polio Plus. With 2 months left in our Rotary year, we are getting closer to matching or exceeding our numbers from last year. Over 80% of our clubs have donated at least something to one of the Rotary Foundation areas and we are all very delighted you did. If you have not made your contribution to TRF yet this year, I would encourage you to do so in the next couple of months. Your District Foundation committee is dedicated to helping our members with various ways of contributing to TRF and with various ideas for projects that can benefit from those funds.
 
If you would like to learn more about GGs, please join us at 3:00pm in Maceli’s on May 6th (just before the Gathering For Good) for a GG training led by RI Regional Grants Officer, Cecilia Walter. She has graciously agreed to meet with us to discuss how the RI grants team analyzes GGs for our Region. Click here to register. 
 
As I view the photos of all your District Grant projects, I am thoroughly impressed with all the ways you have found to help people in your communities using Our Rotary Foundation funds. Thank you for all of your efforts so far! With only two months left in the 2022-2023 Rotary year, we have the opportunity to finish strong and exceed our goals so we can help even more people in future!
Rotary Global Grant Training Session
District 5710 will be offering a unique opportunity for Global Grant training by Cecelia Walters, our Rotary International Global Grant officer.
 
This training will be 3:00-4:00 pm on Saturday, May 6 at Maceli's Banquet Hall in Lawrence. The training will be prior to the Gathering for Good event, so come early and learn how to apply for a global grant. Please note this training is for GLOBAL grants, not DISTRICT grants. 
 
Please register here if you would like to attend. 
Protecting All
Harassment and abuse is a serious matter in today's world. As members of Rotary, we maintain high standards for protecting the safety and security of everyone. Whether in activities that involve children and youth or adults, we must guard against actions that will harm others. Rotary International requires that participants in its programs such as Rotary Youth Exchange complete background checks. Rotary maintains an expectation that all club officers and members understand its policies as found at this link. In addition to Rotary policies regarding youth, we expect that interactions among all individuals meet the high expectations of Rotary's "Is it fair to all concerned?"
 
If your club wishes further information about Rotary's protection policies and expectations, contact District 5710 Protection Officer Harold Frye at hfrye@bakeru.edu.
District Training
The 2023 Heartland President Elect Training Seminar (PETS) weekend in Salina was a success! The event in the new venue was well planned and executed. Districts 5710 and 5680 Club President-elects and other Rotary leaders experienced engaging guest speakers and meaningful learning sessions preparing them to assume club leadership roles. Both districts were well represented, and the attendees met new folks, learned a lot (we assume) and had fun!!!
 
On April 5th, Jeff Weinrach (Chair of the Rocky Mountain Division, RLI) hosted a Zoom meeting for Rotary Learning Chairs. These meetings provide opportunities for us to collaborate and share lessons learned, which in turn informs how we can continue to develop RLI lesson design and implementation. Jeff was interested in our District’s RLI Hybrid design and asked that we share the Hybrid schedule, which we did.
 
Pat Merryweather-Arges hosted a 2023-2024 Rotary Zone District Leader Preparation meeting on April 24th, via Zoom. This meeting introduced Zone leadership, who shared goals and expectations, for the upcoming Rotary year, in each of their respective areas.  We also learned that the Come Home Zone Institute will be held October 18-22 at Rotary’s home in Evanston, Illinois. 
 
Please let us know if your club is interested in hosting (providing a conference room/site/plan for lunch) an RLI (Rotary Learning Institute). Our February RLI in Manhattan received positive feedback so we will keep this hybrid design: Friday a Zoom mtg from 5:30-8:30 PM, and the in-person session on Saturday from approximately 8:30 AM-5:00 PM.
 
Save the date!! TEAM Training in Lawrence on August 19th. We have a larger venue this year so will be able to accommodate more Rotarians. Hope to see you there.
 
There are a few seats available in the Kansas Leadership Center classes. See the info below!
 
Yours in Rotary,
DeEtte and Ellen
District 5710 Leadership Transformation Grants
There are a limited number of grants to participate in the programs of the Kansas Leadership Center. The Kansas Leadership Center (KLC) is a non-profit organization committed to fostering leadership for stronger, healthier and more prosperous Kansas communities.
The KLC offers three programs that build on each other:

Your Leadership Edge is the introductory program that focuses on personal leadership competencies.  It helps participants stretch and grow their leadership while addressing their toughest challenges.

Lead for Change is the advanced, deep dive into individual leadership – helping leaders understand how to mobilize others to deal with tough problems and change processes.

Equip to Lead focuses on communications, integrating leadership principles into the organization, and facilitating real change.

These programs range from $399 to $799 in value.  The grant allows Rotarians to attend for free.

Who Should Attend?

Each club should consider sending up and coming leaders from their club and community.  The virtual sessions are ideal for clubs in western Kansas. Leaders who have done the first program should consider the second and third programs.

How To Register

To Sign Up for one of the three programs, we ask that you do two things:

1. Visit the KLC website at:  www.kansasleadershipcenter.orgCreate a personal account and register using the code RotaryMiniGrant to waive the tuition fee.
2. Notify District 5710’s Trainers, Ellen Bogdan and DeEtte Lombard, of your interest in order that we might track Rotarians who are taking advantage of this grant.  Our contact data is:

ellenebogdan@gmail.com   (C: 913-683-3906)

dlombard@kc.rr.com    (H: 816-858-5759)

Rotary History Moment
This month is Youth Service Month in the Rotary Calendar.  With the lingering impacts of the pandemic, and a lot of new Rotarians having joined us in our journey, now seems a good time to talk about Rotary’s youth-focused programs.  We have Interact clubs in the District, we have participated in Youth Exchange for years,  and next month we’ll kick off our next iteration of the Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA)  at KU in Lawrence – so, here’s a bit of history of how RYLA went from an idea to find a way to celebrate Queensland, Australia’s centennial to the week-long events sponsored by Rotary Districts world wide to inspire the next generation of leaders in our communities. Will your club be the next to sponsor a New Generations Service Exchange Rotary’s newest youth-focused program?
 
History of RYLA
In 1959, the state government of Queensland, Australia, invited local Rotarians to help plan a festival celebrating Queensland's upcoming centennial. Learning that Queen Elizabeth II was sending her cousin Princess Alexandra, who was in her early 20s, to the celebration, Rotarians planned activities specifically for the princess's age group.
 
The gundoo, an aboriginal word meaning "festival" or "fun together," was a rousing success. More than 300 men and women between the ages of 17 and 23 attended. Encouraged by the event's popularity with the young attendees, Rotarians saw potential to create a similar annual youth program. With little hesitation, Art Brand, governor of what was then District 260, approved the project, and on 2 May 1960, RYLA was born.
 
Australian districts 258 and 260 established a committee together that developed the official framework of RYLA: to train youth ages 14-30 in character, leadership, personal development, and good citizenship.
 
These guidelines helped RYLA expand to all Rotary districts in Australia and led to its approval as a Rotary International program by the RI Board at the 1971 Convention in Sydney, Australia.
By 1998, RYLA had become an established program in more than half of the 521 Rotary districts worldwide. Also in 1998, then RI President James Lacy, emphasizing his concern for children, appointed an international RYLA committee, dedicated to improving and expanding this special Rotary program throughout the world. Rotarians with different RYLA experiences were invited to RI headquarters to exchange information and ideas; they agreed that the program could be improved through regional training workshops.
 
After District 5520's first RYLA camp, about 20 years ago, a participant summed up his experience in one word: Camelot . He wrote: "If you know the story of King Arthur, you may recall that as King Arthur was dying in a young man's arms, he turned to the youth and said, 'If you learn of anyone that has not heard of Camelot, tell them loudly and clearly that there really was that one wisp of glory called Camelot.'"
 
Gundoo or Camelot ? RYLA is both, and aren't we fortunate? Dedication, passion, and love describe the heart of RYLA, a most remarkable investment that assures Rotary's future. Every Rotarian should take the opportunity to enjoy this exciting program and life-changing experience.
 
By Past Foundation Trustee Irving J. "Sonny" Brown. This article was originally published in the December 1999 issue of The Rotarian.
District 5710 Global Grant Scholarship Application Approved by Rotary International!
In last month’s District 5710 Newsletter, I said we were in the process of finishing the online application process in the Rotary International Grants Center for our Global Grant Scholarship Applicant. I am very happy to report that Rotary International approved the application on Friday April 21st.  
 
The District 5710 Global Grant Scholarship Applicant selected to move forward within the official Rotary International system is Mattie Vandel from Weston, MO. Mattie attended Kansas State University and majored in Anthropology. She is the perfect example of ‘Service above Self.’ Mattie has been volunteering since high school as well as travelling abroad many times on volunteer and research missions. Mattie has been out of school working and volunteering a few years, speaks Spanish and truly believes in making sure what she is doing ‘will be beneficial to all concerned.’
 
Mattie applied to and was accepted to a unique Global Studies master’s program (only 20 were accepted out of 300 who applied) through Humboldt University in Berlin. Her Global Studies program is a two-year program where they study in Berlin for a little while, then go abroad (she wants to go to South Africa) to study. Later they do a special project at one location for part of a year.  They then move to another location (she wants to go to Thailand) for part of a year and then finish their studies back in Berlin.  What a truly Global Studies program.
 
Mattie is already in Berlin and just started classes.  She had met a few of the Berlin Rotarians but was meeting with the entire club on Friday April 28th.
 
Thanks to our committee, the District 5710 leadership for funding and restarting the Global Grant Scholarship and for those clubs who helped find good candidates to apply. It is exciting to have completed the process and have another excellent scholar studying abroad and representing District 5710.
Jayhawk Breakfast Club Donates Hundreds of Hours to Service
This month the District 5710 Membership and Public Image Committees recognize the Jayhawk Breakfast Club for its many outstanding service projects in and around Lawrence. 
 
Club President John Robertson reports that club members pitched in hundreds of hours of their time on a wide range of projects including
  • Pollinator Garden and club workday at the Rotary Arboretum, when club funded and installed hundreds of plants that are beneficial to pollinators, thereby creating a new pollinator garden.  The club had a another workday at the Rotary Arboretum assisting with a variety of general maintenance duties.
  • Rebuilding the front porch at the Family Promise House for the homeless,
  • Installing sheetrock in a new rest room facility at the Baker Wetlands Discovery Center,
  • Reading to students on Veterans Day,
  • Salvation Army bell ringing when 11 Rotarians donated their time.
The club plans to participate in a Habitat for Humanity build day and two more workdays at the Family Promise House and Baker Wetlands this spring.
 
We highlight these, and other club’s projects, to encourage all clubs to stay active in their communities.  Volunteer service is shown to be the keyway to attract and retain prospective members to join Rotary.  Remember to reach out and invite non-Rotarians to participate in your projects
 
Watch for more clubs’ projects next newletter. 
Rotary Giving and Communicating
Bill Richter, Endowment and Major Gifts Chair
 
Charitable giving, like other financial aspects of our lives, can be deeply personal and private. We are often reluctant to talk with other people about our current donations or planned gifts to The Rotary Foundation (TRF) or other charitable organizations. There are instances, however, when we need to communicate more effectively concerning these matters.
 
Designating Donations: As donors, we have the option to designate how our gifts will be used. Most donations to TRF go to “Annual Fund – SHARE.” This designation means that half of the donation will go to the World Fund for Rotary’s work anywhere in the world and half will be returned to the donor’s district as District-Designated Funds for district grants and the projects of our local Rotary Clubs. If we want the funds to be used for other specific purposes, such as Polio Plus or one of Rotary’s priority areas (e.g., Peace and Conflict Resolution, Basic Education and Literacy), we need to communicate that preference. We can do so by writing our preference on the memo line of our check, notifying our club foundation chair, or contacting TRF. If we want our gift – of any size – to go to the TRF Endowment to support Rotary’s good work far into the future, that intention also needs to be communicated.
 
Paul Harris Society and Polio Plus Society: Individuals who make an outright gift to TRF of $10,000 or make a commitment of $1000 per year for ten years (or as long as they are able) are eligible for the Paul Harris Society (PHS). Those gifts can be designated for the Annual Fund, Polio Plus, or an approved Global Grant (including Global Grants in our district, such as recent ones to fight human trafficking and provide transitional support for women leaving incarceration). But PHS membership is not automatic. Many Rotarians in our district have qualified for PHS membership and are listed as “PHS Eligible” because they have not formally indicated their interest in becoming PHS members. If you think you might be in this situation, please contact District PHS Chair Carol Wheeler at punkywheeler@live.com.
 
Rotarians who donate $100 or more per year to Polio Plus are eligible for the newly-established Polio Plus Society. If you wish to make certain your support of Polio Plus is recognized in this way, contact District Polio Plus Chair Jim Arnett at maajca@gmail.com.
 
Estate Planning: If you have made provision for The Rotary Foundation in your wills, trusts, insurance policies, or other beneficiary designations, please let TRF know about such arrangements. You may do so by email at  plannedgiving@rotary.org. Letting TRF know about your plans will help to provide a better picture of giving in our district. It might also give you an opportunity to designate how your gift might be utilized. If TRF receives an unexpected gift from an unknown source, it simply allocates those resources to the World Fund. If you want your gift to go to Endowment or to specific purposes, you need to let TRF know. mailto:planned.giving@rotary.org.
District 5710 Membership Update
Attract New Members – Engage All Members
 
During this current Rotary year 2022-2023 our clubs have added 202 new members which is fantastic.  Thank you to our club leaders and members for making this happen. However, we have lost 217 members which brings our net district membership to 1,941 – a net loss of 15 since July 1, 2022.   
 
Besides new growth in membership your membership team suggests focusing on another metric – member retention. Overall, our district has a 90.5% existing member retention rate of which 15 of or clubs’ retention is 95% or greater.  Outstanding efforts keeping your member retention rate high.
 
On the other hand, nine of our clubs have lost members during their first year in their clubs.  These clubs should determine why this is happening, and our other clubs continue their efforts to prevent this.  
 
Fortunately, the new Rotary Getting to Know Prospective and New Members tool can help us retain more new & current members as well as attracting more members to our awesome organization.  This is available either thru our District 5710 website, new Membership tab or thru My Rotary. The link is here.
 
This new guide will help you learn what are your member’s expectations – especially new ones.   It provides many questions you can ask your members – you pick and choose which ones are most relevant and appropriate.  For example, some questions are:
  • What motivated you to get involved with our Rotary Club?
  • What do you want from your experience as a member?
  • Which ones of our current club projects would you want to be involved in?
  • What needs in our community do you think are most important for our club to address?
  • What strengths and skills do you have that help our club?
We suggest that a club leader (president, PE, membership chair for example) should meet one-on-one informally to learn what your prospect’s/new members’ expectations are.   Our hope is that by using questions similar to the above, it will help your club recruit members joining your club for the right reasons as well as retaining those that do. 
 
The new Getting to Know Prospective and New Members tool is available for your consideration.  If your club has a similar way of learning your member’s expectations and its working – please let us know about it.
 
Our next Quarterly Membership Zoom Conversation will be 5:30 to 6:30 pm on Monday, May 8th.   We expect that this conversation will be fantastic!   Our meeting will feature:
  • comments from a younger club president who manages to do it all – family/ work/life/Rotary leadership balance, and
  • an amazing conversation with prior district governor Marcy Ullom, District 6990 on the central east coast of Florida and Zone 34 Regional Coordinator where she focused on membership issues. Marcy’s topic will be RotaryWhat’s in It for Me?
Your club presidents, PE’s, and membership chairs have received their zoom invite.  If you are not one of these club leaders and would like to attend, please ask them for the link.  Our membership conversations are open to all Rotarians.
 
Questions, concerns re membership, please reach out to me at chuckudell@msn.com.
Upcoming Club Events
 
Each month we will share with you upcoming Club Events, that you might like to participate in.
 
Olathe Rotary Golf Tournament
May 3, 2023
Heritage Park Golf Course
Check-in at 7:00 am, Tee-off at 8:30
Find more info at https://olatherotary.org/
Click here to register.
 
Overland Park South Crawfish Festival
May 6, 2023, 6:00 - 10:00 pm
St. Pius X Church, 5500 Woodson, Mission, KS
Bonner Springs
The Bonner Springs Rotary Club recently held a reception for the four students who won $1,000 scholarships in the name of former club members. Pictured below (left to right) Clayce Dow, Morgan Grudniewski, Jenna Knight, and Ryan Graham.
Emporia Rotary
The Emporia Rotary Club started a new tradition this year. The club donated enough money to the foundation to fund a Paul Harris Fellow. The club then selected a community member to be that Paul Harris Fellow. The community member selected is Evora Wheeler. She has been serving the Emporia community for many years by baking. Evora regularly bakes deserts, mostly pies, and donates them to charity auctions. Evora’s pies regularly sell for over $1000 at auction. Evora estimates that over the years, her pies have raised over one million dollars for various charitable causes in Emporia.
 
After the presentation, club member Greg Bachman came to the podium for a surprise Paul Harris Fellow presentation. Greg donated enough points to bring a club member up to the $1000 needed to become a Paul Harris Fellow. The recipient of Greg’s generosity, besides the Rotary Foundation and its beneficiaries, is Rachael Correll. Rachel is Greg’s daughter and the current club president.
 
(Pictured at top) Evora Wheeler sporting her new Paul Harris pin and certificate while club president Rachael Correll leads a round of applause for Evora. (Pictured below) Club President Rachael Correll receives her Paul Harris Pin and Certificate from her father Greg Bachman who donated the points to make her a Paul Harris Fellow before the end of her term as President.
Gardner Rotary
The unfortunate reality of human trafficking is that it is happening everywhere. Recently, the Gardner club learned about 1/99 Johnson County, an organization with a mission: “To Engage, Equip, Empower & Elevate Survivors of Sex Trafficking in order that they may live successful, independent lives in their community.” In an effort to assist survivors, the Gardner Rotary Foundation purchased and donated three laptops to 1/99 Jo Co. These computers will be used for online training or schooling for survivors in the 1/99 programs.
 
In April, the club participated in its annual Student Dictionary Distribution to all of the third graders in the Gardner-Edgerton School District. Club members handed out dictionaries to students in six elementary schools. We aren't sure who had more fun, the students or the Rotarians!
Leavenworth Rotary
Members of the Leavenworth High Interact Club and Cheer Team worked very hard this year raising money to donate to Cystic Fibrosis in memory of one of their classmates, Jasmine Torrain, who passed away earlier this year; together they raised $1640.65…how’s that for collaboration! Members of the Leavenworth High School Interact Club were celebrated with an end-of-year pizza party and some were recognized for their work at our 2nd Annual Rotary Day of Service with a local Service Above Self Award.
Three $2000 Academic scholarships and one $1000 VOTEC scholarship were awarded to students from our local high schools; first picture features Christopher Raye, Pete Hamilton (both from Lansing High School) and Isabella Gillaspie (from Pleasant Ridge High School). Second picture features Serom Kim (from Leavenworth High School).  Congrats to all of these student scholars. Educators of the Year were recognized recently as well; featured here are Kristen Whitten (from Leavenworth Intermediate School), left, and Emily Stark (from Leavenworth Middle School); each educator received a local Service Above Self Award and a $250 gift card from our local Foundation.
20th Street Trafficway Clean Up was a great success thanks to these volunteers; thanks to all who showed up to help with a special shout out to Rotary Mike Griswold for taking the lead on this service project. 
 
 
 
 
Celebrating 107 years at our 5 April meeting!
Welcome to new club member, Leslee Rivarola, shown below left lighting her candle of commitment with her sponsor, President Elect Blake Waters. Members of our club and the Lansing Lions Club worked to collect OTC Meds and cash donations this month in support of our local Saint Vincent Clinic (center photo). With the help of our wonderful community members we were able to collect 10 1/2 tubs of OTC Meds (valued at $4,565.73) and $763.70 in cash donations (right photo). Since beginning our partnership in 2014, we have collected $54,752.00 in OTC Meds and $10,338.00 in cash donations; a great collaborative effort! 
Coming up for our club...
 
Non-perishable Food Drive in support of Catholic Charities - 6 May
Save the Date...
Overland Park Rotary
Serving Everyone, Rotary Inspires Vision for Engagement
 
In a recent Overland Park Rotary luncheon meeting, Rotarian Dustin Lewis, President Elect briefly shared how he is invigorated by Rotary’s focus on service.
 
In this last year the Overland Park Rotary distributed over 100,000 brand new children’s books, worth over $1 million to multiple school districts’ elementary, middle and high schools through Rotary Reads.
 
As well, we distributed over $1.5 million worth of donated personal care items and snacks those with great need in the Kansas City metro area through Rotary CARES.
 
Members in our Club seek to live generously with their time, talent and treasure. Service is not an event, it should be in every moment. The four-way test, developed by Mr. Herbert Taylor in 1932 emphasizes service through our behaviors personally and professionally: Of the things we think say or do: 1. Is it the truth? 2. Is it fair to all concerned? 3. Will it build goodwill and better friendships? 4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
 
“Life is for service.” – Fred Rogers
Overland Park South Rotary
Each year the Overland Park South Rotary Club awards scholarships to students in the Blue Valley School District's Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS). This year's recipients are Lauren Weiss from Blue Valley Southwest High School and Nathan Binshtok from Blue Valley West High School. Both will enter the University of Kansas in Fall 2023. 
 
Manhattan Rotary
The Grow Green Match Day organized by the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation (GMCF) was held on April 21. The Manhattan Rotary GMCF fund raised more than $10,000 from 41 donors. Overall, this annual day of giving raised about $1.4 million from 6,090 gifts for 95 funds.
 
The Community Cares Chest (formerly the Love the Little Apple Project), continues weekly with nonprofits assisted by Rotary volunteers selecting products for the people they serve. On April 7, we received about 15 pallets of laundry detergent from our collaborators. About 24 nonprofits such as the Flint Hills Bread Basket, Senior Center, and Catholic Charities, to name a few, picked up loads of detergent, the most ever since the project’s inception (see photo of our 50 year member Paul Bullock decked out in his Rotary gear).
 
As part of the Rotary Early Learning Partnership (and the $15,000 Save the Children grant), the club awarded five $1,000 checks to Families and Communities Together (Hillsboro USD 410), Konza United Way, K-State Research and Extension Chisholm Trail District, United Way of the Flint Hills, United Way Junction City/Geary County, to enhance membership in the Dolly Parton Imagination Library (DPIL) or to benefit DPIL (see photo of United Way of the Flint Hills presentation).
 
Also, as part of the Rotary Early Learning Partnership grant, Rotarians Jennifer Francois and Steven Graham attended the Kansas Early Literacy Symposium in Topeka. Jennifer and Steven conducted a session with attendees, to ascertain support needs for local children's literacy programs and to learn how the grant might assist the process.
 
This month, four K-State Rotaractors, advisor Chris Culbertson and President Steven Graham performed tree maintenance on half (40) of the trees at Northeast Community Park including mulching and watering. These trees were planted almost five years ago as part of the One Rotarian One Tree project.
 
Five K-State Rotaractors, two Interactors, a few guests, Kirk Crabtree from the Konza Club and Steven Graham went bowling at the Wabash Cannon Bowl in the K-State Student Union. The K-State Rotaract group is the oldest in Kansas; 33 years old last March.
 
Former K-Stater Mattie Vandel, who applied for a Rotary Global Grant Scholarship from District 5710, was officially approved by Rotary International on Friday April 21. She is attending Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany, working on a MS degree in Global Studies. Mattie was meeting with the entire Berlin International Club on Friday April 28.
 
On April 27, the club congratulated Dale Bradley, newest member of the Paul Harris Society, and presented him with his certificate and PHS flag pin.
Manhattan Konza Rotary
The Manhattan Konza Rotary Club held its "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" fundraiser on Thursday, March 30th at the Midwest Dream Car Collection. Through a silent auction and raffle, the club was able to raise $3,500 for the Flint Hills Breadbasket and Cats Cupboard. These organizations provide food and other necessities to those in need in the Manhattan and K-State communities, and we are excited to help support their efforts.
Valley Falls
Valley Falls Rotary Club  members John Hamon and Gary Coleman handed out personalized books April 11th to both first grade classes at Valley Falls Elementary School, titled "I Like Me."  The books are personalized for each student, with their name in print as part of the storyline, alongside two friends' names, and their teachers' and principals' name.
 
Students in both 5th grade classes received "A Student Dictionary"
 
The Valley Falls Rotary Club has gifted books to the students at the school each year for more than 20 years,  as part of the Rotary literacy project to promote literacy and help students maintain an interest in reading.
Village West
On Thursday, April 20, 2023, Village West held their annual fundraiser at The Fuel House in Bonner Springs, calling it, Brews, Bags & BBQ. A good night was had by all, with a Cornhole Tournament highlighting the event. The 50/50 Raffle drawing was held at 8pm and the Silent Auction wrapped up the evening festivities at 8:30pm.
 
For Cornhole, we had 44 players on 22 teams with ages ranging from 10-85! Each team played in a round-robin tournament of 3 games. Each game was held to a 10-minute time limit, with everyone trying to score as many points as possible. 
 
Winners for the evening were:
1st place - $100 winners (each split $100) - American Family Insurance - Michelle Herford sponsored team - 380 points
2nd place - $50 - Team Pi - 316 points
3rd Place - $40 -Team McClanahan - 314 points
Consolation prize (i.e. last place) - Jack and Pat Manahan - 97 points
 
Money was raised for good causes including local scholarships and Hillcrest Transitional Housing. Once again, Rotarians prove that they have a lot of fun for good causes!
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During the same Thursday Brews, Bags & BBQ evening fundraising event on April 20, 2023, Bonner Springs’ Rotary President Bruce Coleman, presented the first annual Salvation Army Bucket Award to Neil Wakefield, Village West’s President.
 
During the Christmas season last year, the two clubs competed at their local Walmart Stores to see which club could raise the most money.
 
Village West was victorious and will retain the Salvation Army Bucket until next year’s friendly competition. Village West raised $424.02 and Bonner brought in $384.81.
 
Congratulations to those souls who braved the cold winter weather, and we look forward to next year!

 
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