Friday's meeting will include a visit by our past Rotary student, Mathilde Jensen.

Mathilde, who is from Denmark, was here during the 2016-17 school year. While she was attending Homestead, her host families were Brett/Lisa/JD Liljigren, Linda Walsh/Travis Broughton/JD, and Bob and Jan Blazich. In 2018,

Mathilde made a return visit with her parents and brother. They hosted a thank you dinner for her host families at the cheel and paid a visit to our Rotary Club.

The Rotarian - May 2020

Walking into high school for the first time wasn’t easy for Steve Durant. After suffering a stroke at age 14, he used a cane to cope with tremors and a loss of balance. “My first test wasn’t algebra or math. It was walking through the doors of a school with 2,000 people,” says Durant, 36.

Durant suffered a second stroke at 17 — possibly because he carries a sickle cell gene — and struggled with depression. Despite those challenges, he volunteered at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan and participated in the Detroit Police Law Enforcement Explorer program and in other service work. In 2001, the Rotary Club of Detroit named him Youth Citizen of the Year. Thus began an enduring devotion to Rotary; Rotarians, in turn, have been there for him when he needed them most.

Today's food collection run by our friends at The Adult Literacy Center of Ozaukee County brought in over 2600 pounds of food and $2,957 for Family Sharing. I'm sure Julie Hoover, our Friday speaker, will be very pleased when she sees the filled bins, checks, cash, and gift cards.

Bob Blazich

By Ryan Bell, Iowa City District 6000 Public Image Co-Chair

I have a message for all you young people out there who may never have heard about Rotary. Or if you have, it was from a parent or grandparent who spent more time talking about the lunch menu or how great the salad bar is. If that’s all you’ve heard about Rotary, then you’re missing a lot. And let me tell you why, in the middle of this pandemic, Rotary is more relevant than ever. It’s definitely something you want to know about.

Rotary is kind of a big deal. With over 1.2 million members worldwide, it’s the biggest service organization on the planet. If you’re a fan of the planet, that’s just what Rotary wants to preserve. Our members are working on helping save mothers and children, supporting basic education for children, and fighting diseases. Many of those members are now using their connections and resources to help combat COVID-19.

Rotary has no religious or national affiliation. We don’t care what you believe or who you voted for. The way Rotary sees it, the most important thing is that we come together to accomplish some much-needed tasks for a group we like to call humanity.

Rotary efforts have already helped eradicate 99.9 percent of global cases of polio. If you’ve never heard of polio, you can thank a Rotarian for that. Armed with a massive investment and partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Rotary has taken on the incredible task of ridding the world of this crippling disease so no child need get it ever again.

In addition to these large-scale, international projects, Rotary clubs are always working to improve their own communities. Just check out the list of activities Rotarians are involved in to help their communities get through this pandemic.

I would never pressure you to do something that will improve your life in every conceivable way. But let me tell you the benefits I’ve personally seen from being involved in Rotary for seven years.

Here are some useful links to recap the environmental presentation last week.

1. Go to this link, type in you zip code and find many of the recycling events and information for your location. https://berecycled.org/how-to-recycle/
2. Go to this link to find out about beach clean up events in your area. https://greatlakes.org/adopt-a-beach/
3. Go to this link to take the PLASTIC FREE GREAT LAKES PLEDGE. I encourage you to take this pledge. https://greatlakes.p2a.co/efF2SJR

Brian Kendzor