In light of COVID-19 mandates, MT Sunrise Rotary will be hosting virtual meetings until further notice. Our next meeting will be 7:00 AM Friday (5/1).
Our virtual program will feature Julie Hoover - Executive Director Family Sharing Family Sharing of Qzaukee County. (See bio below)
Also joining us from Slovakia will be former Rotary Youth Exchange student Chiara Mudrochov. Scroll down to the RYE article below for a brief bio on Chiara. Thank you Bob Blazich.
The virtual greeter will provide either the thought, a Rotary minute, share a family moment or a cultural tradition ... anything they would like to start off the day positive.
Upcoming "It's your Rotary moment" assignees:
Joe Gutsmiedl (5/1)
Doug Hansen (5/8)
Julie Irvine (5/15)
Brian Kendzor (5/22)
Note: If you are unable to act as "It's your Rotary moment" assignee when scheduled please arrange for your replacement.
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While some are familiar with Zoom, there are others for which this will be an opportunity to experience something new
It's as easy as one-two-three. Honest! (You may want to check off the first two steps in advance of the meeting start time)
Device connected to the internet - Check
Zoom app installed on your device - Check
Click "Join Meeting" button below - Check
The “waiting room” will open at 6:50 AM with our meeting starting at 7:00 AM. Attendees should mute themselves when not speaking, or if they have background noise. Attendees can communicate with one another through the “Chat” icon. Click button below to join our Zoom meeting!
I grew up in Des Plaines Illinois and lived there till I went off to Winona State University. I have a degree in Sports Medicine and a minor in Psychology from Winona State University. I apparently did not always want to be a banker when I grew up, but I knew that I loved to help others.
I was very active in my church (St. Zachary’s) in Des Plaines, I was an altar boy and always helped out the church with their fundraisers which led me to my first job answering phones and stuffing bulletins for the rectory.
I have been married to my wonderful wife Erin for 16 years this year and we have an incredible son Max who I have attempted to homeschool during this stay at home time. We also have two great dogs Norbert and our puppy Bulleit.
Our favorite thing is to do is to go camping as a family and every year we head up to Peninsula State Park and camp for a week where we attend the annual labor day weekend competition. We meet up with between 15 to 30 families and we have a cooking competition with snarky trophies and all.
My career as a banker has shed light on many aspects of life. I learned that big banks do serve a purpose but their morals are not the same as mine. I have been given a great opportunity to work at PWSB where I can make a difference in the community where my family and I live..
My mother, who is a fellow Rotarian, inspired me to join Rotary. She is a Paul Harris recipient and well deserving of that. My mom has always been a great role model of service before self and continues to emulate that through her sewing of a few hundred masks she has been donating.
This week's featured Rotary Youth Exchange student is Chiara Mudrochova from Slovakia.
Chiara was with us during the 2017-18 school year. While here, Chiara was hosted by the Will Jones family, Marge Keehn, and Jan and Bob Blazich.
Chiara is now finishing up her final year of high school in Slovakia, but, due to the global pandemic, she will not be able to go through her graduation ceremony.
As you have probably heard, the food pantry at Family Sharing in Grafton is in desperate need of items for their patrons. To help them stock their shelves, we are joining a food drive being conducted this Saturday, May 2nd, by our friends at the Adult Literacy Center of Ozaukee County.
We will collect items from your porch anytime Friday or Saturday morning before 10 AM. Or you can drop off your items at 627 Lake Bluff Road in Thiensville or 501 E. Freistadt Rd. in Thiensville.
If you have items you'd like to donate, please send an email to Bruce Carter at Bruce.Carter@aah.org and specify a time that works best for you to have the items ready on your porch.
Items needed by the food pantry include boxed or powdered milk, mac and cheese, pasta, rice, spaghetti sauce, instant potatoes, jam or jelly, peanut butter, canned meats, canned vegetables, canned meats, canned soup and ... toilet paper. Cash donations or checks made out to Family Sharing are also great.
Items can also be dropped off at the Adult Literacy Center at 715 6th Avenue in Grafton between 9 and 11 on Saturday morning.
First, to personally thank you and to let you know that we received the grant from the Mequon-Thiensville Sunrise Rotary Club!
We are thrilled and overjoyed that these amazing Rotarians have invested in our patients and families with another grant this year. It will help so many patients access care at Froedtert for their cancer, cardiac, and other care locally.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Here is a recent story from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and posted on our Facebook page of guests--the O'Malley's--who have stayed at Kathy's House during this pandemic:
CEDARBURG— For the first time in 21 years, the Rotary Music Festival drum and bugle corps competition has been canceled, according to the Cedarburg-Grafton Rotary Club which hosts the event.
Six drum and bugle corps were scheduled to take the field at Cedarburg High School on July 3 in a competition that has become an annual Independence Day tradition. But Drum Corps International (DCI), the organization that produces a national summer tour of drum and bugle corps including the one in Cedarburg, determined that the coronavirus crisis was too big of a threat to the health and safety of drum corps members.
In a press release, DCI said they reached the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 tour after “thorough evaluation of numerous factors affecting participant health and safety, travel requirements, logistics, venue availability, and other associated issues.” Layton Olsen, chairman of the Rotary Music Festival, noted that the event is the biggest fundraiser for the Cedarburg-Grafton Rotary Club.
“We are obviously disappointed that we won’t be able to hold the event this year, but will focus on bringing back an even better show in 2021,” he said. “We want to thank all of our sponsors and fans who continue to support the Rotary Music Festival.”
Over the years, the festival has raised $840,000 to support student scholarships and community service.
RUBIES mission is to reach at-risk girls through education and mentoring to prevent them from becoming victims of abuse, exploitation, and sex trafficking while restoring those who have been affected by unimaginable trauma.
RUBIES, Rare Unique Beautiful Intelligent Excelling Sisters, is for our girls - to learn, grow, and develop into responsible young ladies, being accountable for their actions. Since 2016, RUBIES has provided a safe atmosphere where girls can be vulnerable while engaging in discussion that surround real world issues.
Through RUBIES’ programs, our girls are educated on the danger and trauma associated with sex trafficking including how to identify traffickers and grooming patterns in their lives and the lives of their peers. They are taught social media boundaries, self protection, how to build healthy friendships, safe dating, vocational skills, and more! All our programs set standards by way of self-control, self-respect, and self-awareness that generate wholesome habits that will last a lifetime
April's Bio:
A Milwaukee native learned the twisted art of the streets at an early age. Her soulstirring testimony started in 1997 as God shed light on her dark past, her shady present and her glorious future. April was delivered from a crippling lifestyle designed to destroy her destiny. A victim of child sex trafficking, the once drug and alcohol addicted call girl is now a free agent for Christ.
April has devoted the last seventeen years of her life to bridging the gaps in the community of women and girls by way of empowerment and street knowledge. Her motto is this; “It’s not what they are taught, it’s what they learn that makes the difference.” In 2016 April launched Rubies a non-profit organization focused on education and prevention of trafficking through shaping character and culture. As Founder and Executive Director, April works passionately to inspire women of all ages to be the very best they can be beginning right where they are in life.
April sit on board for the Women Inspiring Youth Network (WIYN) where she also serves as their spokesperson, she worked with the Human Trafficking Task Force of Greater Milwaukee helping to launch the "Unlucky 13" campaign which brought awareness on a greater scale in the city of Milwaukee which is known as one of the largest hubs for trafficking in the US. She is the author of "Don't Rush to Get Old" a book written with the audience of her youth in mind, yet profitable for anyone. April’s call to ministry is to change lives. She is a humanitarian, a philanthropist, a mentor, a songstress and what she feels is her greatest accomplishment today … April is a mom!
