This week, we continue to showcase our Community of Rotary, and the good works from outstanding Rotary 21 members exemplifying Service Above Self. This week, we focus on food – collecting and distributing.
First – The Supreme Dream Second Harvest Team – A committed and hardy band of Rotary 21 members (and family) have been volunteering at Stevens Elementary for almost a year, helping to load boxes of food for hearty meals. Donating an hour a week, the team - led by Dave Troyke and Bruce McEachran - and volunteers David Kay, Deb Harper, James Johnson, Louise Joss, Miranda Bales, Mark London, Kristine Meyer, and Andrea Armstrong have been lining up to load up cars waiting for boxes of food from Second Harvest. According to our friends at Second Harvest, that’s amounted to 7,000 pounds of food…PER WEEK! That’s 230,000 meals worth of food. This is all the more impressive when you take into account Bruce’s wrist injury (hopefully not his bowling hand,) and Dave’s recent bike-related shoulder injury.
But wait…there’s more!
Our own Kevin Berkompas picked up an award as a thank you for Rotary 21’s help with the Vanessa Behan Pantry Drive. The Rotary 21 Youth Service Committee provided the $1,000 for the drive and Kevin (thanks to his employer- Farm Credit Services,) was able to take time off to do the shopping (at Yoke’s which matched all of the purchases) – filling a couple of Jeep loads of groceries. The much-needed canned food drive restocked the pantry shelves and gave the staff and clients of Vanessa Behan one less thing to worry about.
So, why these stories and why now? This. Is. Who. We. Are. And. What. We. Do! When I talk about the Community of Rotary, it’s not just about the people we help, it’s also about the helpers…our staff, Club members, and family members. Every day, in ways big and small, you show why we’re the Club we are.
There’s a saying along the lines of “A lot of things can get done if no one cares who gets the credit.” But every once in a while, it’s okay to give credit where credit is due. Thank you to all of you who are the daily example of the Community of Rotary.
“See” you on Thursday…
