District Service Committee
What would you do with your Rotary meeting if you couldn’t have lunch? How about service?
We are looking for new or existing ideas for “micro” service projects that could be done during Rotary meetings. How about a book drive? Or making sock puppets for a children’s hospital? Or packing backpacks? Any and all ideas for micro-projects that could be accomplished during a Rotary meeting are welcome and encouraged.
Please e-mail your ideas to dwight.leeper@gmail.com. We’ll collect them and report back to you in a future issue. Thank you for getting on board with Rotary and making a difference.
Maternal and Child Health: Backpack Program
How about service to maternal and child health. Consider supporting or starting a Backpack Program in your community. BackPack programs provide backpacks filled with non-perishable, child-friendly and nutritious food to children who are food insecure.
The backpack is discretely distributed to students before weekends and school holidays so that children who have their nutritional needs met through other programs, such as the National School Lunch Program, do not go hungry when those resources are not available.
Your Club could pack backpacks of food for those in need instead of eating food I’m pretty sure I don’t need.
Want to speak more? Contact Dwight.leeper@gmail.com. Another way you can get on board with Rotary and make a difference.
Health and Disease Prevention: Alzheimer Disease
Want to make a difference in your community? How about an Alzheimer Disease Awareness And Action Campaign. Think it’s not a problem?
Between 2000 and 2014, the number of deaths from Alzheimer’s jumped 89% and is now the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. You may know that it is the most prevalent form of dementia. It is slow to develop and always fatal. It affects 1 in 10 people over the age of 65. And it indirectly affects families that have to deal with it.
What can your Club do? Some ideas:
- Join the Alzheimer’s Dementia Rotary Action Group (http://adrag.org).
- Invite a local expert to speak about family needs.
- Create a support group for families in need.
- Organize a Rotary Community Corp of legal and financial people to assist families under stress from the disease.
Yes, Alzheimer’s is fatal; Rotary’s ability to help is not.
Want to discuss more? Contact Dwight.leeper@gmail.com. Get on board with Rotary and make a difference.
Maternal and Child Health – Saving Mothers and Children
How about a field trip in October to learn about sex trafficking in your community. Want to know more? Walkherhome.com is organizing a day long event in October to promote awareness, knowledge and action to restore human sex trafficking victims in Pennsylvania who do not qualify for child protective services because they were not rescued from modern day sex slavery until after their 18th birthday. Not a problem? 11-14 years old – that’s the average age a girl is forced into sex trafficking. 1 in 7 children will be solicited online for sex or approached at a mall. 70% of foster care children will be bought and sold for sex. Another opportunity to get on board with Rotary and make a difference.
Peace and Conflict Resolution?
What can your Club do to promote peace and conflict resolution in your community? How about participate in Night Out Against Crime on Tuesday, Augusts 1st? Would love to see a Rotary tee. Your community doesn’t participate in this national event? Maybe it’s time they did and your Club can organize it for next year. The introduction of “America’s Night Out Against Crime”, in 1984 began an effort to promote community involvement in crime prevention activities, police-community partnerships, neighborhood camaraderie and to send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back. The first National Night Out took place on Tuesday, August 7th 1984. That first year, 2.5 million Americans took part across 400 communities in 23 states. National Night Out now involves over 37 million people and 15,000 communities from all fifty states, U.S. Territories, Canadian cities, and military bases worldwide.
Micro-Peace Project: County Reentry Assistance
How about a micro-peace project? Contact your County Reentry Assistance program to create a Rotary comfort kit for released prisoners. Have your Club put them together at a meeting. Add a note to each comfort kit wishing the recipient well. Could a fresh toothbrush and handwritten note make a difference? Don’t know until we try. Another way you can “get on board” with Rotary and make a difference.