We celebrated Rotary's 120th birthday with party games, treats, party favors, and LOTS of laughs!
The Games Committee did a SUPER FUN job of entertaining us: Andy Bakkum, Sarah Arendt-Beyer, Alex Attardo, Katie Berkedal, Lauren Journot, Niki Pohnl, and Nell Saunders-Scott.
Thank you to Jen Barney who provided a special dessert! (Meringue Bakery)
Please keep Roz Schnick and her family in your prayers as they mourn the loss of her brother-in-law, Paul Schnick. Our thoughts are with your Roz. View obituary HERE.
WINE RAFFLE
Our wine raffle drawing will happen at our next meeting, July 10th. Reach out to the Rotary office if you need more tickets to sell, have a wine donation to make, or have tickets to turn in before our meeting. We will be selling tickets before the meeting that day if you wish to make last minute purchases. Our goal was to raise $4000, half to which goes to WAFER and half stay with the club for future student scholarships. To date, we have raised $3050. THANK YOU ALL for your participation in this fundraiser.
Foundation and Polio Plus Contributions Notice
We began forwarding member pledges online vs. sending a check at the beginning of 2025. It came to our attention last week that we were using the wrong form when submitting the contributions and all credits were linked to our club instead of individuals. Rotary International is making corrections at this time and accounts will be correct within 10 days. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please reach out to Niki Pohnl if you have any questions.
Quarter 1 Invoices
Watch for the Quarter 1 invoices coming out this week via email. If you do not receive on by Friday, please reach out to Niki Pohnl for your copy.
June Social at the Freighthouse. A VERY warm night but we still gathered for some great music, conversation, and laughs!
THANK YOU Shy, Tim, Bill, Leo, Bob, Steve, Scott, Sheila, Duane, Karen, Joe, and Niki for helping with the Riverfest
set up Saturday morning! What a team!
POVERTY SIMULATOR
AUGUST 18TH
CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS or to REGISTER
Rotary Lights Food Drive Fridays
The mission of Rotary Lights is to “feed the hungry of the Coulee Region” We received a call a few weeks ago from Shelly at the Hunger Task Force
explaining that their shelves were very light on product because of the increase in demand. More people are using their inventory than ever before.
After a few discussions we decided to accept this challenge. To-date, this is what was decided:
July 11-18-25 from 11 am to 6 pm, we will hold two collection locations: HyVee in Onalaska and the old K-Mart lot on the south side of La Crosse.
We will need 3-4 people per 2 hour shift. Volunteers
could take more than one shift. We’ll also accept cash donations. Our club committed to shifts on July 18th at HyVee in Onalaska.
The volunteers will collect the food items and put them in the trucks supplied by Rotary Lights. RL will take the collections to the Hunger Task Force.
This will be a total community effort.
Thank you for considering assisting with this important need in our community. All ages welcome!
Join RAH's annual Loggers Game Party! Friends and family are welcome!
Thursday July 17th 2025
6:30 game time
5:30 for all you can eat food/gates open
We will be on the Covera Insurance Cabin this year! Please invite friends, family, and other Rotarians.
Adults: $40 per person (food, ticket and (3) beers included)
Kids: $15 per person (includes game ticket, all you can eat food! Ages 0-3 are FREE and 4-18 are $15.00.
As the 2025 Rotary International Convention comes to an end in Calgary, the latest Program of Scale Grant has been announced. In a report by Etelka Lehoczky, the $2m grant, the fifth by Rotary, will “foster people’s capacity to build and sustain peace in Colombia….This program [will] strengthen conflict-resolution capacity, expand access to economic opportunities, and expand access to social service programs in conflict-affected areas,” said Mark Daniel Maloney, chair of The Rotary Foundation and a past RI president.
“The long-term goal of the program is to break the cycle of
violence, poverty, and food insecurity for conflict victims to achieve sustained peace,” he added, speaking at the convention’s third general session on 24 June. The World Food Program USA will contribute US$1 million to the initiative, for a funding total of US$3 million. “[Colombia] is a country of astonishing beauty and
courage, where the road to peace has been long, painful, and unfinished,” Rotary People of Action honoree María Cristina Cifuentes told the audience. “In Colombia, we know that peace requires working with communities to co-create lasting solutions. And we also know … that Positive Peace is not the absence of war, but the presence of equity, justice, trust, and opportunity.” The previous Rotary Programs of Scale grant recipients have worked to promote sustainable farming in India, fight cervical cancer in Egypt, reduce deaths of mothers and newborns in Nigeria, and decrease cases of malaria in Zambia.
