Rotary restore donation

Donation to Habitat for Humanity

One of our community donations this year was to Habitat for Humanity.  We paid for part of a new dock plate extension for its ReStore!  The extension levels out the transitions between the trucks and the docks, which makes unloading donations much efficient quicker, and safer.

Helping students in Mexico create beautiful music

Here is the presentation made by Past President Barbara Lucks at our meeting on May 25, 2023:

You will remember, about this time last year, we were engaged in a project collecting gently used musical instruments to send to a Rotary Club in Delicias, Mexico. The project was a huge success and I’d like to share with you some of the comments and photos from the Delicias Club.

A bit of background – in January, 2022, my long-time personal friend, Dr. Melida Gutierrez, a Professor of Geochemistry at MSU, received a request from the Rotary Club in her home town of Delicias, Mexico. It said: “KINDLY REQUESTING ROTARY CLUB BROTHERS AND SISTERS FROM THE UNITED STATES (LEND) THEIR SUPPORT TO A PROJECT THAT WOULD BENEFIT DEARLY OUR YOUTH IN DELICIAS, MEXICO”.  He goes on – “the Rotary Club of Delicias - No. 6913 - greets you warmly. Our group serves the community of Delicias, Chihuahua, Mexico. Our county has a population of 140,000. Our city is young; it turned 88 years old this year. Our club has operated for 84 of those years; it belongs to District 4110. We have 36 members.”

A bit more about the Delicias Club in Melida’s words -- The Delicias Rotary Club members work closely with the new City Mayor and they are implementing arts in everyday life, as a way to offset all the negative (violent) happenings. For example, they put up great Christmas decorations in public parks and offered free music and games (low-cost types of things), and their volunteers dressed as elves and helped children with the swings and slides. Also, farmers were celebrating good crops as this was a rainy year. But these good happenings are in a large part the result of the tireless work from both the local people and other supporters (like the Rotary Club of Springfield-Southeast).

Melida contacted me and asked if I would help reach out to my Club. I said, “of course”! And, after getting everyone’s approval, we started to work on the Delicias Club’s request.  We were able to accept donations of instruments OR donations of cash toward the purchase of refurbished instruments at a discounted price which Palen Music Center had so graciously collected and repaired just for our project. This was a small, quick, easy project with the potential for a big impact on the lives of the students of Delicias.

Again, in Melida’s words: “As you may know, Chihuahua (the northern state bordering with Texas and New Mexico  ) holds the 3rd (sometimes the 2nd) place in violence in Mexico, and the situation is not getting any better. This violence and lack or opportunities is especially hard on young people. To focus on giving a meaningful activity to youth and keep them out of the streets, the Delicias Rotary Club wanted to help the local High-School Preparatoria 20-30 to make their dream of having a Marching Band come true. The High School had a music teacher that knew about marching bands, but they didn;t have musical instruments or money to purchase them. They wanted to see if I could help them find used instruments that are still in relatively good shape. They contacted me to ask in Springfield, Missouri.” she said.

So, for around $5,000, we were able cover the cost of the instruments at Palen and the cost of transportation. The Rotary Club of Springfield – North also participated. Mark Walker offered the services of Transland at a deeply discounted cost to get the instruments to New Mexico, where they were picked up by members of the Delicias club and then delivered on to the school.

We ended up accumulating 22 instruments, thanks to Palen Music Company and donations of club members and even a trumpet from my next-door neighbor! I delivered these to Transland on 8/4 and, thanks to Mark Walker and the folks at Transland, the instruments were picked up in New Mexico on 8/11 and were at the school by September 1.

I received this e-mail:
“This message is to inform you that the 22 instruments that you sent arrived safely in Delicias on September 1, 2022.  As promised, the Rotary Club of Delicias will oversee them to make sure our High School students learn how to play them and participate in our first Marching Band.  Thank you very much for your support to this activity. We will keep you updated on the progress of our Marching Band!”  What a journey!!

So, here are a few photos of some of the students with their instruments.  There also is a photo of Melida receiving an award and club flag and an award for us that she has brought to us. I have given Melida a flag to take back to the Delicias club.

Special thanks go to Past President Lisa Blumenstock for her support (and her saxophone), and to those of you who donated instruments or cash, and another special thanks goes to Mark Walker and Transland – we certainly couldn’t have done this without you! And, finally, although she couldn’t be here today, thank you, to Melida, my dear friend, for bringing us this opportunity!

This is the first high school marching band in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico – made possible by the efforts of our Club –
Thank you !

Community Grants, Spring 2023

The Springfield Southeast Rotary Club's Community Grants Committee, chaired by Andrea Bishop, chose these organizations to receive grants from the club in the spring of 2023:
  • Boys and Girls Clubs of Springfield -- $1,000 for books and a party for its mentor program 
  • CASA -- $1,000 for wall-mounted toys for its new Center for Foster Children
  • Cents of Pride -- $1,150 for shoes for its in-school 'stores' 
  • EnCompass Academy -- $1,000 for science educational books 
  • Ozark Greenways -- $1,000 for an informational kiosk at Fellows Lake

The funds from these grants come from club members' dues.  Here's the process for applications.

Community Grants, Fall 2022

Twice a year, the Community Grants Committee accepts applications and then awards funds to other nonprofit organizations.  The grants come from a portion of members' annual dues.

Committee chair Andrea Bishop reports four groups received grants in the fall of 2022.   Each of them sent representatives to club meetings to tell how the funds would be used and to thank the club.

The grants last fall went to:

 
  • Habitat for Humanity -- $1,000 for a dock plate extension for worker safety;
  • Victory Mission --  $1,500 for food for clients for 1 month;
  • Harmony House -- $850 for supplies and marketing for domestic violence prevention education; and 
  • Lost & Found Grief Center -- $1,500 for an upgrade to its play therapy room.
The Community Grants Committee is now accepting applications for the next round of grants this spring.
 

Community Grants criteria

The community grants committee of the Rotary Club of Springfield Southeast is charged with the responsibility of recommending to the board of directors those charitable contributions made in the club’s name for the Rotary year. (Rotary years begin July 1 and end June 30.) The funds for the year are generated from the service fund assessment.

Organizations are welcome to apply for a community grant; however, all applicants must meet the following minimum criteria:

CHARITABLE. Grants must be used for a charitable purpose by a 501(c)3 organization.

LOCAL. Grants must used within southwest Missouri.

COMMUNITY BENEFIT. Proposals must specify a community benefit. Requests for funds for general operating expenses are discouraged.

RECOGNITION. Proposals must specify how the contribution will be acknowledged in a way that promotes community awareness of the Rotary Club of Springfield Southeast.

Springfield Southeast wishes to utilize community grants to achieve the greatest possible impact across a broad range of projects each year. To do this, we award grants ranging from $500 to $1,000+.

Every year, Springfield Southeast determines its scope of grant interest based on Rotary International’s goals and club goals. Usually, grants are focused on literacy, hunger, and health; however, occasionally, other areas are considered.

Community Grants application process

Applications for grants are reviewed by our community grants committee. Requests for funds come from Southeast member suggestions, mail solicitations, personal solicitations from community organizations, and ideas generated by committee members.

There are two grant cycles every Rotary year, and organizations are encouraged to submit their proposals any time throughout the year to be considered for the next review cycle on the calendar.

The grant process includes two steps:
1) A review of the proposal by the committee
2) An in-person presentation (approximately 10 minutes) by the applying organization to the committee.

After presentations, the committee reviews the proposals and makes a recommendation to the board of directors. After the board of directors approves the grants, the committee notifies applicants.

SUBMISSIONS
Submit your proposal by email as an attachment, as well as proof of your 501(c)3 status, to info@springfieldsoutheastrotary.org.

Community Grants proposal form

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