River Falls High School HOSA (Dec. 12, 2024)

Future Healthcare Professionals at River Falls High School (HOSA)

A chapter of Healthcare Occupations Students of America (HOSA) was started at River Falls High School in November 2023. "The mission of HOSA is to empower HOSA-Future Health Professionals to become leaders in the global community through education, collaboration, and experience." The group is rapidly growing with 55 current members, 35 of whom are competing in January's Regional Leadership Conference. The chapter allows students to explore their interests in healthcare through labs, guest speakers, shadowing experiences, field trips, and competitions. The chapter also supports our local community. For example, the group purchased Christmas gifts and collected dental supplies to donate.

Vote for Citizen of the Year (including one Rotarian)

These special announcements seem to be approaching weekly, but this is an especially good one. Rotarian Steve Schroeder, a/k/a "Mr. Steve" to an uncountable number of River Falls students, is a finalist for River Falls Citizen of the Year. As Chamber members, we get to vote. In fact, this is a community poll, which means that each email address can vote one time (per the person at the RF Chamber). The link to read about the Chamber's annual event is below. In addition to the opportunity to vote, there is also the option to register for the February annual event in case you are interested in attending. To update an old saying, "Vote for the Steve Schroeder of your choice, but vote!". IMPORTANT: When you vote, put your email address in at the bottom to register your vote.

The link: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=rm&ogbl#inbox/FMfcgzQXKhHPxcdQNWqmXRSjqNlQSqKm

Guatemala Literacy Project: Fighting Poverty Through Education

The Guatemala Literacy Project (GLP) has been called “the gold standard of Rotary international projects”. It is a long-operating, multi-district, multi-club project involving over 800 clubs, 90 Rotary districts, and more than 10 countries. The project has four components: reading, textbooks, computers, and scholarships. It has served more than 278,000 students over 25 years.

Guatemala is the most populous Central American country. The mountainous terrain means that many isolated rural areas exist with high poverty rates and limited economic and educational opportunities. About 50% of the population works in small farming with most or all work done by hand. Spanish is the official language, but over 20 indigenous Mayan communities have their own distinct languages. The government pays for schooling through grade 6, after which families have to pay for schooling. Boys generally get first preference for schooling after 6^th grade. Click READ MORE to read more about GLP and our speaker.

This Week's Announcements

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT -- STATE OF THE CITY ON MARCH 4TH: We won't have a regular meeting on that date because we're encouraging every Rotarian interested in an update about our city to attend. The meeting is again at Tattersall at 7:30 AM. If you want breakfast, you'll need to register and pay (note that there is no discount for us as Chamber members).

5:01 Restaurant for February: For those of you planning your Burger Battle ticket use strategy, the February venue for 5:01 will be Broz on Thursday February 20th.

A Reminder About 5:01: What is 5:01, you might ask? It's simply a social gathering once a month of Rotarians, spouses, and occasionally visiting friends or family at a River Falls restaurant for a couple of hours of conversation, food and drinks of choice, and an opportunity to get to know one another better.

Some Upcoming Events and Dates:
February 1st --Green Skills Sampler 9:30 AM - 3 PM at River Falls High School sponsored by multiple local org's.
February 6th -- Annual River Falls Chamber Awards Banquet. As Chamber members we are invited to attend.

March 4th -- State of the City at Tattersall 7:30 AM (see above)
April 11th -- Pierce County Relay for Life
April 26th -- Earth Fest 2025 at the UWRF University Center

Among Friends Update -Sarah Schaffner

Sarah Schaffner started with an introduction of her family and role at Ezekiel as Visitation Pastor, as an interim preacher at a Glenwood City church, and as program coordinator for Among Friends Dementia Respite as well as mother to four children

Among Friends is still operating out of First Congregational Church. Having a 1 hour per week of social time is important for those dealing with dementia and as a break for caregivers. Volunteers are essential to operating the group. The service currently hosts around 12 guests each Tuesday and Thursday. Sarah said that it would be ideal to be open every day but that requires the group to have more volunteers. AF is a social respite program and not a licensed adult day care program. AF Board President Bonnie Jones-Withun noted that some guests still have working spouses. Transportation is provided by families. AF has a close relationship with ADRC in town. Click READ MORE for more about Among Friends and about Sarah.