LOCATION  -- We are meeting on 11/12 at NOON at the First National Bank of River Falls Community Room.  Park in the lot behind the bank and enter through the door at the west end of the lot.

 

FOOD -- LUNCH MOB IS BACK!   -- We arranged to get lunches from Mariachi Loco.  See the next announcement for the menu choices and how to order.

 

ONP BACKPACK SUPPORT  -- At this meeting, we will present our holiday backpack program support contributions to Executive Director Shelly Smith.

For our noon meeting at FNBRF, we have brought back Lunch Mob with a River Falls Rotary favorite -- Mariachi Loco.  Click READ MORE for the menu options and how to order.  We need to have orders to the restaurant by mid-day Monday, but Mariachi can always accommodate some late additions.

  Garth Christenson and Jim Lutiger presented an overview of the history, purpose, and functioning of the Hudson Daybreak Rotary's Endowment Fund.  The history starts in July 2000 with establishment of a fund at the St Croix Valley Foundation.  In 2003 it became the HDR Long Term Fund at SCVF, then in 2007 the HDR Finance Committee recommended creating an endowment fund, which happened in May 2008.  At that point the fund totaled about $45,000.  The endowment fund is one of four "buckets" of funds for the HDR club.  As an endowment fund, the principal cannot be tapped for giving.

 

Funding occurs through transfer from other sources including fundraisers, member donations, and others.  Over time the fund has grown to over $300,000 with about $150,000 in legacy pledges from members' estate plans.  Click READ MORE for more about the HDR fund and the speakers.

About the Presentation:  Crutches 4 Africa is a Rotary District 5960 grant project to collect, store, and distribute mobility devices (e.g., crutches, wheelchairs, walkers, etc.) to enable people in Africa who cannot afford a device to live a fuller life.  Lonny Stormo of Stillwater Sunrise Rotary described the project, and then we asked questions and discussed how our club might participate in this project.  Several good ideas were generated, and there was a positive reaction to the idea.  This project is unusual in that there is minimal financial commitment from the club while providing a lot of benefit to people in need.  The board will review the Stillwater Sunrise proposal at the November board meeting.  Member comments are encouraged.  Click READ MORE to read about the speaker.

The Fifth Tuesday meeting last week ended Rotary's coat collections for Our Neighbors' Place.  In addition to the pile of coats in our meeting room, some were delivered to the ONP Day Center, and others in bins went later.

 

ONP Executive Director Shelly Smith updated us on ONP's programs, which have recently expanded from 4 to 5.  In addition to the Day Center, Clothing Closet, Backpack Program, and Transitional Housing, ONP has recently added a new program called Helping Hands.  This new program came about through a collaborative community effort when the Assistance and Resource Center, generally known as ARC, closed.  The Helping Hands program addresses a range of short-term needs for financial and services help.  Shelly noted that a particular emphasis of Helping Hands is on assistance that will help families to maintain stable housing.  Shelly provided 5 very helpful slides with more detail; click Download Files below to see them.

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