If you didn’t make it to our last Rotary Club of Forest Grove meeting, here’s what you missed…

On Zoom This Wednesday: With Pacific University being closed for the holiday break, our meeting on Wednesday, December 22 will take place on Zoom. Gwen Hullinger will present the program, an update on the Forest Grove High School food pantry.

Link For Joining The Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/183084884
Meeting ID: 183 084 884

No Meeting On December 29: In recognition of the holiday, we will not have a meeting on Wednesday, December 29. We hope that everyone has a safe and happy holiday!

Rototeller On Hiatus: With no meeting next week, the editor of the Rototeller will also take a week off to enjoy a little more time with family. Expect the next edition in your inbox on the weekend of January 1 & 2.

Hope For The Holidays: A holiday tradition for the Rotary Club of Forest Grove, the club’s annual Hope for the Holidays event was another success.

Hope for the Holidays is a service project designed to help give less fortunate families a little brighter holiday. This year, the project helped 12 families and 48 individuals from the local area. The 12 families were identified and nominated by local school districts and West Tuality Habitat for Humanity.

Each family received a $500 gift card at Walmart and shopped with Rotarian volunteers at our shopping event on Tuesday, December 14. Families used the money to purchase everything from toys for kids to clothing to food and basic essentials.

The gift cards were funded thanks to $9,000 donated by Rotary Club members, proceeds from the club’s wreath sale fundraiser and a $2,500 matching grant from Rotary District 5100. Any leftover proceeds from this year’s event will be kept in reserve to use for Hope for the Holidays in 2022.

A thank you to the following Rotarians and volunteers for helping to coordinate the event and for helping on event night: Mike & Claudia Yakos, Pete & Parri Van Dyke, Dean & Lori Larson, Luis & Alma Lozano, Melinda Fischer, Blake & Hannah Timm, Caroline Roudry, Lucas Welliver, Julia Kollar and Janet Peters.

Watch The Recap Video

Pledge Cards: Pledge cards continue to roll in for our club’s service projects and contributions to The Rotary Foundation. So far pledge cards have brought over $7,400 to benefit Hope for the Holidays. Gardens of Hope, The Rotary Foundation Annual Fund, PolioPlus, ShelterBox and our annual scholarship program.

Attached to this week’s Rototeller is a pledge card for donations to assist us in our fundraising efforts. You can fill out the card and send it in to either Bryce Baker or Lucas Welliver before the end of the month.

You can also make donations by credit card! Visit The Club’s Square Site where you can make donations in increments of $10.

Rotaract Update: Thank you to Amy Tracewell, who has stepped forward to become the club liaison to the Pacific University Rotaract Club. Thank you, Amy, for helping us continue to have an important link between our two clubs!

Forest Grove Partnering With Lake Oswego On International Project: The Rotary Club of Forest Grove Board of Directors voted to partner with the Rotary Club of Lake Oswego on an international project. Called Project Flourish, the project is based with the MAIA Impact School in Guatemala, which strives to teach girls, and particularly girls of Mayan descent, to finding their empowered voice and to embrace what education can do for them.

Guatemala has the worst gender equity gap in the Americas. This initiative centers on the creation and implementation of an educational program to connect talent with opportunity for first-generation “Girl Pioneers” (young women born into situations of quadruple discrimination as rural, poor, female, and Indigenous) in Guatemala. The elements of this program center on the following:

• Formal internships to generate experience and informed decision-making
• Preparation for university entrance exams
• Training on soft skills for job interviews and workplace readiness/success
• Workplace English & IT training to increase employability

This project creates a powerful pilot that will serve 42 girls and their families (approximately 336 people). These girls and families represent over a dozen rural villages in Sololá. Once created, the project will continue in perpetuity to serve generations of young women who will break out of poverty.

The project is partially funded through a Rotary International Global Grant. We will have a program on this impactful project later this year.

Online Dues Payments: Our club is now equipped to process dues payments online! We can now process credit card or debit card payments for quarterly dues. Information on how to pay online will be included with quarterly billings that will be coming to your mailbox or email inbox.

With the transition to billing with Quickbooks, some members may not have received their quarterly invoice. If you did not, please contact treasurer Lucas Welliver.

FGHS Community Food Pantry: Our club’s support for the Forest Grove High School Food Pantry continues. Thanks to its partnership with the Oregon Food Bank, food donations are still welcome but are of less need at this time. Of need, however, are toiletries and hygiene products as well as household cleaning materials.

The Food Pantry is open on Mondays from 4-5 p.m. The pantry is now open in its new site in the building along Nichols Lane between the football field and the Basinski Center.

For information on the Food Pantry, please contact Brian Burke, bburke@fgsd.k12.or.us. If you wish to make a cash donation to the pantry, Click Here.

Additionally, Rotarian Gwen Hullinger has put together an Amazon wish list of items that can be purchased and donated. Click Here To View That List.

Past Programs: Did you miss a meeting or want to go back and check out a program again? Most of our programs since May 2020 are archived on our club’s YouTube page. Visit https://bit.ly/fgrotaryprograms.

Around District 5100
District 5100 Video Updates: If you haven’t seen the District 5100 newsletter recently, most of the district’s committees are now providing video updates on the latest that is going on in District 5100. Follow the links below to check out some of the updates…

District Governor Jim Boyle’s Monthly Update

District Governor Elect Steve Williams’ Update

District Governor Renee Brouse’s Update

Salem Region Spotlight

International Services Committee Update

District Membership Committee Update

Peace Committee Update

Polio Plus Committee Update

Rotary Essential Enrichment Learning (REEL) Update

Vocational Service Committee Update

Rotary Youth Exchange Committee Update

Save The Date: District 5100 Rotary One Conference: Mark your calendars for May 19-22 as District 5100 will present its first combined Spring Training Event and annual conference in Seaside. The combined conference will provide Rotary training opportunities, inspirational speakers and a celebration of what is hoped to be a great year in District 5100.

Around Rotary International
Rotary International & The Rotary Foundation Release Position Statement On COVID-19 Vaccination: As the first organization to envision a polio-free world through mass immunization of children, Rotary believes the decision to vaccinate is a humanitarian imperative. The Rotary International Board of Directors and Rotary Foundation Trustees believe that:

1. Global vaccination is the path to ending the pandemic, and we strongly encourage vaccination for all individuals, including our members.
2. Misinformation hinders the fight against COVID-19, and we are committed to providing our members with science-based information.
3. Rotary is engaged in assuring equity in vaccine access to all people. Through joint efforts with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance we are leveraging our frontline experience with polio to facilitate vaccine delivery.
4. Rotary salutes health care workers everywhere as they continue to provide lifesaving services. We encourage clubs to offer recognition and encouragement to these heroes.
5. Rotary and Rotaract clubs are encouraged to redouble their efforts to support COVID-19 prevention and vaccination efforts.
6. As one of the greatest advances of modern medicine, vaccines are safe, effective and save millions of lives each year. They have eliminated or controlled numerous diseases such as polio, smallpox, measles, and Ebola, and now, there is the opportunity to end the COVID-19 pandemic through vaccination.
7. The eradication of polio remains the goal of the highest order for Rotary. We can continue to apply the lessons we have learned in fighting polio to COVID-19 response efforts.

Last Week’s Program: Evening Meeting, Hope for the Holidays Recap
Last week was our monthly evening meeting. Members enjoyed fellowship together at Dauntless Wine Co. and received a recap of our Hope for the Holidays event. We encourage you to watch the recap video and celebrate our success!

Club Calendar
Wed., Dec. 22: Weekly Meeting, Noon
This Week’s Meeting Will Be On Zoom
Program: Gwen Hullinger, Forest Grove HS Food Pantry

Wed., Dec. 29: No Meeting, Happy Holidays!

Wed., Jan. 5: Weekly Meeting, Noon
Boxer Pause Room, Pacific University
Program: To Be Announced

Thurs., Jan. 6: Executive Board Meeting, 7 p.m.