by Ingrid Nova | Mar 27, 2013 | Awards
East Lansing Rotary annually honors members of our community who, through their professional and personal lives, make a lasting contribution to our community. This year we recognized three outstanding individuals: the late Gary Olson, Dr. John Dunn and Professor John Seita.
Gary Olson
Recently our community lost a great leader, big thinker and Rotarian, Gary Olson – a member of the Lansing Rotary Club. The East Lansing Rotary chose to honor Olson posthumously with a Vocational Excellence Award.
Gary Olson held a Masters in Economics from MSU and was the Director of the Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency. Yearly visits from Olson to the East Lansing Rotary Club were always a highlight as Olson helped us understand the current economic situation.
We are proud to count Gary Olson as a friend and fellow Rotarian!
Dr. John Dunn
The Albert White Community Service Award goes to one of our own: Dr. John Dunn. A long time member and a semi-retired ophthalmologist Dunn talked about his philosophy of service. “It is a simple phrase that propels me into service —May I help you?,” said Dunn. That phrase, taken from his father, highlighted the compact that we make when we provide service. We ask permission to help and we help only until we are no longer needed.
Dunn shared a story about Red Cedar Elementary student, a young boy from Southern Sudan that he was helping to learn to read. “Samir was 7 years old and struggling with English. For almost a year we worked together, taking turns writing out answers to problems. One day Samir kept on going –because he could. He no longer needed me,” claimed Dunn triumphantly and tearfully.
At East Lansing Rotary Club we are moved by John Dunn’s quiet generosity, a true leader by example.
Professor John Seita
Professor John Seita was also a recipient of a Vocational Excellence Award. Professor Seita teaches in the School of Social Work and has created a very special program called FAME which helps college students that have come out of the Foster Care system adjust to college life. Seita himself is a graduate from the Foster Care system. He gave credit for his success to his team of colleagues. “I believe in the importance of making a difference one by one,” said Seita.
Congratulations to John Seita and thank you for being such a great role model!
by Ingrid Nova | Nov 21, 2012 | Community Service Ongoing, Events, Foundation and Fund Raising
The Rotary Club of East Lansing and the Kroger Company have proudly teamed-up again this year to support East Lansing’s Haven House. Since 2009, the Rotary Club has raised money from its members to provide Haven House residents with Thanksgiving dinners and household supplies. Founded in 1983, Haven House provides emergency housing and support services for one-parent and two-parent families with children. The shelter helps families who are homeless prepare for permanent housing by developing and promoting self-sufficiency, stability, and financial responsibility. Rotary Club members donated a total of $770 towards this year’s project.
The Rotary Club is providing three turkey dinners, and Kroger is donating two additional dinners to this effort aimed at making the Thanksgiving Day holiday a little brighter for the 30 family members currently receiving assistance from Haven House. Each turkey dinner includes: a 10-13 lb. turkey, potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberry relish and a pumpkin pie.
A certificate for the dinners was presented to Haven House Director Angie Mayeaux by the East Lansing Rotary Club President Nathan Triplett at the Club’s November 19, 2011 meeting. “Our club is proud to support the good work that Haven House does to assist homeless families. They are a constant reminder to us of the good things going on daily in our community”, said Triplett.
In addition to the turkey dinners, the E.L. Rotary Club also donated household supplies to fill the “exit baskets” that Haven House gives to each family that leaves their program to go into housing on their own. Each “exit basket” contains 35 different household items, including: a laundry basket, sponges, tub/tile cleaner, disinfectant spray, toilet bowl cleaner, toilet bowl brush & holder, dish soap, laundry soap, bar soap, dryer sheets/fabric softener, 2 buckets, mop, broom, dust pan, furniture polish, window cleaner, floor cleaner, pan scrubbers, paper towels, toilet paper, kitchen cleaner, bleach, Pine Sol cleaner, shampoo, deodorants for men & women, a hairbrush and comb, room deodorizer, band-aids, first aid kit, pot holders, comet, baking soda, trash bags, a small trash can, and toothpaste.
“We’re really appreciative the efforts of Kroger and the Rotary Club to provide a wonderful dinner on Thanksgiving Day for our families. And, the “Exit Baskets” donated by the Rotary Club will be a big boost in helping families get settled into their own housing,” commented Haven House Rotary Club of East Lansing Executive Director Angie Mayeaux.
The Rotary Club of East Lansing has a long record of community service dating back to its formation in 1961. The Club has nearly 100 members and has supported a broad spectrum of community projects, like the Playground in the Park at Patriarche Park, the East Lansing Softball fields and Aquatic Center and the renovation of Haven House.
The Kroger Co. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio (NYSE:KR) is one of the nation’s largest grocery retailers, with fiscal 2011 sales of $90.3 billion. Kroger operates 2,425 stores in 31 states; including five supermarkets in the Lansing area.
by Ingrid Nova | Nov 21, 2012 | Community Service Ongoing, Events, Foundation and Fund Raising
Every year, the East Lansing Rotary Club teams up with Kroger to provide the families at Haven House with thanksgiving dinners. A certificate for the dinners was presented to Haven House Director Angie Mayeaux by the East Lansing Rotary Club President Nathan Triplett at the Club’s November 19, 2011 meeting. “Our club is proud to support the good work that Haven House does to assist homeless families. They are a constant reminder to us of the good things going on daily in our community”, said Triplett. Below is a photo from Monday’s meeting.
(Pictured L to R: Jim Little, John Saltzgaber, Angie Mayeaux & Jeanine Simpson of Haven House, Bob Page, Gary Danbrook and Amy Jarrad)
by Ingrid Nova | Nov 15, 2012 | Community Service Ongoing, Foundation and Fund Raising
EAST LANSING — Sherrod E. Skinner, Jr. grew up in East Lansing and died as a young Marine Corps officer during the Korean War.
But the East Lansing Rotary Club doesn’t want him to be forgotten.
The club wants to create a permanent place of honor for what Marine 2nd. Lt. Skinner did to become the city’s only Medal of Honor winner.
The club, with the blessing of the city council, has taken on the responsibility of getting a memorial funded and built on the grounds of the Hannah Community Center.
Full Article Here by Ingrid Nova | Oct 23, 2012 | District 6360
District 6360 in Southwest Michigan is conducting a search for Rotary members interested in applying for the team leader position to head up the 2013 Group Study Exchange team going to Greece in April. Team Leader candidates must be Rotarians and leadership experience is beneficial. The team leader will be responsible for providing guidance to a group of four non-Rotarians between the ages of 25-40 representing a variety of vocations. The Rotary International Website is a great resource for more background information on the GSE Program.
For an application, please visit the Rotary International website at www.rotary.org and search for the GSE Team Leader application. The application may be saved as a word file, which can then be completed and either printed or sent as an attachment via email. Please follow the instructions and send completed application either by email to Amy Remmert – aremmert@sbcglobal.net or mail to 1005 Davis Street, Kalamazoo Michigan 49008. Deadline for submitting an application is November 5, 2012 and interviews will hopefully be conducted the following weekend. Amy may be reached at – 269-491-8440 for more information.
Group Study Exchange to Greece
DGE Mark Henne and DGE Katerina Kotsali-Papadimitrio of District 2470 in Greece have agreed to a GSE exchange in 2013. The two district conferences are only a week apart, The Greek District 2470 Conference is scheduled for May 10-11, and the Michigan District 6360 Conference will be May 17-18. The Outbound team should arrive in Athens on April 16, returning on May 14. The Inbound team from District 2470 will come to Michigan on May 14, and will return to Greece on about June 11, 2013 The District Governors are planning for multi-disciplinary teams, with a goal of learning what role Rotary might play in helping those most hurt by the recessions in our respective districts. District leaders would like to have each team work on one service project in each district.
Group Study Exchanges are provided by The Rotary Foundation, whose mission is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty. The Rotary Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation that is supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotarians and friends of the Foundation who share its vision for a better world.
