We all have that seldom-worn coat taking up space in our closet. Here's its chance to find a home with someone who really needs it. The Eagan High School Interact Club will hold their annual coat drive October 23-25. So bring any gently used coats to the Kick-Start meeting on Thursday 10/25. Carol Wirsbinski will collect the coats and deliver them to the high school.
Join us for a 2018-2019 grant project supported by Rotary District 5950. We are planning a long-term project to install native gardens and benches at Art Works and Caponi Art Park. During our fall work days, we will prepare the garden sites, weed and mulch. During our winter planning, we will design and build benches for installation at both Art Works and Caponi Art Park. During our spring work days, we will plant gardens and complete the project with delivery of benches. Want to join us? Then sign up and show up! We can't wait to work with you!
Fall Garden Prep Days Thursday Oct. 25, 2:30-5:30pm
Kick-Start had the distinct honor of hosting District Governor Irene Kelly on Sep 13, and then District Membership Chair Lloyd Campbell, as well as District Governor Nominee Tom Gump and Executive Director Carol McDonald on Oct. 18. All offered their perspectives on how Rotary can make a difference and how to grow and inspire our club membership. For more on this critical topic, see the article Step Right Up in the August 2018 edition of The Rotarian featuring Tom Gump and the Rotary Club of Edina/Morningside.
Deck the Halls Home Holiday Tour, a fundraiser for the Eastview Community Foundation (EVCF), will be held Saturday, November 10 and Sunday, November 11, Noon-4PM. Attendees will be able to tour 5 homes in Apple Valley and Eagan beautifully decorated for the holidays by local vendors: Bushel & Peck, Ficus & Fig, At Home, and Kowalski’s Market. Nothing Bundt Cakes is also participating.
EVCF provides scholarships to graduating seniors, as well as “Random Acts of Kindness” money to feeder schools.
As much as we Rotarians enjoy the fun, friendship, and networking aspects of Rotary, we should always remember that Rotary has the power to enact positive change on a global scale. Rotary has recently undertaken perhaps one of the most difficult challenges in its history - ending human trafficking. This may seem like an impossible task given how ingrained human trafficking is all over the world, the powerful criminal enterprises that profit from it, and cultural obstacles against the empowerment of women, the predominant victims of human trafficking. What can you do?
Identify a Club Champion who can serve as an ongoing club advocate for this initiative. Thank you Mary Nell Zellner for stepping up to be Kick-Start's Club Champion!
If you ever think that human trafficking is too big a problem to tackle, remember this Ethiopian proverb: When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion.
Each of our local Rotary Clubs is one strand of that spider web; together we can end human trafficking.
Eagan's Rotary Clubs are sponsoring two foreign exchange students at Eagan High School during the 2018-19 school year. There are still opportunities to be a host family. Families of all types are suitable - with or without children, empty nesters, working or retired - but must live in the Eagan High School attendance boundary. If you or someone you know live within the Eagan High School attendance boundary and would consider hosting a student, please contact Nate Danielson at 612-499-0193 for more details.
Take a minute to think about what you are truly passionate about. Then, the next time you are among your Rotary friends, take a look around. The people you see are the horsepower ready and willing to turn your passion into action. Then take a look at the Rotary District 5950 Grants webpage. There awaits a pool of funds to do the same.
Helping to turn your passion into action is why we all meet each week. So develop your idea and harness the club to do what it does best!