The new Rotary Club with the can-do attitude: our accomplishments in just seven months!

Rotary Club of Millcreek is a new concept club for Utah. We meet after work for our twice a month planning meetings (first and second Thursdays at 5:30pm at Café Madrid). We have no formal program, and we are affordable. Because we don’t have a meal – just appetizers – member dues are $30 a month, $90 a quarter. Each month we have a service project and a social to round out the Rotary International meeting requirement, though there is no mandatory attendance.

Even with these ‘updates’ to the standard Rotary Club formula, Millcreek Club accomplishes a lot. Rotary International categorizes the service expected from clubs in the following ways. Here is a report of what the ‘new club that could’ has made happen in the last seven months!

Community Service:
Rotary Club of Millcreek, under the direction of our resourceful Committee Chair Miriam Kramer, selected a focus on Salt Lake’s refugee community for our local service.  We had a Holiday party in December, where we went shopping with some of the Bhutanese women, paid for the food, and they cooked amazing food for us at the Columbus Center. Our club members, Salt Lake based Rotaract, and our new Interact Club at City Academy collected new or gently used clothing donations and distributed them after the event’s entertainment and lunch.

We have worked at the New Roots refugee garden and helped with citizenship lessons.

At our community service retreat in June (led so capably by member Kim Williams), club members decided to partner with at least two organizations (one of which being the Hser Ner Moo refugee Welcome Center in South Salt Lake) and to ensure a variety of service opportunities for our members.

While our Bhutanese refugee service is very hands-on, some members would like opportunities where members interact more during service. On the morning of Saturday, August 11, we are encouraging members to participate in the Fun Run/Walk for organ donation: Dash for Donation in Sugar House Park.

International Service:
Committee Chair Ladd Tanner will be participating in the Hispano-Latino Club trip to Cuba this winter. He encourages other members to participate, and several are interested. Members Miriam Kramer and Peter Ingle participated in student trips for international service this summer. Miriam traveled with Youthlinc to Guatemala, and Peter traveled with Westminster College to Thailand – twice!

Our club has submitted a District Grant to fund two water filtration systems in two small impoverished villages along the Amazon River in Peru. We are partnering with Iquitos, Peru Rotary Club and in Utah, Kaysville, Centerville/Farmington, and Heber Valley Clubs, to fund this grant.

It is often said that a person does not truly understand the power of Rotary till he or she becomes involved in the international aspects of the world’s largest non-religious, non-political service organization.

Youth Service:

As youth is the future of Rotary service, one of the first things Millcreek Club did – even before its charter was received November 16, 2011- was start an Interact  (high school) Rotary Club. Under the guidance of member Sonia Woodbury, principal and founder of charter school City Academy, an existing club was introduced to the benefits of association with Rotary: involvement with our club in local and international service projects, student exchanges internationally, sponsorship to District youth leadership events and other opportunities to do service locally and internationally.

Many of the Interactors have participated in our club service projects. Two of our Interactors participated in the District trip to Mexico. Millcreek Club members and Salt Lake based Rotaracters (college Rotarians) participated in a mentoring meeting with our high schoolers. City Academy and our Interactors will help host a student from Iquitos, Peru January-March 2012.

We have integrated Salt Lake based Rotaracters into almost all of our activities in the past seven months: our service projects, our socials and even our Chartering Dinner in January. We were one of two Rotary Clubs that helped with a successful and enlightening (for all concerned) Rotaract Speed Mentoring event.

Millcreek Club will sponsor at least three students into the Youthlinc Service Year 2012-13. These students will contribute up to 300 local service hours cumulatively, participate in monthly meetings where they are mentored to plan international service activities, and travel to developing countries next summer to serve in small impoverished villages.

Committee Chair (and new member) Shannon Tilly is excited for an active youth oriented new Rotary Year.

Vocational Service:
In addition to our Rotaract Speed Mentoring participation and our Interact mentoring, one-third of our members have volunteered to mentor Westminster College students involved in Rotaract.

This mentoring involves informal phone calls, lunches, and meetings to discuss education, career, job hunt issues – giving these young people a sounding board for their concerns regarding their professional futures in a tough economy.

Our Vocational Committee is headed by Drs Marty Gelman and John Zone, who have many plans for our club members to celebrate and recognize their professional accomplishments during this new Rotary Year. We are also grateful to the many members of our club who have made vocational service an important part of what we do.

Club Service:

Our regular socials serve to bond our club members. Many thanks to Committee Chair, Ann Nielsen, we have had a great Halloween party last October and a summer BBQ coming up July 19. John & Judy Zone hosted a Meet the Candidate night in June.

Our Chartering Dinner in January was a complete success with 88 people in attendance – all but two of our 30 Chartering members made it to the event.

11 of our members attended District Assembly in April, learning a lot about Rotary.  Most of our members are new to Rotary.

Much thanks to club President Laurie Summers-Pisani, Treasurer Ken Klingler, and Secretary Christine Casper for everything they do to keep this club on task, sending Statements, keeping financial records, taking and posting meeting minutes on our blog.

Sarah Grant serves as our Membership Chair, keeping a google doc online roster to which all members have access. Judy Zone is the club Public Relations Chair, coordinating our active blog and Facebook page, where we post meeting minutes, photos, and celebrate all of our club activities and successes.

With the help of every one of our 30 members- whose participation will keep the upfront cost of the Benefit to zero - Judy will coordinate our very first club fundraiser, destined to become a Salt Lake tradition. Mark your calendars for Thursday, September 13 6-8pm for our signature event: Wine into Water. Lawn party & light dinner fare at the home of club President Laurie Summers-Pisani, 355 Crestline Circle, Salt Lake City.

Wine into Water is a wine-tasting event to raise money this year to fund two water filtration systems along the Amazon River in Peru, giving more than 1,000 people clean water in perpetuity.

 The Benefit is a limited opportunity event: only 100 tickets are available. We are asking a $50 donation for each entrance. Grand prize: $1,000, drawn at the end of the evening. You need not be present to win, but if you don’t come, you will miss out on wines from two Utah wineries: Kiler Grove and Castle Creek. You miss out on appetizers from local restaurants and club members, and a drawing for multiple gift certificates from local businesses and a two night stay at a Kimball Junction condo.

For more information about the event, contact club President Laurie lelsummers3@msn.com  or Judy at judy@youthlinc.org