Rockford Rotary manned the Salvation Army bell ringing at the Schnucks on State Street on Sunday, December 3rd.  We will also be manning the bells at Farm & Fleet on East Riverside on December 17th.  Thanks to all of our members who volunteered for this traditional project.

 

 

Becky Rundquist relieves Brian De Benedetto and his son at the Schnucks on State Street.

 

 

Not to be outdone by Becky, Pete Rundquist also relieves Brian and his son.

 

 

 

     James Casimir arrived in Rockford from Haiti as a political refugee in 1994 with his wife Odette and their 6 Children. They have worked for 28 years in factories in Rockford, raising their children and putting them through school and college.     

     James currently works for PEOPLE READY building Solar Farms. The Casimir family continues to help the people of their home town of Saut-d'Eau. This town of 36,000 people is in the central highlands of Haiti.  The Casimirs send care packages and financial support several times a year.

     They are members of SecondFirst Church, Rockford, where a Haiti Interest Group has developed to support their work. The goal of this effort is the development of self-sufficiency through food security and children's education

 

 

     Roger Greenlaw arrived in Rockford in 1975 with his wife Carolyn and their 2 children. He was employed by SwedishAmerican Hospital for 5 years, where he established Gastroenterology services and joined the faculty of the School of Medicine.

     In 1980 Roger co-founded Rockford Gastroenterology Associates where he practiced for 30 years.

     As members of SecondFirst Church the Greenlaws and the Casimirs worked to establish the Haiti Interest Group supporting the development of Self-sufficiency of the people in Saut-d'Eau Haiti.

     The Missions Committee of the Church leads fund raising for Gardening Tools, Heritage Seeds for family gardening, and financial support for 54 children to attend school.

     An independent 501c3 has been established called 'POUKY' Pou Kinam Yo,NFP which translates from French Creole as "For My People".

     Roger leads the Board of Directors, who at this time are all members of SecondFirst Church.

     This will be an interesting and informative program.  It will be an opportunity to bring a guest or prospective member.  Remember that you can join us in person at Memorial Hall or via zoom.

     Mike Donnelly will introduce our presenters and act as Rotary Host. 

 

     The Auburn High School a cappella group will be returning again this year to provide some holiday entertainment.  Marissa Martinez is the group's director.  The group is an auditioned ensemble made up of some of the most motivated and talented singers at Auburn.

     This is the 2^nd year that the group has been running and also the director's second year at Auburn. Last year, the group had a lot of fun performing for Rockford Rotary.

     Since then, they have also performed at school concerts, performed singing telegrams for Valentine's Day, and sang the National Anthem at an Ice Hogs game.

     They are very excited to be performing for you again this year!

     This will be an entertaining and fun program to lift your holiday spirits.  We would encourage you to bring a friend or prospective member to join us either in person at Memorial Hall or via zoom.  Mary Ann Norwood will introduce our pereformers and act as Rotary host.

 

 

 

     Thank you to all of our members who volunteered to help out with our "Books for 2nd Graders".  We were awarded a District Grant to fund this project to give a book to every 2nd grader in the Rockford Public Schools.

 

Conklin

 

Froberg

 

Lewis Lemon

 

Ellis

 

McIntosh

 

McIntosh

 

Rolling Green

 

Whitehead

 

Hillman

 

Marshall

 

Barbour

 

Lathrop

 

Washington

 

Riverdahl

 

Welsh

 

West View

 

 

     As part of our "Delightful Daffodils" project, Rockford Rotary planted some Daffodils at Auburn High School.

 

     Helping out at the Northern Illinois Food Bank.