The war in Ukraine, “Europe’s Breadbasket,” goes on with no end in sight. Meanwhile at home the cost of living continues to run hot and at levels not seen in two generations. These issues have already and will continue to cause food insecurity for people both locally and globally for the foreseeable future.
Locally, Feeding Brookings, a ministry of Ascension Lutheran Church, distributes food to hundreds of Brookings households each week. As the cost of food has climbed, they have seen a four-fold increase in the number of family’s needing assistance. This past month the Brookings Rotary club raised over $2,000 to support their efforts. Many thanks to Larry Fjeldos who stimulated our giving to Feeding Brookings with his promised match of $1000. Thanks also to Mary Kidwiler who made sure the target amount was hit and even exceeded!
Since Thanksgiving is this month Feeding Brookings will be distributing boxes with traditional Thanksgiving items such as turkey, cranberries, and the like. The service clubs in town have been asked to collect 100 boxes each of instant mashed potatoes. Please pick up a couple boxes and bring to the next meeting or even to Thirsty Thursday at Wooden Legs on November 3rd at 5 PM.
Many thank to Dr. Dan Little who facilitated the $25,000 Rotary Disaster Grant for humanitarian aid to Ukraine via the Barlad, Romania club. This is a great example of Brookings Rotary making an impact globally. My goal is to have some of the members of this club be one of our programs via Zoom in early 2023.
Last, but not least, if you have not already purchased tickets or RSVP’d with me, please consider attending the Hope and Healing benefit on November 13th. Many of your fellow Rotarians have put a lot of effort into planning this event that will include great food, desserts, music, and special guest speaker VJ Smith. In addition to being a fundraiser for a worthy cause it will be a great way for Brookings Rotary to showcase what we are all about, a local service club working in conjunction with over a million other Rotarians around the world to make an impact. The best way to share information about our event with your friends is to send them the link www.RotaryHope.com via email or text. More information on this event appears elsewhere in the COG. Hope to see you at Peace Lutheran on November 13th.
President Erich