News & Updates

May 2023

Park City Twilight Rotary Club kicked of the month with a Foodies theme. They started with a work day at the Utah Food Bank helping sort through all of the donated food boxes. This was followed by a burrito lunch that we served at the Youth Shelter in Salt Lake. We prepared three different meat options - sweet pork, spicy chicken and shredded beef. Many of young people came back for seconds and they all expressed their appreciation for our service.

Members of the Rotary Club of Lehi and Friends of Rotary gathered to package quilts that come from all over the U.S. and prepare them for shipment. The nonprofit organization called “Cover the World with Quilts” sends quilts to areas of need all over the world. These quilts were going to Poland for the Ukrainian refugees there. Each quilt has a QR code with information about the family/person who made the quilt, which personalizes the donation. To date 27,502 is the number of quilts that have been donated and given to those in need

Cache Valley Morning Rotary of Logan celebrated a member recently selected as Citizen of the Year by the Cache Valley Chamber of Commerce. Michael Bingham is well known as the Executive Director for his work with Jump the Moon, an art studio which specializes in adaptive tools allowing participation in the arts for special needs individuals. Michael magnifies his commitment to Rotary through his collaborative efforts with other non-profit organizations in the area. Since joining Rotary in 2021 he is credited for bringing new energy to club initiatives such as the local Veterans Association Hero Wall project, Highway beautification, Cache Food Bank Assist and Christmas Gifting for Centro de la Familia not to mention his recent return from Cambodia where he represented the club at our Village Sanitation Projects.

“Many memory-impaired seniors experience significant loneliness,” Program Director Janet Labrum with Memory Matter told members of the Washington City Rotary Club, “and the programs and services the organization provides help meet the social, recreational and therapeutic needs of those living with dementia or Alzheimer’s.”

The organization provides the opportunity for these seniors to socialize with others and be nourished with food, games, music, exercise, and crafts.

Volunteers with the Good Morning Sunshine program every workday call seniors who live alone to check on their well-being. The programs provided by Memory Matters in St. George also gives caregivers a break from the daily pressures of caring for their loved ones through caregiver support groups either in person or via zoom.

Using money from the District Tree Planting project conceived by District Governor Velasco, on Saturday April 15, Murray Rotarians with 75 JustServe.org volunteers planted 25 trees in Murray Park.

Thanks to Tree Utah and the Murray Parks Department for their expertise.

We were joined by Governor Jose, 11 from the Multicultural Rotary Club, and Heath Bradley, worldwide leader of JustServe.org, and his family. Weather was great and we had a lot of fun.

As per the Orem-Lindon Rotary Club tradition of serving local communities, Rotarian Cathy Ambrose spoke to 27 students and their parents at the Gunnison Valley High School National Honor Society (NHS) Induction Ceremony.

She was invited by NHS advisor Lars Johnson due to her work with Utah Valley University Rotaractors and Hope4Orem, inspiring the Gunnison Valley High School BOMB (Bring Out My Best) squad to address suicide prevention.

Cathy spoke on the need for self-belief, to serve others, and to balance personal growth with mental health.

She also donated 10 copies of Mindset by Dr. Carol Dweck to the high school.

In February, Holladay Rotarians served up a delicious lunch at the VOA Youth Resource Center in Salt Lake City. We had our very first game night social in March! We had a great turn out and lots of fun. Our April projects involved Earth and Arbor Day tree planting. With our grant from the Sorenson Legacy Foundation, in collaboration with Tree Utah and the City of Holladay Tree Committee, we were able to plant 9 trees at Crestview and Howard Driggs Elementary Schools. The students were involved at each of the tree planting events and were educated on correct tree planting techniques.

The Ogden Rotary Club was privileged to provide Meals in a Bag for 250 students in the Ogden/Weber School Districts.

Members of the club not only provided the labor to stuff and deliver the bags, but their donations provided the money to purchase the food that was placed in the bags!

Each meal bag contained the groceries to feed a family of four a nutritious, delicious dinner with no other ingredients required!

April 2023 for St. George Rotary mostly involved planning and preparation for several events in May. But the weekend of April 19-22 was a whirlwind of Rotary activity beginning with eight members of SGR serving as judges for the Legacy Elementary School Science Fair for students in grades K-5 … and ending with the District Training Assembly. In between - with D5420’s iron lung as the centerpiece – SGR sold more oranges and shared information about Rotary and polio – to those attending the Washington County Fair and most who knew nothing about either. The consensus among members is “It was all fun!!!”

The Park City Sunrise Rotary Club held a “Thank Goodness It’s Spring Charity Poker Party” in April to support the Park City Sunrise Foundation and Paul Harris Awards. Rotarians enjoyed a potluck social before the card game started. Poker players donated $25 to play and vied for 1st , 2nd and 3rd place awards. Prizes were Paul Harris points -- 500 for first place, 300 for second place and 200 for third, awards designed to encourage full Paul Harris participation this year. Winners also won Rotary Poker Player hats, although the date on them was 2020 since the last poker party was cancelled during the pandemic!