Jeff Kingsbury was awarded his Paul Harris Fellow +6 for $6,000 in donations to the Rotary Foundation. Congratulations Jeff!

 

Emma Schears, CEO of Innovative NonProfit (INP), spoke at today's meeting. INP, in partnership with United Way of the Black Hills, works with nonprofits throughout the state, providing training in a variety of areas, including strategic planning, marketing, capacity building and more.  

 

To learn more about INP, visit https://www.innovnp.com 

 

Rushmore Rotary’s Rotarian of the Year was awarded at Tuesday night’s Presidents transition dinner. The 6 nominees were Jeff Kingbury, Tiffany Gikling, Rene Sorensen, Jennifer Rollins, Roger Heacock and Heidi Bell Gease. The winners name was in a piñata that the nominees had to whack open. Our President Heidi ( former softball player) was all in!
The Rotarian of the Year is Rene Sorensen. She is a dedicated and hard working Rotarian who exemplifies Service Above Self. She is involved in RYLA, heading the membership committee and working on the district conference committee among many other things. Congratulations Rene, well deserved!

  
 

 

     

Our meeting today was “off campus” At One Heart in Rapid City. One Heart opened their doors in 2021 and provides a long term program seeking long term solutions to poverty. They teach job skills and offer education and life skills to individuals and families who are referred by outside agencies. Housing and meals are also provided on their secure campus. Right now they have 130 people there, 1/2 being kids. All their services are free to the residents. They partner with Complete Health, credit counseling, mental health, YMCA for child care and Western Dakota Tech. One hope is a private non-profit, with no city support.   For more information visit their website www.oneheartrc.org.

 

2 of our new members, Deb Kjerstad and Laurie Cope completed their new member checklists and received their official Rotary Badges. Congratulations!
 

 

We were honored to host Ralph Zuke, a visiting Rotarian from St Louis making his way by bicycle (with a rickshaw) to the Rotary International Convention in Calgary, Canada in June. He is raising money and awareness for Polio Plus, Rotary’s program to eradicate polio worldwide .
 

Our speaker today was Dr. Matthew Simmons, neurologist. He spoke on medical history in western South Dakota. He discussed Native American medicine and as white settlers arrived they shared knowledge. Lewis & Clark documented medical findings and depended on the native population for help. Many future expeditions brought a lot of doctors to the area, along with many pioneers bringing medical books to take care of themselves.

  

Rushmore Rotarians braving the elements to help distribute food in Rapid City.