Today was Rotary day. We were privileged to have our District 5610 Governor Rich Burns and his wife Kelly visiting our club today. He Brought gifts for our District representatives and presented flags for district awards we received last year for 100% foundation giving, 100% participation in every Rotarian every year to the foundation, number 1 club in foundation giving, and polio plus giving. Nice work Rushmore Rotary! He also shared his goals for this Rotary year. 
Founation: Half of foundation giving comes ack to the district as grants. We will have less money to work with this year by about $30,000. We need to get more clubs in the district to support the Rotary Foundation annual fund.

Polio Plus: 19 of the 35 clubs in the district contribute to Polio Plus. We are so close to ending Polio that we can’t quit now. We need to get these 26 clubs involved.

Public Image: The district website is being revamped to include videos and more exciting content. Check it out at district5610.org

 

DG Burns is also putting out a food challenge to all our clubs. Food 4 the Holidays-A $500 pop up district grant is available to clubs 11/13/23-01/01/24 to partner with local groups to support food assistance.

 

 

 Don’t forget to bring donations for the elder tree to meetings through December 8th.

  
Rushmore Rotarians served lunch at the Cornerstone Rescue Mission on Tuesday. Our club has committed to serving lunch every 1st Tuesday of the month. Four volunteers are needed each month. You can sign up by contacting Kim Nearhood. 

Past President and Miss Veteran America 2RU Jennifer Rollins participated in the Rapid City Veterans Day Parade.

 

  

Our speaker today was Callie Tysdal,  Communications Director for the John T. Vucurevich Foundation. She shared with us what they do and what they fund. The foundation was set up to make sure the Rapid City community was supported. They currently manage 63 grants worth $27 million. Next year will mark $100 million invested in the local community. About $8 million/year is given to help low income families in Rapid City through affordable housing, early learning, economic mobility, and basic needs. They are working hard to educate the public about these needs and also partner with other groups to make this happen. A new 3-year trial program to partner with employers and families to make child care affordable is under way. To get more details on the foundation and their giving visit www.jtvf.org.

 

   

 Rushmore Rotary helped pack food and presented a check for $600 to Feeding South Dakota from a district grant matched by an anonymous donor. Thanks for all your hard work helping to feed those in need.
#rotary
#FeedingSouthDakota
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At today’s meeting Linda Peterson was presented with the Rotary Foundation’s Major Donor status award. Thank you for your great generosity allowing so many people around the world to be helped.

 

 

   

Rushmore Rotarians got busy this month building a float for Rapid City’s Festival of Lights Parade November 25, 2023. Great job team! 

 

Our speaker today was Bud Gusso, Executive Director of Operational Support Services for the Douglas School District. They are a small school district that is growing quickly due to Ellsworth AFB B21 expansion plan, City of Box Elder growth, and regional growth. They have a strategic plan to address this issue which includes 3 new pk-5 schools, converting the current high school to a 2nd middle school and a new high school. Funding the buildings is a big challenge they face.