Recap from the July 17, 2023 Meeting.
Meeting Run by: President Megan Francis
Invocation: Jim Neppel
Welcome to our members participating in our meeting through Zoom, Dawn Sturm Dodds and Carol Webb.
Happy News/Announcements: All Happy News funds go towards our scholarship awards.
Megan Francis- American Countess in town. Megan was able to be a tour guide around town. It was an excellent opportunity to hear an outside perspective of our town. She received $5 in tips and will be donating that to Rotary. Jess Pfab- $1 to John as he no longer seeks invocations. Mike Weddell- Youngest daughter engaged last week in Japan. Rob Yant- Trip to visit family in Milwaukee and the Harley Davidson 125th Anniversary ride. Steve Snider- Pearl City Place hosted a breakfast for badges. The PD provided a field trip for them to the riverfront, downtown, and the Pearl Button Museum. Thank you to the school for transportation. Karen Cooney- Joined a euchre league. She received the lowest score, so she received a dollar back per the club rules. She also joined her mom and daughter in a game of dominoes and BBQ. Karen won at Dominoes and 5 Crowns. She is celebrating her wins as a highly competitive family. Taylor Thorpe- Taylor is going on vacation for the first part of August, hoping she will get engaged. There have been hints dropped. Rich Dwyer- First family reunion this last weekend. Sixty-five attended, and 20 were still missing. It will be an annual thing, and they look forward to more.
Club News:
- Follow the Rotary Club of Muscatine’s Facebook page, @MuscatineRotaryClub.
- ACH forms are available for easy payment of dues.
- The July 24th meeting will be 4-6 pm at the Stanley Center for Peace and Security.
- Thank you to Frank, Carolyn, and Karen for volunteering to pick up many community donations for Thanksgiving in July. 2000 lbs of food collected (600 lbs more than last year). The food was sorted and delivered today. Four total volunteers towards the club group of 20.
- NEW DATE- Save the Date: Future Mobile Food Pantry distribution dates: August 1st, September 5th, October 10th, November 7th, and December 5th.
- Almost Friday Fest- Rotary will have a food tent at Almost Friday Events on July 27th, August 24th, and September 28th.
- Club goals for 23-24 Rotary Year- Increase membership to 65, 4 service projects with at least 20 members participating, two socials, contributions to Rotary International over $8000, Polio Plus contributions over $500.
Presentation-
Sleep in Heavenly Peace-
Sarah Walsh- Sarah Walsh is a proud mother and resident of Muscatine. She moved here from Indianapolis when she got married in 2015 and taught at Muscatine High School as a science teacher and instructional coach from 2015-2022. Since then, she has chosen to stay home to spend more time with her twin daughters. Sarah and her co-president, Stephanie Aguero Miller, started a local Sleep in Heavenly Peace chapter. This national nonprofit builds and delivers beds for children at the beginning of this year. She is excited to tell you about our local chapter, how organizations can help, and how much of a direct impact these efforts have on our community’s children!
Sleep in Heavenly Peace’s mission is Getting Children Off the Floor! We believe that “No kids sleeps on the floor in our town”, but we want to make OUR town EVERYONE’S town. Bring Communities Together! It takes the community to get involved and help their own. SHP provides the opportunity for Volunteers to do just that.
Sleep in Heavenly Peace was started in Idaho in a garage in 2012. In 2023 over 300 chapters have built over 100,000 beds for children. Uncovering the need According to ongoing research and data gathered from 2018 to YTD, roughly 3% of the total population represents children sleeping on the Floor, on couches, or in uncomfortable situations. Muscatine County Population: 42,377 (2022 Census) 3% = 1271 children sleeping on something other than a bed in Muscatine Co. Possibly more due to the SES of our county.
We take our mission very seriously, and with the help of members and organizations in our community, we can make our mission a reality!
- In-kind donations (tools, bedding, mattresses)
- Volunteering for community builds and deliveries.
- Hosting sponsored builds.
Questions- where do you get mattresses? We can order from Sleep in Heavenly Peace. We can also take in-kind donations (6-8”). Are we serving Muscatine City and County? We started with the City of Muscatine. The organization plans to expand to the county, but we have a current waitlist to get through first. How can the school system help? We are in contact with the high school and junior high counselors. We will also meet at the beginning of school for the referral process. Clint suggested Resource Navigators as well. What is the are limit- 3-17. We cannot give a bed to anyone under 3. Unfortunately, we have had several requests for those under 3. Adults also do not qualify, but we are working with MCSA to figure out a referral and system for that. What is the bed size? All beds are twin size.
Contact information:
Sarah Walsh- sarah.walsh@shpbeds.org
Website- https://shpbeds.org/chapter/ia-muscatine
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/SHPMuscatine
Upcoming Meetings-
