Members of the Evening Club made 16 blankets by cutting and tying material during their virtual meeting on  December 15th.  The blankets were then donated to "Warm Hearts Warm Beds".    This charity was founded in 2015 by Ben Huebsch, Associate Principal Parkview School in Ankeny, and his daughter Charlotte, after listening to a sermon one Sunday that discused fostering generosity towards children.  Charlotte and her sister had already been using their birthday money to purchase coloring books and crayons for children staying at Mercy Hospital and recalled receiving fleece blankets during the loss of their younger sister in 2013.  They decided to make blankets and distribute them to Mercy Hospital. They set a goal of making 15 blankets that first year but after receiving a grant, and the help of friends, they delivered 65 blankets.  This project has since grown beyond imagination. In 2019, 490 blankets were made and delivered to Mercy Hospital and in 2020, over $5,000 was raised and over 400 blankets were again delivered. 

 

Thank you to Renee Potts for putting the club in contact with Ben and Charlotte and organizing this service project.

  

   

While Covid-19 has singularly devastated the world, The Rotary Foundation has indeed prevented much suffering around the globe through numerous District Grants and its Global Grant program with its matching funds.  Rotarians in countless clubs are still focused on doing good in the world. There is no better way to end this tumultuous year than this excerpt from the Chair of TRF Trustees, K.R “Ravi” Ravindran:  

Due to continued uncertainty regarding the pandemic, the Rotary Club of Ankeny's 2021 "Raise the Stakes" fundraiser, has officially been postponed to October 16, 2021.   The FFA Enrichment Center has been reserved for this new date and the other vendors are being contacted to confirm their availability.   Many of the auction items that had been collected for our event last year have certificates that have already or will expire prior to year end 2021.  A list of these items has been forwardeed to all club members.   If you obtained an item with an expiration date, please contact the donor to obtain a new certificate or extention of the expiration date.  

The following Ankeny Rotarians will celebrate birthdays in Janaury:

 

5th - Sarah Green

6th - Jack Pennington

15th - Jenna Lanning

20th  - Sally Schroeder

24th - Connor Stobbe

25th - Justin Carlton

27th - Jeff Damman

28th - Roger Spahr

31st - Jim Gocke

Special guests attending the Rotary Club of Ankeny's meetings last month included:

 

The Board has approved an application for membership from Heidi Kramer.  Heidi is the new Director of U.S. Development for Blessman International.  She will become the Primary Designee for this corporate Rotary Club of Ankeny member. 

 

Comments regarding Heidi's proposed membership may be submitted to any Board member.

The Rotary Club of Ankeny is sending $6,460 to the Rotary Foundation's Annual Fund for the contributions made by its members through their invoices for the first and second qouarters of the year.   This does not include several members that are making direct contributions to the Foundation for the Annual Fund, PolioPlus, and Global Grants.    Thank you Ankeny Rotarains!

Hurricane Eta made landfall in Central America as a Cetegory 4 hurricane on October 28th.  The high winds were expected but the storm hovered over Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala for days leaving flooding and devastation behind.  Juan Arias, Presidnet of our Evening Club, has been in contact with Rotarians in Honduras.  Nearly all 33 Rotary clubs in Honduras are engaged in collecting water, food and basic necessities to supply shelters that have been set up throughout the country.   Almost all those who own boats made them available to fire fighters for rescue work.  Internationally, many Rotary clubs have offered monetary aid to assist with these efforts and to centralize the aid.

 

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Juan has been in contact with our Distrdict Leadership and has coordinated a "Honduras Relief Fund".   If you would like to contribute, you can send a check payable to "D6000 HEF" with "Honduras Relief" in the memo line.  The check should then be mailed to D6000, P.O.Box 5774, Coralville, Iowa 52241.   A GoFundMe page has also be established.  If you wish to use this avenue for donating, use this link gf.me/u/y7z7sp.  The preference is to use the D6000 method of giving to avoid the GoFundMe fees.