Home Page | Rotary Club of Ankeny

Everyday Rotarians continue to "Do Good In the World!" They look for ways to make a difference in their communities and in communities around the world. They use their knowledge of local issues to identify areas of need, then apply their expertise and diverse perspectives to find solutions. In Korea they established a mentoring project to prepare students with autism and intellectual and emotional disabilities for careers in horticulture. In Brazil, Rotarians offered judo classes for youth to funnel their energy avoiding violence in the slums. In Canada, a Rotary club is helping Syrian refugees start new lives, and in Australia clubs are helping to end domestic violence.

Your contribution to The Rotary Foundation enables this to happen. Giving to the Foundation is much easier - just go to rotary.org/donate, Thank you.

Donation Completed for Days for Girls

The Rotary Club of Ankeny recently delivered a check in the amount of $500 to the Ankeny Chapter of Days For girls International. These funds will assist this group of ladies from Ankeny with the purchase of materials used in the making of feminine hygiene kits. After the kits are assembled, they are given to Blessman International for delivery to women in South Africa. The ladies will make about 200 kits including washable, reusable pads for young women in Africa. Included in the picture, left to right, are Sandy Schmitt, Bonnie Ficek, Marilyn, Scroggins, Margie Lamb, Annette Burnham and Jan Uttterback, in front.

Proposed New Member

Following the club's prospective new member social on June 18th, the club received the following application for membership:

Noel Fiscus - Noel is the owner of Fiscus Jewelers. He is being proposed for membership by Kristofer Orth and plans to be a member of the Evening Club. Comments regarding his proposed membership may be forwarded to any Board member.

July Meeting Locations

The Club will meet on July 2nd at the AG&CC as usual. However, the AG&CC is not available on July 9^th and 16^th. The meeting on July 9th will be hosted by The Bridges, 3410 NW Abilene Road and the meeting on July 16th will be hosted by B&B Theaters,1580 SW Market Place. We will be back at the AG&CC on July 23rd.

Todd Eipperle Named Rotarian of the Month for June

President Ben Digmann recognized Todd Eipperle during the meeting on June 4th for all the work he has done as Chairman of the Membership committee and for him agreeing to be the club's president elect nominee for the 2021-2022 year.

Board Approves Donations

During their June meeting the Rotary Club of Ankeny's Board approved the following donation requests:

New Horizon Adult Day Care - $1,000 - This request is for a sponsorship for New Horizon's annual golf outing fundraiser. The proceeds from their fundraiser will be used to purchase supplies and equipment. As a result of this sponsorship, the club is entitled to register a foursome to play golf.

Blessman International – The club has an outstanding commitment to contribute $2,000 per year to Blessman International's “Teach a Child to Fish” project. Since these funds will not be matched by District 6000 or Rotary International, Dr. Jim Blessman had requested that these funds be transferred to a new project they are working on to teach ladies to make their own “Days for Girls” hygiene kits. The new project will be part of a Global Grant which would allow the funds to be matched by the District and Rotary International. This request was approved and the funds, totaling $4,000 will not be disbursed until late this year.

July Rotary Board Meeting

The July Board meeting for the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be:

When: Thursday, July 11th

Time: 12:00 PM

Where: Wig & Pen, 2005 South Ankeny Blvd.

All members are welcome and it counts as a make-up!

July Rotarian Birthdays

The following Ankeny Rotarians will celebrate birthdays in July:

3rd - Brad Botos

5th - Doug Johnson

9th - James Ramsey

19th - Jason Gassmann

20th - Angi Bright

22nd - Gerry Bair

23rd - Todd Eipperle

Proposed New Members

During their meeting on June 13th, the Board has approved applications for membership to the Rotary Club of Ankeny for the following:

Desiree Claypool will be replacing Hannah Guiliford as the third Secondary Designee for corporate member The Bridges. Brody Hanson will be the Primary Designee for The Bridges and Kris Baker and Doug Johnson will continue as the other Secondary Designees.

Brenda Powell is a retired school teacher and is being proposed for membership by Steve Wieneke. She will be a member of the Evening club.

phClean - Sara Martin is the owner of phClean and an active member of the club. She will become the Primary Designee for proposed new corporate member phClean. Jessica Kuil, Manager of the Ankeny office and Daniel Pixley, Manager of the Ames office will be Secondary Designees.

B & B Theaters has applied to become a new corporate member of the club. Reece Lewellen, Marketing Manager, will be the Primary Designee, James Warner, General Manager and former Rotarian in Neosho, Missouri, Justin Morgan, Operations Manager, and Connor Stobbe, Entertainment Manager will be the Secondary Designees.

Comments regarding any of these proposed memberships may be forwarded to any member of the Board.

Evening Club Serves at AGAPE Garden

On the evening of June 4th, the member of the Evening Rotary Club of Ankeny met at AGAPE Garden and helped pull weeds, plant onions, and erect tomato cages. They plan to volunteer again later this summer when they expect to be harvesting vegetables.

AGAPE Garden is s located by Faith Chapel of Ankeny First United Methodist Church at 7384 NW 16th Street in Ankeny. All of the food produced is donated to local food pantries. Last year grew over four tons of fresh vegetables were donated.

Evening Club Completes Food Drive

On the evening of June 11th, members of the Evening Rotary Club of Ankeny completed a food drive to benefit Ankeny's Holy Trinity Lutheran Church's food pantry. In about one and a half hours the group collected 301 pounds of food and paper products. Last year, 265 pounds were collected.

Holger Knaack Named Nominee for 2020-21 Rotary President

Holger Knaack, of the Rotary Club of Herzogtum Lauenbery-Molln, Germany, has been selected to serve as president of Rotary International in 2020-21. The Nominating Committee's decision follows the resignation of President-nominee Sushil Gupta due to health reasons.

Knaack has been a Rotarian since 1992 and has served Rotary as treasurer, director, moderator, member and chair of several committees, representative for the Council on Legislation, zone coordinator, training leader, and district governor. He is the CEO of Knaack KG, a real estate company. He was previously a partner and general manager of Knaack Enterprises, a 125-year-old family business.

Gupta Resigns as RI President-Nominee

Sushil Gupta made the following announcement:

It is with a heavy heart that I announce my resignation as the president-nominee of Rotary International. While it was my dream to serve as your president, my health prevents me from giving my absolute best to you and the office of the president at this time. I believe Rotary deserves nothing less than that from those elected to represent this great organization of ours. I have made this difficult decision after much soul searching and conferring with my family. This is not only a disappointment for us, but I am also keenly aware that this will be a disappointment for many Rotarians in India who were so proud to see someone from our country again named as president. I know that this is what is best for Rotary International.

I have been a Rotarian for more than 40 years and it has given me everything I could ask for. I can think no higher honor than to have been selected by the nominating committee as president of Rotary for 2020-21 Rotary year. I will continue to proudly serve as a Rotary member and pursue some major initiatives that I wanted to accomplish during my year as president, because I know that we are poised to achieve more great things in the future. I wish nothing but the best to the candidate who is succeeds me as president and thank you all for the support and encouragement you have shown me in the past year. - Sushil Gupta

Rotary International Convention in Hamburg

More than 24,000 Rotary members from 170 countries are gathering in Hamburg, Germany, June 1-5 to attend the 110th annual Rotary International Convention. Those in attendance will be able to "Capture the Moment" while exchanging ideas, making new connections and renewing old ones. During the convention, they’ll be part of the conversation on pressing world issues like polio eradication, pollution, refugee migration, disease prevention, and literacy. They’ll be inspired to enhance their skills in areas that Rotarians value like fellowship, integrity, diversity, service, and fellowship.

But you don’t have to be in Hamburg to "Capture the Moment". You can follow all of the RI convention coverage — photos, videos, social media posts, speeches, and more — as the action happens by going to the Rotary international web site, www.rotary.org. You can even stream the general sessions and key breakout sessions, either as they happen or at a later time.

If you are looking forward to the 2020 Rotary International Convention June 6-10, in Honolulu, Hawaii, a special registration rate of $395 is now available until 11:59 PM June 5th. Also, book your hotel as soon as possible as many hotels are already sold out.

Rotary Meeting Greeter & Sheriff

The Rotarians that are scheduled to be the "Greeter" and "Sheriff" for the next several weeks are as follows:

6/18 - Mary Cochran

6/25 - Tim Cox

7/2 - Teri Crist

7/9 - Jeff Dammon

7/16 - Carmen Davis

7/23 - Mark Densmore

7/30 - Ben Digmann

8/6 - Shar Dunlap

8/13 - Todd Eipperle

8/20 - Jim Foreman

8/27 - Jan Franck

Rotary Club of Ankeny Guests

Special guests attending the Rotary Club of Ankeny's regular meetings during the past month were:

5/7 - Lexi Peters, Robotics Team, Speaker

5/7 - Dakota Scholl, Robotics Team, Speaker

5/7 - Preston Shires, Robotics Team, Speaker

5/7 - Jai Boggs, Robotics team, Speaker

5/7 - Carson Lore, Robotics Team, Speaker

5/7 - Nate Keninger, Robotics Team, Speaker

5/14 - Bill Kehl, Visiting Rotarian, Greeley, Colorado

5/14 - Grant Jacobson, Visiting Rotarian, Johnston

5/14 - Donna Larson, Visiting Rotarian, NW Des Moines

5/14 - Reece Lewellen, guest of Renee Murphy

5/14 - Tylor Howe, guest of Jess Reynolds

5/14 - Jesus Estaban, guest of Gary Welch

5/14 - Sofia Morales, guest of Gary Welch

5/14 - Colleen Welch, guest of Gary Welch

5/14 - Christine Russell, Everybody Wins! Iowa, Speaker

5/14 - Violet Duke, guest of Jacquelyn Duke, "Evening"

5/21 - Roger McLaen, visiting Rotarian, Austin Texas

5/21 - Reece Lewellan, Prospective new member

5/21 - John Foster, guest of Ben Digmann

5/21 - Kyke Steele, Linkedin - Speaker

5/28 - Reece Lewellen, prospective new member

5/28 - Gretchen Tegeler, Taxpayer Association of Central Iowa, Speaker

5/28 - Mia Duke, guest of Jacquelyn Duke, "Evening"

6/4 - Jenessa Amundsom, guest of Sara Thompson

6/4 - Jessica Kuil, guest of Sara Thompson

6/4 - David Lowe, guest of Todd Eipperle

6/4 - Scott Turzcynski, guest of Todd Eipperle

6/4 - Lauri Ericson, guest of Todd Eipperle

6/4 - Kim Stoney, guest of Todd Eipperle

6/4 - Todd Jacobson, guest of Todd Eipperle

6/4 - Audra Thompson, Guest of Todd Eipperle

6/4 - Jesus Davila, RYE & RYLA student

6/4 - David Long, Jesus's host father

6/4 - Sophie Bergan, RYLA Winner

6/4 - Travis Bergan, Sofie's father

6/4 - Angela Bergan, Sofie's mother

6/4 - Jordan Su, RYLA Winner

6/4 - Allison Su, RYLA Winner

6/4 - Wei Su, Jordan & Allison's father

6/4 - Shugg Lai, Jordan & Allison's mother

6/4 - Mallory Leazer, RYLA Winner

6/4 - Jenny Leazer, Mallory's mother

6/4 - Jason Leazer, Mallory's father

6/4 - Natalia Figuerua Portal, RYLA Winner

6/4 - Juan Portal, Natalia's father

6/4 - Gilda Figuerua, Natalia's mother

6/11 - Jenessa Amundson, guest of Sara Thompson

6/11 - John Foster, guest of Ben Digmann

6/11 - Sarah Hanson, Blessman International, guest of Nate Burnham

6/11 - Reece Lewellen, B & B Theaters, prospective new member

6/11 - Brenda Powell, prospective new member, "Evening"

6/18 - Mike Naig, Iowa Secretary of Ag., Speaker

6/18 - Julie Kenny, Deputy Secretary of Ag

6/18 - Reece Lewellen, B & B Theaters, prospective new member

Donation Requests Approved by the Board

During their May meeting the Rotary Club of Ankeny's Board approved the following donation requests:

Prevent Child Abuse Iowa - On April 23rd, the speaker at the noon meeting was from "Prevent Child Abuse Iowa". After her presentation the club agreed to donate that day's fines to them. $129 was collected and the Board agreed to round this up to $250.

American Cancer Society - The Ankeny Robotics team will be participating in the American Cancer Society's "Relay for Life". The Board agreed to provide a $500 sponsorship for them.

CIVITAS - The Des Moines area Rotary clubs sponsored a forum on Hunger in Central Iowa on May 29th. Approval was granted to provide a sponsorship for this event in the amount of $1,000.

Days For Girls, Ankeny Chapter - $500 was approved to assist an group of ladies in Ankeny with the purchase of materials used in the making of feminine hygiene kits. After the kits are assembled, they will be given to Blessman International for delivery to women in South Africa.

A donation request from the Iowa State University Chapter of Engineers Without Borders for a water distribution project in Ghana was declined.

Gary Welch Named Rotarian of the Month for May

Gary Welch has coordinated both the RYLA and Rotary Youth Exchange programs for the Rotary Club of Ankeny for the past several years. As Gary recognized the two exchange students from Kopan, Mexico, Sofia Marales and Jesus Esteban, for having gone through graduation from Ankeny High school, President Ben Digmann recognized Gary as his choice for Ankeny Rotarian of the month for May. Congratulations Gary!

Senior Festival June 13, 2019

The 11th annual "Senior Festival" presented by the Ankeny Senior Services committee will be held on Thursday, June 13, 2019 at the First United Methodist Church, Christian Life Center, 710 NE 36th Street from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. The event is free and will include over 50 exhibitors dealing with health resources, educational services housing experts, transportation, and leisure activities for seniors and caregivers. There will also be refreshments and food trucks serving lunch.

Prospective New Member Social - June 18th

The Membership Committee will be holding a social on Tuesday, June 18th at the Ankeny Golf & Country Club. Each member is encouraged to invite at least one or two individuals that may have an interest in joining our club or would just like to learn more about Rotary to attend. The evening will begin at 5:30 PM with social time including free appetizers and drinks. At 6:00 PM there will be a very short program. Contact Todd Eipperle, todd.eipperle@scouting.org if you have any questions.