2010 Programs

Paul Harris Fellows

At the club meeting on June 18, 2010, the Sunrise Rotary club awarded Paul Harris Fellows to individuals who contributed $1000.00 or more to the Rotary Foundation. Each new Paul Harris Fellow receives a commemorative certificate and a pin.

Receiving the award were (top left to bottom right): Will Scott, Nicki Scott, Dawn Newman, John Colucci, Chris Kerstin on behalf of Jackson Kerstin, Connie Morgan, Mary Ann Junkroski, Deb Newman, Mike Van Poucke, Steve Odden, Joe Haselhorst, Patrick Julian, and Bruce George. Not pictured were C.J. Lydon, Mike Albrow, Dan Casey, Mark Wright, and John Gush.

Congratulations and thanks for supporting Rotary International projects.

Pursuit of Life Awards

"Pursuit of Life" Award provides funds for educational purposes for students.  The primary criteria for the recipient selection include: demonstrated leadership qualities, school and community service, academic achievement and financial needs.

Congratulations to the 2010 award recipients David Hess, Kathleen Cervera, Michelle Wang, Margarita Altidis, Alexis Rogers, David Unciano, and Surbhi Agarwal (not shown). Also included in the center of the photo is Rotarian Keven Wells, chairperson. For complete details, click here.

 

Naperville Auto Show

The second annual Naperville Sunrise Rotary Auto Show will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, June 13 at Naperville North High School, 899 N. Mill St. The event will feature classic, new, luxury, antique and specialty cars, in addition to hands-on activities from the DuPage Children's Museum, Heritage YMCA and Naperville Park District. Other exhibitors include Safety Town, Partners for Clean Choice and the Environmental Law and Police Center, who will present information on high mileage/low emissions vehicles and the Illinois Clean Air Act. Proceeds from the event benefit Meals on Wheels, health and education projects in Haiti and scholarships for students in need in the Naperville Community. Admission is $5 per person or $20 per family. Parking is available. For more information, visit www.napervilleautoshow.com.

Parents Alliance Employment Project

Becky White, Business Development Specialist, describes the services provided by Parents Alliance Employment Project.

Parents Alliance Employment Project (PAEP - http://parents-alliance.org/) has existed since 1980, assisting individuals with disabilities in obtaining and maintaining community-based employment.  PAEP is unique in that it was parent-initiated and operated for many years, staffed solely by parent volunteers.  This network of parents had fought for mainstreaming their children in the public school system and became proactive when the only employment option for their developmentally disabled young adults was a sheltered workshop placement.

PAEP is partnering with employers and HR professionals in DuPage County who are interested in learning how to include people with developmental disabilities in their workforce.

 

International Project in Haiti

A small medical clinic in the western Haiti village of Duchity was a welcome sight for Sunrise Rotarian John Ball’s sore eyes. Before he left Port-au-Prince for our adopted village, John saw devastation and homeless people living in tents and makeshift shelters.

Upon arrival in Duchity, John headed straight for what he calls the “crown jewel of the village”: a new medical clinic scheduled to open early next month. See John's trip reportfor more details.

Construction of the clinic, designed by Newman Architecture, began last year with $70,000 in funding. An additional $25,000 was later donated by a firm in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in response to the request of a parishioner of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church. “We could be moving in at the beginning of June,” John told club members.

“This was a bitter-sweet trip. In and around Port–au-Prince, there was rubble and ruin everywhere,” John said, noting that virtually no clearing was being done. “Hundreds of bulldozers and other heavy equipment were sitting idle at the airport; it was very depressing.” Within a month of the earthquake, about one-thousand refugees had entered Duchity, placing further strain on village resources.

See more information on our Haiti project.

Tickets for A Cause

Have you ever attended a professional sporting event or a concert or theatre performance and seen empty seats around you? Inevitably, despite the best planning, things come up and people holding these tickets can't make the event. John Koranda provided a program on Tix4Cause, a new online marketplace.

Tix4Cause.com was launched to provide a low cost solution for charities seeking much needed donation support and aspires to be the preeminent online marketplace for ticket transactions that benefit ticket donors, purchasers and charitable causes. Tix4Cause helps Chicago-based qualified non-profit organizations by donating 100% of proceeds from ticket sales. Each of the registered organizations, including the Rotary Club of Naperville Sunrise, can benefit from the sale of tickets that would typically be unused.

Public-Private Partnerships

On 4/15/2010, Sunrise Rotarian Mary Lou Wehrli provided a historical portrayal of how public/private partnerships have benefited generations of Naperville residents. Mary Lou show cased three main projects; Centennial Beach, Naperville Bike Trail, and the Greene Barn. These represented the past, present, and future projects. See the photos below.

During the 1840s, the Greenes purchased land and built a farmstead in an area today known as Naperville. Original portions of the Greene Farm barn were constructed for dairy operations.  The farm remained in the family until 1971, when William Greene conveyed the Greene family homestead to the Aurora Foundation. The foundation then sold the property to the Forest Preserve District for general purposes and cultural, educational, historical and recreational activities for the public benefit. As part of the terms of the sale, the District was to maintain the exterior homestead structures, unless they no longer served a purpose or were substantially destroyed.

The DuPage Forest Preserver agreed the barn could serve as a multipurpose open space and house seasonal equipment rentals, such as bicycles and cross-country skis. Today, the District is currently seeking partnerships with these agencies.

For more information on the Greene Barn, click here.

College of DuPage

For the man at the head of the College of DuPage, there’s too much at stake to run Illinois’ second-largest institution of higher learning as anything but a business.

That was the emphasis of a talk by our March 26 meeting speaker, Bob Breuder, PhD, the fifth President of the COD.
Dr. Breuder said he was an academician, but not in the “traditional” sense. “I think higher education should be run like a business; so I place the same five “P’s” that each of you do in your respective industries: Product, Price, Promotion, Place and People.”

As for Price, the COD is about as good a value as you’ll find in higher education, Dr. Breuder said, calling his school “the Wal-Mart of education.” The average student taking 30 credit hours over nine months pays $4,000. The COD Product is a “menu of services that reflects the interests of the community – especially the corporate community – because that’s where the symbiotic relationship exists,” he said, adding that “if we meet the needs of business and industry, they’ll meet ours.”

For more information, visit

Tikondane Update

On March 12, 2010, Elke Kroeger-Radcliffe provided an update to our club about the Tikondane Community Center. Naperville Sunrise has been working to provide clean water, educational programs, and a school in Tikondane. (Click here for more information.)

While in town, NCTV-17 provided an interview and story on Elke and Naperville Sunrise Rotary's service. This can be viewed on NCTV-17's website.

In 1993, Elke became aware of a job opportunity at St. Francis Mission Hospital in Katete, Zambia. She educated nurses and soon started literacy classes which where restricted to St. Francis staff. Tikondane, which, is located right next to St. Francis, began as a place where local villagers could also partake in literacy programs in order to promote a higher level of education throughout the district. Elke has no plans of returning to Australia or Europe, as she has now happily become an honorary Zambian!

Learn about Naperville Sunrise Rotary

Up With People

Up with People is coming to Naperville with performance at North Central College's Pfeiffer Hall on March 13-14, 2010. Up with People was founded on the principle of using music as a means to communicate with and inspire people. In each city the cast visits, participants perform in a vibrant and moving musical stage show that brings the community together, highlighting local partnering organizations and sparking people to action in meeting the needs of their communities, countries and the world.

On March 5, 2010, members of Up with People, including Drew Thompson, Shawna Reed, and Matt Aboussic (shown above), provided an informational program about the organization.

During the Up with People program, participants travel in international casts of 100+ people to cities on a multi-continent tour, experiencing the cultural sights, sounds, and tastes of each community. From blending in with the locals to acting like tourists – they learn to explore and explore to learn. As students of the world, through community service, regional learning and living with host families, participants discover what makes each part of the world unique. The experience has a positive impact on the community and for the sponsors of the visit while the Up with People cast members discover their capabilities and prepares them for their roles and responsibilities as global citizens.  

North Central College

Dr. Harold R. Wilde, President of North Central College, provides an update on the college vision and current activities.

At the end of 2009, the College Trustees update the master land use plan to include options about where the College might site a new science center, a residence hall, and another academic building.  The plan is designed to allow for growth that is contained within existing College boundaries. 

Dr. Wilde explained that the college lowered the average tuition students pay during these tough economic times. He also compared NCC to similar colleges and noted that none of the other colleges are in Naperville, a big advantage.

Naperpalooza III | Naperitaville

Naperpalooza III was held on Saturday, February 20, 2010, at Jackson Moving and Storage. The warehouse was turned into an entertainment extravaganza, including a sand volleyball dance area, spectacular light show and music performance, and 15 of Naperville's finest restaurants. The Naperville Sunrise Rotary appreciates all the support provided by the community to make this charity event so successful.

Naperpalooza Planning

Nicki and Trevor track the progress of Naperpalooza. The event is only a couple weeks away and the event is really taking shape to be one of the best!

The Rotary Club of Naperville, Sunrise, known for its unique fundraising events, is hosting Naperitaville so named because this year it will be Naperville’s biggest indoor Beach Party. The headline band will be “Heartache Tonight” and feature music from Jimmy Buffett, The Eagles and others great artists. There will be complimentary drinks and gourmet food from Naperville’s finest chefs, all in a unique warehouse setting turned beach front.

Held on Saturday, February 20th, Naperpalooza's goal is to solve the problems associated with autism in our community. Accordingly, proceeds will go to Turning Pointe Autism Foundation and Little Friends, both in Naperville. In addition money will be given to support our Tikondane projects in Zambia, Africa, as well as local need-based Pursuit of Life education scholarships.

Shelter Boxes for Haiti

Kent Smith, volunteer with Shelterbox USA, which oversees 26 Shelterbox teams. As of Friday, 2,000 of the boxes had been sent to Haiti. The goal, Smith said, is 3,300. The photos below are of Shelterboxes awaiting shipment to Haiti. Each Shelterbox contains
a 10-person tent ground cloth, cooker (stove), water carrier, water purification kit, trenching tool, rope, poncho, eating utensils, tool kit, and children's’ activity kit.

Given the crisis, the Rotary Club of Naperville Sunrise has diverted some of the International Funds to purchase Shelterboxs and provide funding for immediate relief.

Additional funding for Haiti relief was announced by students from Naperville Central High School through their “Hat for Haiti” solicitation, raised $4,300, half of which will fund the purchase of two Shelter boxes.

Students from Washington Junior High School donated $2,158 for two additional Shelter boxes. Among individual club cash donors were Barb Yokum, David Kelsch, John Ball, Dan Casey Kevin Gensler, and John Keough.

New Sunrise Rotary Members

Congratulations to our newest Sunrise Rotary members, Kathleen Gutierrez, Brett Cagan, and Chris Reedy. They were inducted into membership on 2/5/10 at our club meeting.

Ambassadorial Scholar - District 6450

 

Kathleen Day, Ambassadorial Scholar from our Rotary District 6450, was the club speaker on 1/15/09. Kathleen has received a one year Ambassadorial Scholarship from Rotary and will study in Morocco. She explained her upbringing and her interest in social aspects of the world. As part of her talk, she provided some insights about Morocco and her role in promoting good will.

New Member

 

Congratulations to Ryan Betz, who was inducted into our Rotary Club on 1/8/2010.

 

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