Our guest speaker this week was Collin Weekly from Imagine IT and his talk was about Cyber security.
Basically, there are a lot of very smart people in the world whose sole existence is dedicated to stealing your information.
WE ARE ROTARY
Rotary brings together people like you- from all walks of life- who want to use their expertise for good. People whose sense of responsibility inspires them to give back. At Rotary, we connect for the benefit of our community - and form life long friendships in the process.
Together, we empower youth, improve health, promote peace, and advance our communities in all corners of the globe. With 1.2 million members in 34,000 clubs worldwide, our global community's impact has never been greater - and it continues to grow.
Our guest speaker this week was Will Johnson.
Will runs a nonprofit called "Living by Will Foundation". The message he shared with us is that we're all equal. You can't build yourself up by tearing down others. We have to help others up, but you can't help those who don't want help. People think too little of themselves, and they don't see themselves as they are. Kids are being taught to think less of themselves. Don't put people in a box. Help people see differently, change the way we think.
Will runs a nonprofit called "Living by Will Foundation". The message he shared with us is that we're all equal. You can't build yourself up by tearing down others. We have to help others up, but you can't help those who don't want help. People think too little of themselves, and they don't see themselves as they are. Kids are being taught to think less of themselves. Don't put people in a box. Help people see differently, change the way we think.
Will was ably assisted by his son & videographer, Zedekiah.
Our speaker today was Gina Lindquist, Executive Director at the nonprofit 'The Drawer'. The Drawer is our newest grant recipient. Gina shared with us the critical and growing need for new socks and underwear for the homeless and underprivileged. The Drawer acts as a middleman. They purchase in bulk, break the big packs into manageable 3-packs and then distribute the clothes to other charities. Those charities in turn distribute the clothes to those in need.
The club donated $1,000 to their cause.
Sleep in Heavenly Peace - 160 beds and a ton of sawdust!
SiHP believes that a bed is a basic need for the proper physical, emotional, and mental support that a child needs. Their motto is “No kid sleeps on the floor in our town”
This past Thursday, John Gordan, Greg Ludvigsen, John & Cathy Gregg, Annette Bellows & her brother Craig, Will Johnson & his son Zedekiah, showed up at Sleep in Heavenly Peace to make over 160 beds.
Okay, there were another 192 volunteers as well….
We cut and sanded a LOT of 1” x 4” x 8’….
We cut and sanded a LOT of 1” x 4” x 8’….
No, didn’t get to keep the tools. Darn. We did get a free Chick-fil-a meal.
Our speakers for this week’s meeting were Jason Viana and Tony Vannicola from The Open Door Pantry food shelf. Jason is the executive director and Tony handles community relations.
The Open Door Pantry is one of the largest food-shelves in Minnesota and they distributed over 3,000,000 pounds of food last year. One of the programs is the ‘come and get it store’, where over 1,000,000 pounds of food was distributed, 72% was fresh or perishable.
In addition, they operate a ‘mobile pantry’ that distributes food to various locations. Last year they served 54,000 households
The Open Door Pantry is one of the largest food-shelves in Minnesota and they distributed over 3,000,000 pounds of food last year. One of the programs is the ‘come and get it store’, where over 1,000,000 pounds of food was distributed, 72% was fresh or perishable.
In addition, they operate a ‘mobile pantry’ that distributes food to various locations. Last year they served 54,000 households
Jason (on the left) and Tony
A fun time was had by all at our annual Christmas party that was held at Porter Creek Restaurant in Burnsville on Tuesday, Dec. 13th. We had a great turnout of 21 members/spouses and it was fun to get everyone together and meet each other's spouses perhaps for the first time. Happy Holidays and the best in the New Year in 2023!
The Burnsville Breakfast Rotary Club had Dr. Jody Janati as their guest speaker at this week's Rotary meeting. Dr. Janati has a Doctoral degree in organizational leadership and a Master's degree in speech communication. As a national speaker, author, and conference facilitator, she has taught in higher education for over 20 years and offers a variety of public and professional workshops on conflict reduction tactics and effective communications. She has taught at both the Univ. of Minnesota-Duluth and within the MN State Prison system and is an author of six books and the owner of Communication Innovation, LLC. Her talk was very enlightening and provided lots of good laughs as we discussed people's various communication styles and what they're really saying, and how you can properly respond. Thank you Dr. Janati for your entertaining presentation! 🙌🙌 If you'd like to learn more about Dr. Janati and her company, please click here or paste the address into your browser.
https://findyourconversationpeace.com/
Volunteers from the Burnsville Breakfast Rotary Club rang the bell for the Salvation Army of Minnesota & North Dakota on Saturday, Nov. 26th. outside Lunds/Byerly's in Burnsville. We had so many generous donors that helped to make a financial impact to assist those in need during these trying times.
The Northern Division of the Salvation Army includes 700 employees and 28,500 volunteers who serve thousands of people in every county of Minnesota & N. Dakota.
Statistics of what the Salvation Army provides each year:
- Hot meals served: 447,000
- People receiving groceries: 42,000
- Nights of lodging: 129,000
- Items of clothing: 137,000
- Christmas toys provided for children: 127,000
- Rent & energy assistance: 5,000
- People provided disaster assistance: 24,000
When you give to the MN./North Dakota Salvation Army, 82 cents of every dollar goes directly to help people in need. If you'd like to donate, please click the below link or paste it into your browser and visit the giving page, as they really need your help! This has been a very tough year with rising inflation hitting people in the lower economic rungs particularly hard!
The Burnsville Breakfast Rotary Club had a very busy day at their bi-monthly meeting today with the induction of a new member and an interesting presentation from Experience Burnsville. First of all, we inducted our newest member Steve Smela who's the owner of the local Senior Helpers Franchise in Burnsville. Steve has had many interesting educational and job experiences throughout his life that has prepared him to open and operate his own business. His company offers customized in-home care plans to meet the unique needs of the elderly and allow them to stay in their own homes. If you'd like to learn more about Senior Helpers, please click here: https://www.seniorhelpers.com/mn/burnsville/
We also had Amie Burrell who's the Executive Director of Experience Burnsville as our guest speaker. Amie walked us through the history of Experience Burnsville and what her organization does which is to help make Burnsville a destination for visitors within a 125-mile circumference of the area. The goal of the organization is to help the community by increasing the volume & spending of visitors through promotion, marketing, and advertising with Burnsville's unique gateway to Minneapolis & St. Paul with easy access to 35E & 35W. The organization is funded by a 3% lodging tax that is collected by the nine lodging properties that reside in Burnsville. If you'd like to find out more about Experience Burnsville, please click the link: https://burnsvillemn.com/
The Rotary Clubs of Burnsville (Breakfast & Noon Clubs) held their 19th. annual "Burnsville Uncorked" event on Thursday, Nov. 3rd. at the Ames Center in Burnsville. This is an annual fundraising event that benefits both clubs and provides a great opportunity for members and their friends/public to sample various wines & spirits and craft beers all in one convenient location! There were over 200 attendees this year and they had a great time! Special thanks to Red Lion Liquors, Cornerstone Copy Center, and the Ames Center for assisting us in putting on a marquee event!
The Burnsville Breakfast Rotary Club volunteered this past weekend for DARTS which is an organization that assists elderly homeowners with household and outdoor chores to allow them to live independently. Our task was to assist with fall clean-up by raking leaves and trimming bushes for this Burnsville senior resident. We had an awesome turnout of members and their families to help with the project. The homeowner pictured in the top-middle of the group photo was very thankful for the help! If you'd like to learn more about DARTS and how they may be able to help you, please click this link: https://dartsconnects.org/home-services/ (Or copy and paste it into your browser)
The Burnsville Breakfast Rotary Club held two events last week to have some fun and raise money that will be turned back into our community to do good things! The first was our annual Robert Lewis House pumpkin carving event with children of mothers who are experiencing domestic abuse to provide them with some semblance of normalcy in their lives. Four of our members attended the event and supported five moms with seven children in total. The club also provided pizza and soda for all families residing there.🍕🥤
The second event was Sporting Clays which was a fundraiser for the club and was held at the MN. Horse & Hunt Club. We had a total of 16 people participate trying their luck/skill at shooting clays out of the sky with a shotgun, and the event was followed by a wonderful dinner. The event raised $500 for the club which will be turned back into the community to support local non-profits.
The Burnsville Breakfast Rotary Club welcomed Jake Reint-V.P. of Public Affairs for Flint Hill Resources to their Oct. 27th. breakfast meeting. Jake spoke to us about current energy issues and looking into the future and how they're adapting to reduce their carbon footprint. Flint Resources is a wholly owned subsidiary of Koch Industries and one of the largest privately held companies in America with 120K employees worldwide. Flint Hill Resources is based in Wichita, KS, and is a leading refining company with operations primarily in the Midwest and Texas and employs 3K employees with revenue of $31B annually! You most likely have seen the Pine Bend Refinery which is the largest oil refinery in Minnesota, located in the Twin Cities suburbs of Rosemount and Inver Grove Heights next to the southern split of U.S. Highway 52 and Minnesota State Highway 55. The refinery is notable for being the largest in the United States to be located in a state without any oil wells. Flint Hill Resources Pine Bend facility processes 350,000 barrels of oil and produces 12 million gallons of fuel per day. An 8,000-gallon tanker truck leaves the facility every 60 seconds/160 trucks per day to provide gasoline/diesel and aviation fuel to the state of MN. and surrounding areas and is the #1 producer of asphalt as a by-product of the refining process. Flint Hill Resources is also the largest purchaser of ethanol in the Upper Midwest and is investing in a 30 Megawatt solar project on their Rosemount campus to help power their refining energy needs. To learn more about Flint Hills Resources, click here: https://www.fhr.com/
The Burnsville Breakfast Rotary Club welcomed our new District Governor Lloyd Campbell and his wife Rwanda to their Oct. 13th. club meeting. Lloyd led a discussion about what Rotary is all about, why people join, how we keep members engaged, and what we can do to build our membership. He also discussed some of the new digital tools that are being launched such as his daily 2-minute update, a weekly podcast, and the new Dist. #5950 Flip digital booklet that updates all Rotarians on upcoming events, and also a weekly radio show that will debut soon! Thank you, Lloyd Campbell and your wife for visiting our club and sharing your vision for Rotary in Dist. #5950!
The Burnsville Breakfast Rotary Club held its annual Glow Ball Golf fundraiser on Saturday evening, Oct. 1st. The weather turned out beautiful and everyone had a great time! The object of the game is to play in the dark with a lighted golf ball and lighted tees as your frame of reference on where to hit the ball. Dan McElroy-Club President made the comment that "it wouldn't make any difference in his game if it's light or dark out, I'd play just about the same!" 😂 This is just another one of the many events we do to help raise funds for charity and have some fun!
The Burnsville Breakfast Rotary Club held their bi-annual Vista View Park cleanup on Monday evening, Sept. 26th. with several members and spouses attending. The club adopted this park many years ago and has provided park clean-up, park benches next to the basketball court, and also provided labor to help build the pavilion located on the park property. The club then met at Clive's Roadhouse for a social and food & drink. A great time was had by all!
The Burnsville Breakfast Rotary Club will be holding a "fun" fundraiser to shoot sporting clays at the MN. Horse & Hunt Club on Wednesday, Oct. 26th. in Prior Lake. Any experience level is welcome, and guns are available to rent or share. The $125 fee per person includes shells, sporting clays, social, and dinner! There is a dinner-only option also available for $30 PP. There are also sponsorships available by contacting Andrew Stevens @ acstevens03@gmail.com. To purchase tickets, just go to the right-hand side of our club page and click on the sporting clays button!
The Burnsville Breakfast Rotary Club welcomed Danny Rubio who is the Exec. Director of the Minnesota Valley YMCA in Burnsville, River Valley YMCA, and the Southdale YMCA. The YMCA is a Rotary Foundation partner with our club which we donate to on a regular basis for the good work that they do for the community. For those that do not know what the YMCA is all about, they are a non-profit organization that helps raise funds to assist people of all ages and backgrounds to benefit from membership, programs, services, and activities. Danny wanted to stress that they are more than “just a gym”, but come alongside families in their area of need providing food, childcare, physical & emotional support, and hope! If you’d like to find out more about the YMCA and the services that they provide, please visit its website at: https://www.ymcanorth.org/locations/burnsville_ymca
The Burnsville Breakfast Rotary Club held a social outing at Canterbury Race Track in Shakopee this past Thursday 9/15, and our members carefully weighed the various factors in determining how to bet on the races. They won some and lost some, but in the 8th race (and using a tip from a jockey that spoke at our club), we bet it all on the winner and made a haul! Not quite enough to buy the Ferrari… Maybe next time! A great time was had by all!
Two Fantastic Upcoming Events!
The Burnsville Breakfast Rotary Club has two fantastic events coming up to have some fun and help raise funds to support local non-profits in Burnsville and the surrounding communities!
#1 Glowball Golf Outing-Saturday, Oct. 1st, 2022 @ Birnamwood Golf Course. Registration/Light Dinner 6:30 p.m. Golf: 7:00 pm.
Please RSVP to Randy Sparling at rsparling57@gmail.com
#2 19th., Annual Burnsville Uncorked Wine/Spirit tasting with light hors d'oeuvres! Don't miss this event, as tickets sell out fast! Ames Center on Thursday, Nov. 3rd, 2022 from 7:00 to 9:30 pm. WE ONLY HAVE (40) TICKETS REMAINING TO OFFER! DON'T WAIT!! SPEAK WITH A BURNSVILLE BREAKFAST ROTARIAN OR E-MAIL US AT: BURNSVILLE.AM.ROTARYCLUB@GMAIL.COM, AND WE'LL MAIL OR DELIVER YOUR TICKETS TO YOU IN THE SOUTH METRO! $45 IN ADVANCE, OR $50 AT THE DOOR ONLY IF TICKETS REMAIN!
The Burnsville Breakfast Rotary Club welcomed Dan Kealey to their Sept. 8th. club meeting to discuss the 42nd. Annual Burnsville Festival/Fire Muster and some of the changes that have been made to the community celebration recently to be more inclusive of the changing demographics of the community. The Burnsville Festival (AKA Fire Muster) started in 1980 to highlight the unique qualities of Burnsville to visitors and residents and to promote the city as an excellent place for families and businesses. As the years have gone by, attendance has been slipping and the new committee was looking for ways to better promote it and make it an event that welcomed everyone from Burnsville! With nearly 40% of Burnsville's population now being of a diverse background, the committee felt it was necessary to make some changes to attract a wider audience. The festival now includes regional music which includes a mariachi band, Latin band, Somali dance group, ethnic food trucks, and merchandise vendors selling cultural wares. They also added an International Drink Station which will sell non-alcoholic drinks that are cultural favorites. If you'd like to learn more about the Burnsville Festival/Fire Muster, please click the link below or paste it into your browser: https://www.burnsvillefiremuster.org/ Also, you can see some pictures of our hard-working volunteers who worked in the beer/bingo tent on Friday, Sept. 10th. The weather didn't cooperate, but everyone still had fun!
It's that time of year again! The 19th. annual "Burnsville Uncorked" wine, small spirits, and craft beer tasting event at the Ames Center in Burnsville! If you've never attended this event, you're missing out! Pre-sale of tickets is $45 from either a Burnsville Breakfast or Burnsville Noon Rotary Club member, or at Red Lion Liquors located at 12400 Nicollet Ave, Burnsville, MN. Also, you can contact us at burnsville.am.rotaryclub@gmail.com and we'll arrange for someone to drop them off and collect your money in the South Metro. Don't pass this one up! Tickets are limited!
The Burnsville Breakfast Rotary Club welcomed Heidi Hammond who’s the traveling partner of our very own Doug Johnson to provide an overview of their exciting trip to the Galapagos Islands & Amazon Jungle this past January. The islands are located 600 miles west of the country of Ecuador in South America and are part of the country of Ecuador. Approximately 30,000 inhabitants live on the three main islands of Isla Isabela, Seymour, and Puerto Ayora. The Galapagos Islands are a UNESCO World Heritage site and renowned National Park. The islands are teaming with interesting wild & marine life and provide an exciting eco-tourism opportunity! The mode of transport from Ecuador and accommodations were provided aboard the Galapagos Legend which is a small cruise ship that holds 100 passengers and provides an intimate and engaging environment to meet other people and share your journey together.
The trip also included some time in Quito, Ecuador to explore the city and spend some time in the Yasuni National Park at an eco-tourism lodge. All in all, they had an amazing trip and would love to go back again! Thank you, Heidi, for sharing your experience with us!
The Burnsville Breakfast Rotary Club volunteered on Saturday, Aug. 13th. for Sleep in Heavenly Peace which is a non-profit whose mission is to ensure that all children have and safe and comfortable place to sleep. Duties included sanding, quality control, frame set-up, staining/dipping, and screwing. The event was held at Northern Tool & Equipment in Burnsville who's been an avid supporter of this non-profit to help improve the quality of life for young children and teens! The weekend build produced 124 beds that will be delivered and set up by volunteers in the coming weeks.
If you'd like to learn more about Sleep in Heavenly Peace and how you can be a volunteer or financial supporter, please copy and paste the link in your browser: https://shpbeds.org/
Rotary Opens Opportunities
Burnsville, MN 55306
United States of America