Home Page | Rotary Club of Eden Prairie AM

Irene Kelly thanks DG Installation Event Planners

Received RI's 2016-17 Presidential Citation

Packing food at Feed My Starving Children

International Service Projects Make an Impact in the World

EPHS Chamber Choir Provided Entertainment

WE ARE PEOPLE OF ACTION

Members of the Eden Prairie Rotary Club demonstrate Rotary's motto, "Service Above Self."

We support local and worldwide causes that make a positive difference.

We meet every Tuesday morning 7:30-8:30 AM via Zoom to enjoy camaraderie and be inspired by influential speakers.

We also take part in service projects throughout the year.

Do you want to positively impact your community and the world? Join us!

For more information about joining our club or to request a Zoom link for our meetings, click here

or email our Membership Chair, Holly Link at linkx064@umn.edu

We look forward to seeing you soon!

May 4th 2021 - Meeting Preview

Jennifer Gaines

Affective Sober Living by JCS - Human Trafficking Prevention Among Vulnerable Populations

After living and working in Minneapolis/St. Paul most of her life, Jennifer Gaines continues to make the Twin Cities her home. There are so many fun activities between the two cities and she finds herself enjoying musical concerts, theatrical performances, biking on our trails, beaching at our beautiful lakes, and other cultural events. She loves the people of the twin cities because they are neighborly, involved in their community, diverse, and passionate about social justice.

While working at a great nonprofit agency since 2012, Jennifer managed to build strong community relationships including policy organizations/committees, task forces, law enforcement, and housing authorities. Jennifer is a sought-after speaker, facilitator, and educator for social justice causes. Besides all of her rewarding professional involvements, Jennifer is also a dedicated single mother.

PARK CLEANUP

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED IN OUR PARK CLEANUP ON SATURDAY, APRIL 24!

Events

April 24^th: FLYING CLOUD FIELD CLEAN UP DAY - Club members can Register here

April 28th: Webinar titled “Protecting the Environment – Opportunities for Rotary and the Planet” with Ian Riseley. Register here.

Join this webinar featuring Ian Riseley, Past Rotary International President in 2017-18, and chair of The Rotary Foundation (TRF) Environmental Issues Task Force. He will share some of the backgrounds behind the decision for the Environment to become Rotary’s new area of focus. Ian will inspire us with ideas for impactful and sustainable projects to protect the environment.

Karen Kendrick-Hands, co-founder, past-chair, and projects director for the Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group (ESRAG), will discuss how Rotary’s newest cause, the Environment, creates opportunities for Rotary and the planet. She will review the eight action themes of Rotary’s TRF Policy Statement for Protecting the Environment, including which activities are fundable with Global Grants, and which are NOT. This is the practical information that YOU will need to plan successful environmental projects

Duty Roster 05/4/21 - 05/18/21

Caitlin Rogers, Chief Storyteller at Next Day Animations

How Rotary Youth Exchange Program Influenced Starting Next Day Animations

In 2001, Caitlin Rogers was a Junior at Edina High School when she mentioned wanting to be an exchange student. About a year later, she was on an airplane to New Zealand. From this, she learned that Rotarians make this happen. In New Zealand, she lived in Kumeau Village, which was in a primarily farming area. That year, she lived with four different host families. She attended high school in New Zealand, and she also was able to graduate from Edina High School. From being an exchange student, Caitlin learned many new useful professional skills. These include being able to talk to strangers, running a website, and structuring a joke. She also had many adventures and discovered multiple differences in culture between the United States and New Zealand.

After being an exchange student, she attended college and began working in nonprofits. Additionally, she managed trips for a Quaker camp for teenagers in Virgina. It was an incredible experience, and the summer camp was also where she met her business partner who was the director of the camp. Currently, they are now Next Day Animations, which is a company that makes explainer videos. Next Day Animations are based all around the world, and there are twenty-six individuals working at Next Day Animations right now.

At Next Day Animations, they make very short animations, which last between thirty seconds and three minutes long. They focus on making animations quickly and making animations that are persuasive and engaging. Next Day Animations is a Certified B Corporation, which means that they meet the highest standards of social and environmental impact. There are two types of animations that Next Day Animations make, which are whiteboard and vector animations. Next Day Animations has clients from all kinds of industries, including nonprofits, Fortune 500’s and tech groups. All of these groups are working on complex topics and/or important messages, so Next Day Animations is trying to leverage animation and humor to capture audiences.

Notes from April 15th

The Rotary joint meeting had Dr. Michael Osterholm, Director of the Center of Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the Universtity of Minnesota speak. He started by talking about the challenges that are being faced. Low-income countries are struggling to get the vaccines. They don't have the same resources as high-income countries. In addition, the lower-income countries do not understand the need to get vaccinated. This also leads to the ongoing transmission that creates variants.

These Variants are another one of the challenges that are being faced. Mike explained that the variance is one of the most recent concerns as they each look different. One of the most prominent variants is the Uk B117 strand. One of the solutions that are occurring is vaccine producers are greater booster shots to account for the varients. Mike announced that Moderna just stated that they were creating a new booster vaccine. Mike informed the clubs that 791 schools are reported to have B117 -Uk strand. Currently, with a lot of schools containing the Uk strand, it is hard to keep schools open. Mike predicts that in the next 4-8 weeks the midwest is really going to get hit and he is going to be keeping an eye on it.

Mike suggested that once you are vaccinated and your friends are vaccinated you should "party." While doing this, you should still keep in mind that a lot of viruses is still out there as vaccines only protect so much. One should enjoy being vaccinated while also being careful. With that said, Mike talked about how is not strongly suggesting restaurant fully reopen, but he stated that he supports restaurants financially.

Then Mike talked about the interesting pattern of transmission. He stated how the pattern has been alternating severity between the midwest and southern states. He also has seen a pattern change to more young adults, ages 30-53, getting more severe cases.

Next, he talked about what we can be doing to end the pandemic. He suggested getting out accurate and timely information. He also encouraged holding more webinars as the one offered. Mike then talked about his podcast that offers weekly updates on COVID-19.

Lastly, he talked about his thoughts on the Johnson & Johnson vaccines. The findings are true. There have been blood clots seen between women 18-49 usually after 8 days after getting vaccinated. He then stated how the same risk of receiving blood clots through COVID-19 is similar to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. He emphasized the importance of getting vaccinated. He also stated how he hopes they continue to work and update the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as it is going to be prominent for lower-income countries.

Notes from April 6th, 2021

Club Assembly

The April 6th meeting was a club assembly. Members were able to hear from club leadership about the current state of the club and other exciting events. To start the meeting, Rotarians were put into breakout rooms for 15 minutes to socialize and build community with other club members.

Holly Link - Membership

Holly gave an update on club membership. Currently, the EP AM Rotary Club has 67 active members and 8 honorary active members. We have lost 2 members due to various situations since the last club assembly. Holly reminded everyone to keep actively recruiting new members, especially younger members.

Jenifer Loon - President Elect

Jenifer began by asking members about any new ideas they had for the club, as she plans for her year. She asked for input on the idea of having one person leading each meeting. That member would work on finding a speaker as well as leading the meeting. There was a lively discussion and most members were in support. The idea of moving club meetings to CMS (in their new community room) and/or Sheeles was also brought up, and most members were very supportive.

Roger Jorgenson - Foundation

Roger gave an update on both the Rotary Internation Foundation as well as the EP AM Foundation. He reminded members to contact him with any questions.

Irene Kelly - Club Administration

Irene gave various updates about different things going on.

She invited John to give an update on grants. Currently, the club has given out 3 grants to local organizations and they are looking for organizations to apply for this year's grants.

Irene and Frank gave the club a review on the successful sisters of swing fundraiser, raising $3,200.

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NETWORK AND HAVE FUN!

Join us for our next monthly Swallowship or"Happy Hour" from 5:00 - 6:30! Check the date and location under "Events." Bring a friend!

SERVE OUR COMMUNITY

Members, spouses, and kids helped collect cans of chicken for PROP as part of the Chicken Challenge at Byerlys.

INTERNATIONAL SERVICE

Several club members volunteered at a Nepali school and orphanage as part of a district friendship exchange/service trip.