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!

April 15, 2021 Meeting Preview

Thursday, April 15, 2021

Dr. Michael Osterholm

SPECIAL JOINT MEETING - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

--TO OUR MEMBERS, THIS MEETING WILL BE IN LIEU OF OUR TUESDAY, APRIL 13 MEETING--

Eden Prairie AM Rotary Club will join the Eden Prairie Noon Rotary Club to get the latest COVID-19 updates from a renowned epidemiologist, Dr. Michael Osterholm. Tom Thorfinnson, Chief Strategy Officer at Rotary International, will discuss RI COVID-19 global initiatives. Mark Weber, Executive Director of the Eden Prairie Community Foundation, will provide updates on local COVID-19 relief efforts.

Dr. Osterholm is Regents Professor, McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in Public Health, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, a professor in the Technological Leadership Institute, College of Science and Engineering, and an adjunct professor in the Medical School, all at the University of Minnesota.

In November 2020, Dr. Osterholm was appointed to President-elect Joe Biden's 13-member Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board. From June 2018 through May 2019, he served as a Science Envoy for Health Security on behalf of the US Department of State. He is also on the Board of Regents at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.

He is the author of the New York Times best-selling 2017 book, Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs, in which he not only details the most pressing infectious disease threats of our day but lays out a nine-point strategy on how to address them, with preventing a global flu pandemic at the top of the list.

If you have already registered you will receive information to access the Zoom session prior to the event. Register here as a guest.

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

Active ESRAG Projects

Operation Pollination at https://operationpollination.net/. There is also a FaceBook for the Rotary E-Club you can get a look at this Link.

Duty Roster 04/06/21 - 04/20/21

Visit Lake Street - Lake Street Council

Joining District 5950 (click HERE for memo from District President Tom Gump) with the work of supporting social justice, the Eden Prairie Rotary Club is joining in with eight other clubs to collaborate with the Lake Street Council as the business leaders on Lake Street build back their successful business’s. We are joining them as they take steps to move ahead!

Notes from March 30, 2021

Tim Conners, EPAM Rotarian

Rotary International's Seventh Focus: Protecting the Environment

On Tuesday, March 30th, EPAM Rotarian Tim Conners spoke about our club and the Rotary International's Seventh Focus: Protecting the Environment. Rotary International announced the 7th focus: Protecting the Environment in October 2020. Tim started by bringing attention to the Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group Rotary (ESRAG) which assists clubs, districts, and Rotary International in planning and implementing service projects, building awareness, building global and local networks, inspiring action for sustainable solutions, and supporting Rotary International in environmental initiatives. Tim highlighted a quote from ESRAG's position paper on adding Protecting the Environment as a new focus area: "The environment sustains all life on Earth, and Rotary cannot effectively serve humanity, if Rotary does not focus on supporting the wellbeing of Planet Earth." Tim also spoke about Rotary’s connection and similarities with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Rotary’s six areas of focus align with the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and six UN Sustainable Development Goals will align with the Protecting the Environment focus: affordable and clean energy, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, climate action, life below water, and life on land. Some highlights of the new focus, Protecting the Environment, are:

Protecting and restoring land, coastal, marine, and freshwater resources,
Enhancing the capacity of communities to support natural resource management and conservation
Supporting sustainable agriculture, fishing, and aquaculture practices
Addressing the cause of climate change by reducing Greenhouse gas emission,
Strengthening ecosystems and communities affected by climate change
Supporting education initiatives that promote behavior that protects the environment
Advocating for sustainable consumption to build an economy that resources more efficiently
Addressing environmental justice issues and public health concerns

Tim ended with encouraging Rotarians to take action by:

Joining ESRAG at ESRAG.org
Connecting with a project task force
Calculating reducing and offsetting your carbon footprint at home, clubs, and businesses
Joining the environmental team in EPAM
Supporting the Environmental Committee in our District 5950
Leveraging ESRAG’s resources to open environmental opportunities in our club

March 23rd Meeting Notes

Rick Getschow, City Manager of City of Eden Prairie

City Updates

Rick Getschow started off by giving an update on COVID-19. A year ago, emergency operations centers were set up for COVID-19. All of the city departments had to step up to the challenge of dealing with COVID-19. The fire department started to respond to medical calls. The police department had to alter their shifts, and several departments had to separate the employees into groups to keep everyone safe. On March 17th, 2020, there were only 60 positive cases and 2,336 tests given in Minnesota when the state was starting to shut down. Now, we have more than half a million cases in Minnesota, and more than 30 million cases in the United States.

There were multiple ways that the city responded to COVID-19. One of those ways was holding a mask drive where the community gave out thousandths of masks. Another way was to waive regulations for businesses in order for restaurants to do what they needed with outdoor spaces. Additionally, they waived fees for utility bills for businesses, and businesses were directed to use as much of the state and city resources.

March 16th Meeting Notes

Pat Mulqueeny, President of the Chamber of Commerce

City Updates

MulQueeny: Biggest issues are taxes and regulations | Eden Prairie Education | swnewsmedia.com

Pat Mulqueeny, President of the Chamber of Commerce, talked about the city updates that are occurring. Pat started talking about the missions, leaders for community prosperity, and advocating for businesses. In addition, their vision is to ensure prosperity in the community by promoting commerce, and by enhancing the members' business success through leadership, advocacy, and growth opportunities. Then Pat talks about the overview of the Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce. The commerce has over 300 business members which are representing over 34,000 area employees. The commerce also has over 85 volunteers serving on committees and task forces. Businesses utilize the chamber of commerce mostly for the programs and networking, public policy, and providing a voice for businesses, workforce initiatives, and numerous other services. Some notable events of 2020 include Transportation Summits/Updates and Business@ Breakfast networking.

Then Pat transitioned to talk about COVID-19 impact on the Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce. First, the pandemic had a major impact on a business starting in March 2020. The chamber switched to massive information sharing and communications providing daily updates to help businesses. Gathering business information and impacts to share with elected officials is another way the chamber of commerce tried to help. The Chamber also helped businesses in the following:

Meet with MN DEED Commissioner Grove weekly to discuss issues and how to help businesses
Communicate with Congressman Philips on PPP and other relief bills - what more can be done
Distribute 100,000 facemasks to local businesses free of charge

Please support these 2020-2021 Rotary Sponsors

Their generous support helps sponsor all that our club does in our community and around the world! This includes the Above and Beyond Awards Dinner, the Golden Eagle Awards, the Ethics Lunch and STRIVE scholarships and much more. Interested in becoming a Rotary Sponsor? Click here

Gold Sponsors ($1500 - 2499)

Silver Sponsors: ($1000 - 1499)