Notes from November 17, 2020

Irene Kelly and Roger Jorgensen

TRF and EPAM Foundation

Irene Kelly and Roger Jorgensen spoke to the Rotary about the Eden Prairie AM Rotary Foundation, The Rotary Foundation (TRF), and where money goes. The money received from individual contributions from Happy Fives go to Polio Plus. This money goes to The Rotary Foundation. Additionally, the Rotary Club has many expenses. These include expenses for the club location, meals and dues, happy fives, guest charges, and special charges. From the EPAM Foundation, there is fund raising revenue, sponsorships, and corporate donations. There are also club projects via grant requests, youth exchange, scholarships, and other programs tied to the EPAM Foundation. Matching grants are used for world community service projects. These include peace and conflict resolution, disease prevention and treatment, water sanitation, basic education, maternal and child health as well as economic and community development.

 

Announcements

  • John Estall announced that the Rotary had a nice increase in sponsorships in 2019, and he wants to keep that momentum going for 2020. Currently, there have been many ideas for how to gain awareness about sponsorships. John urged Rotarians to sponsor if they can, ask individuals if they can sponsor, or provide ideas on gaining sponsors. 

  • Jane McGinty announced the upcoming virtual Holiday Party, which will be held on December 22nd. The Holiday Party will be open to families, friends, and past Rotarians. 

  • Frank Sherwood announced the fundraiser Rotary Rocks the Prairie. The fundraiser will be held on January 28th at Eden Prairie High School.

Spotlight on John Estall

John Estall grew up in Richfield, Minnesota, and he went to college at Bemidji State University. There, he received a degree in Accounting. After, he decided to attend law school to fulfill his dream. Until 1982, he worked at Cargill where he did international taxes. At Cargill, he met his wife, and they have been married for 35 years. He has two kids who are 27 and 29 years old. For thirty years, he did various things in accounting and tax. Later, he decided to teach at Mankato State. He decided to retire after teaching at Mankato State for a few years, but later realized that he didn’t want to stop teaching. Right now, he is teaching at Mankato State part time. 

Happy Fives:

  • On Saturday, Roger Jorgensen participated in bell ringing, and he was happy to catch up with other Rotarians. He was also reminded of the great memories that he made with the other Rotarians over the years.

  • Prafulla Vegunta is thankful for all the Rotarians that participated in the bell ringing.

  • Irene Kelly was happy to see the other Rotarians at the Bell Ringing on Saturday. November 14.

  • Jane McGinty and her family enjoyed the bell ringing. She also shared that she loves going to a llama farm with her family.

  • John Credule is grateful for everyone that is helping him out and sending their well wishes for his fast recovery from COVID-19.