Lamplighter December 1, 2020 (Dec 02, 2020)

Check Out the Website

Don't forget to check out the club's website at parkerrotary.org for the latest news and updates to our club calendar.

News for December 1

Parker Task Force

Steve Budnack reports that the Parker Task Force is receiving more requests for food aid than ever before. We can each continue to support the Task Force with donations of money, gift cards or non-perishable food. Donations can be dropped off at the Task Force (19105 Longs Way, Parker) during their operating hours on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Please click here for a PDF file showing their most pressing needs for December.

Help Out Our Foundation Treasurer!

It’s wonderful for the Foundation of the Rotary Club of Parker to receive checks from our members in support of our activities, but please help Foundation Treasurer Steve Sumption know where the money should go! Please write the destination (e.g., Task Force or State of the Town) in the memo line of any checks that you send to the Foundation. Thank you for your support!

International Committee Partners with Other Rotary Clubs to Pursue International Projects

Our club's International Committee has been working over the past couple of months to identify sustainable international projects to support. They were working with the following criteria to identify projects:

A project should be sustainable
A project should be championed by a Rotary club; it should also have a local Rotary Club involved to supervise and coordinate
A project should, if possible, have District and Global Grant support so as to maximize our contribution and to follow Rotary International guidelines
A project contribution should directly benefit the local people for the long term.

The International Committee has organized and promoted several Zoom Meetings where representatives of other clubs presented the projects they champion. All this is in the spirit of Rotary International cooperation and networking.

Therefore, so far, our International Committee has decided to approve the following three projects:

A clean water & sanitation system in Cameroon (in partnership with the RC of Denver Southeast). This project will build a 3.5-mile piping system to move clean water from a spring to a nearby village, which now has only dirty and polluted well water.
A cold storage food processing unit & training in Nepal (in partnership with Denver Mile High RC). This project will install a cold-storage facility in a village in Nepal so that produce can be kept fresh up to 6 months and usable for both the village and for potential sales to other villages, generating some income for the local people.
Community mental health services & economic development in Uganda (in partnership with Denver Mile High RC). This project supports an emergency telephone network and expert training that provides support for mental health needs.

The International Committee will continue to evaluate projects as they are proposed.

International Committee Helps Link Interact Clubs in Parker and Rome, Italy

Club member Alvaro Pisoni was recently interviewed by the Olympic Rotary Club of Rome, Italy. During a follow-up Zoom meeting with three other Rotary clubs in Rome, an idea has come up to promote the linking of our Interact students in Parker with Interact students in Rome, Italy. These Zoom meetings will give students the chance to meet and socialize among young people in Rome and in Parker to discover common purposes and possibly promote Rotary clubs' international goals.

Samantha Townsley, October Student of the Month Chaparral High School

Congratulations to Samantha Townsley, the October Student of the Month for Chaparral High School! Samantha is pictured here in her role as a state officer of DECA, an international organization that “prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management.” Samantha also serves as president of the Chaparral chapter of DECA. In addition, she has served the Chaparral community on the Link Crew and as a Writing Tutor, and is involved with the Chaparral Family Fund.

Samantha has lettered academically all four years of high school. She hopes to study chemistry in college and eventually pursue a career in medical research. We wish you all the best in your future endeavors, Samantha!