Who Knew?

Today we had the pleasure of a visit from Betty Archambault, a very active member of our local Elks Lodge. I’m sure I was not the only person who was just blown away by the amount of good work done nationally and locally by the Elks Lodges. The Elks focus strongly on veterans AND on youth. Who knew? Past President Joe Christopher introduced Betty telling us how she came out of retirement to Chair the local lodge’s Youth Activities Committee and the energy she brought to the Committee and the award of a $10,000 impact grant for youth.
The St. George Elks Lodge is the first and only Lodge to receive the maximum $10,000. That funding has been/will be used for programs for underprivileged youth in the Millcreek Alternative School. These are high risk youth often living on the street or in cars who are struggling with the basics of life. The Elks Grant purchased freezers and shelving and set up a Food Pantry of staples and fresh produce with the only purpose being to feed those young people many of whom have no access to other food. Hygiene supplies and baby care needs are also available.
Betty emphasized that this program is about becoming independent and is not a “welfare” type program. It is designed to meet some basic needs so a young person can continue his/her education and be launched into independent living. By making basic food, toothbrushes, etc. available these very high risk youths do not need to steal food or earn money for food from stolen goods, etc.
The program is very successful with many young people graduating from high school and some going on to college at Dixie and elsewhere. A last piece of trivia about Elks Lodges, as an organization they are the second largest provider of scholarships in the US behind only the US Government.
Thank you Betty, for sharing your work with us.

Next week, The Crossroads. Ironman coming up! Have you registered for Aid Station #9? Dictionary delivery soon. District Conference May 13-15th, don't miss it.

Wow! Lots on our plate!
Have a good weekend!
Marla

Plotting and Planning for The IRONMAN!

Reaching out, truly making a difference

This week, the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise had the opportunity to hear of the work of a small group of St. George medical practitioners who made their way to Haiti to serve the injured. Our speaker, Colby Petersen, PA with The Heart of Dixie, spoke of traveling with Dr. David Grygla, Dr. Ed Prince, and Trevor Schmidt, PA to Haiti to treat, operate, and offer medical care in any form they could to victims of the Haiti disaster. The group made a spur of the moment decision to accept the offer of local philanthropist Jeremy Johnson to fly them to Haiti.
The group arrived on day 12 of the disaster and stayed through day 19. The photos of the injuries and the devastation of the country were sobering. Colby showed us photos we did not see on the evening news. He spoke of the countless persons buried under the rubble, the lack of electricity – which cannot be restored without pretty much starting all over again – the homeless and orphaned children and the great need for medical care. The group took 5, 000 lbs of supplies which they purchased, begged, and haggled in Florida. They used common household tools since they were unable to obtain hospital grade ones. They used hack saws, a Black and Decker drill and a Leatherman to operate on fractured and severed limbs. Antibiotics were scare and anesthesia close to non-existent.
However, the underlying message was the resilience of the people. Colby reported there was not a time they did not feel safe. He spoke of warm friendly people, laughing children, and a country where people sing day and night.
As Tyler Todd, who arranged this program, pointed out, the media has moved on to newer “news” but the needs of those in Haiti are far from met. Colby, thank you for sharing.
Reminders: Ironman service project May 1st. We need your help and the help of your families and neighbors. District Conference HERE IN ST. GEORGE May 13-15. Do plan to attend.
Until next week…..
Marla

Keeping Children Safe

This week the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise convened for the 682nd time - the 37th of this year - to hear from Patricia Sheffield, Director of the Children's Justice Center.

As a member of our Club, Trish needs little introduction. What we know most about her is how much fun she things it is to be a Grandma.

The message from Trish this week is Keeping Children Safe. The numbers related to child abuse are staggering. 95% of abused children are victims of a know perpetrator, often as close as a grandfather, uncle or adult. The typical sex offender will abuse 117 children before being caught. Close to 300 children were served by the Children's Justice Center in 2009 alone. A representative display of that work is currently in place at their location on 5th South. The cost to society of child abuse exceeds $94 BILLION each year! Many abused children have health issues, mental health issues or travel in to a life of gangs or other crime and spend years in our prisons and jails.

Trish warned of the dangers of the Internet, a vehicle by which we let pedophiles into our homes. Parents MUST monitor a child's internet use. Facebook and My Space can be highly dangerous doorways into children's lives and cell phone "sexting" is simply unacceptable.

It does take a village to raise a child, it IS our job. As Theodore Roosevelt said "if society does not protect its children today, it will one day have to protect itself from those children."

See you next week!
Marla

It's a cordless Spell Checker!

The 681st meeting of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise was a special event for our club. We were honored to host the second All Clubs Meeting for Southern Utah and even more honored to welcome PDG Wally Brown as our guest, speaking on Literacy.
Our guests also included District Governor Gil Trujillo and AG Glade Hamilton who got up at an incredibly early hour to drive down from Cedar City to join us. We were so pleased to be joined by so many members of the St. George and Red Rocks Clubs. It was a room FULL of Rotary Energy. Governor Gil and AG Glade reminded us of the upcoming District Conference (May 13- 15) and encouraged us all to attend. Linda Sappington, Conference Coordinator outlined details of the exciting agenda.
PDG Wally’s program was absolutely eye opening. He spoke of the great cost to society as a whole of illiteracy. The statistics are sobering regarding how poverty, unemployment, crime, incarceration, and lack of development in “developing” countries is so strongly tied to the ability to read. It is sad to know that so many of the world’s women are unable to read and thus are unable to help their children out of ignorance and poverty. He stressed the need for Rotarians to be involved in literacy. We can, as we have been doing, gather books for the prisons and jails, we can continue with The Dictionary Project, we can volunteer to read to and with children in schools, and any number of other options to open the world of the printed word to those who have not experienced reading.
I could go on and on about the quality of this meeting but will let the photos speak for themselves.
And, again, thank you for sharing this great meeting with us.

Marla Shelby-Drabner, President