Rotaract In Athens

2010-07-21T10:17:00.000-07:00

Rotaract Meeting

2009-11-13T08:00:00.000-08:00

Rotaract will meet at Casa Nueva on Thursday, November 19th at 5:30pm. If you are a young adult interested in participating in community service events on occasion, we'd love to see you at the meeting.

Please contact Regina Warfel at rmwarfel@gmail.com if you have any questions about Rotaract.

Cardboard City and the Moth Ball

2009-11-13T07:50:00.001-08:00

Rotaract participated in Cardboard City at the end of September! In August, we also helped set-up a brand new and very successful fundraising event for the Athens County Historical Society: the Moth Ball. Both experiences were very enjoyable, but most of all it felt good to contribute in some way to the Athens community.

Cardboard City was a huge success! We raised some funds, brought our dog, and built a house along with furniture to go with it! Local junior high, high school, and college students participated with a lot of energy, and Vice President Kent Smith participated as one of the judges.

The Moth Ball took place at the Eclipse Company Town and featured local music (Wing Nuts and Stella) and food (Restaurant Salaam and Purple Chopstix). We helped set up the canopy and some chairs in preparation for the big event. This was also the day that two Rotaract members got engaged! Due to its great success and widespread interest, the Moth Ball will become an annual event.

Rotaract of Athens - Meeting this Thursday!

2009-04-07T09:11:00.000-07:00

There is a meeting for Rotaract of Athens this Thursday, April 9th at 5:30pm at Courtside Pizza. All interested in the community are welcome!

See the link below for more information about Rotaract:

http://www.rotary.org/en/studentsandyouth/youthprograms/rotaract/Pages/ridefault.aspx

Rotaract Athens Meeting Thurs

2009-02-04T10:53:00.000-08:00

Hello,

If you are interested in Rotaract Athens please join us at Courtside Pizza on Thursday the 12th at 5:30PM.

Everyone is welcome!

Hope to see you there!

-Verne

Rotaract Participates in The Walk For The Homeless!

2009-01-20T06:07:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

Early on Saturday AM, on one of the coldest days of the year so far, Erin and I got all bundled up and headed over to the United Methodist Church to participate in the 7th annual Walk For The Homeless www.walkforthehomeless.net representing Rotaract! Once we arrived at the church we registered for the "No Room at The Inn" walk which is a 2.25 mile walk around Athens that visits several places where homeless people might stay when all of the beds at Good Works are full and people must be turned away.

After registering and donating the $416.00 collected by members of Athens Rotaract for The Walk For The Homeless we met up with Rotarians Dr. Emilia Marks (and her fiance Dr. Horacio Castillo), Dr. Claudia Gonzalez Vallejo and her son Derek DeMel. Derek was able to raise $126.00 in donations for the Walk For The Homeless from his friends and teachers at West Elementary school! Well done Derek!

The walk included stops at the Athens parking Garage, the Richland Avenue Bridge over a frozen, but flowing Hocking River, The Baker Center, and Alden Library. All of these areas have served as places of refuge for homeless people looking to get out of the wind and cold if only for a little while.

We also took note of the Gathering Place along the way www.gatheringplaceathens.org. We got to hear stories of homeless people who were struggling with life, as we all do, only to find that on top of every thing else they might not have a warm safe place to stay that night. We heard first hand how easy it is to become homeless through a simple few turns of bad luck. None of us are immune to this problem and luckily for many here in Southeast Ohio we have Good Works to help.

After the walk we enjoyed some beans and rice cooked by the Athens Scout Troop guided in part by Rotarian Dr. Scott Moody who was also a Rotaract Sponsor for the Walk. Thanks Dr. Moody!

All in all it was a wonderful experience that helped many of us realize how lucky we are to have love, friends, and a safe warm place to stay.

Athens Rotaract would like to thank all of the People who sponsored us on this walk most of whom were members of Rotary. We greatly appreciate it!

-Verne

Walk for the Homeless

2009-01-14T14:44:00.001-08:00

Rotaract will be participating in the Walk for the Homeless this Saturday, January 17th at 8:30am. We'll meet as a group at the First United Methodist Church on College Street in uptown Athens. You can find more information about the annual Walk at the following url: http://www.walkforthehomeless.net/

Last Chance Corrall

2009-01-13T06:09:00.000-08:00

On December 14th, Rotaract members Verne and Erin Simons, Greg Moeller and Regina Warfel visited and helped out at Last Chance Corrall. We spent half the day cleaning all of the stalls and replacing them with fresh shavings. Rotaract would like to thank Victoria for her efforts in horse rehabilitation and for giving us the opportunity to help. It was a great experience!

October 31 Good Works dinner

2008-12-02T13:53:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures and a letter Claudia sent to Rotary International about our October 31 Good Works Dinner. Thanks to all!
-Verne

Rotaract: Friday Night Life Supper at Good Works, October 31, 2008

Serving a dinner to those in need started as a thought by new Rotaract members who learned about Good Works Friday Night Supper. This thought turned into a huge reality and success that left all of those involved very inspired. Friday Night Life Supper takes place every Friday evening and can serve up to 150 people. This past October 31st, Rotaract members Greg Moeller, Regina Warfel, Verne and Erin Simons, planned and served a spaghetti and grilled chicken dinner that also featured a Farmers Market’s vegetable stir fry, French breads, a fresh veggie and humus appetizer, and grapes and bananas for desert to about 100 people. Rotary members Alan Boyd and Claudia González-Vallejo (along with her family) joined the group in cooking and socializing with members of Good Works and Director Keith Wasserman. Undergraduate students from Ohio University, Beth Noble, Jesse Deegan, and Jenn Deegan, provided much help in cutting and serving the dinner. The Rotary club members who supported this event via their monetary contributions are thanked, as well as the fresh vegetable donation from the Farmers Market by Keith Brook.

Rotaract restarted in Athens this past August and meets every second Thursday of the month, 5:30 pm, at Courtside Pizza. Rotary is very proud of this group of young professionals who have accomplished so much in such a short period. Congratulations Rotaract for this major successful project!

Rotaract at the Last Chance Corral

2008-11-21T10:46:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

As discussed at our last couple meetings, our next Rotaract activity will be to volunteer our time at Last Chance Corral! For those of you unfamiliar with this organization, it is a rehabilitation and adoption center for unwanted horses here in Athens. Here are the details for this activity:

Where: Last Chance Corral, 5350 Pomeroy Rd Athens
When: Sunday December 14 from 9am-4pm
What: We will be feeding horses, cleaning stalls, cleaning paddocks, and working on whatever fun projects need doing.

Victoria, the owner, told me there will be lots to do that Sunday and could really use the help! I hope to see you all there. Please contact me if you have any questions.

For driving directions and other information about Last Chance Corral, check out their website:
Last Chance Corral

Thanks, Erin

Rotaract Potluck!

2008-11-09T18:06:00.000-08:00

Please join us at our end of the quarter Potluck to get more information and meet some Rotaract members! The Potluck will be on Friday, November 14th at 6pm at Greg and Regina's place:

7 Charles Street apartment A, Athens

Please RSVP with Regina at rmwarfel@gmail.com or just show up.

October 31st - Good Works Friday Night Life Supper

2008-09-23T20:07:00.000-07:00

Roteract will be sponsoring the October 31st Good Works Friday night supper. The supper will be held at The Plains United Methodist Church from 4-8pm, and we will need to serve 130-150 people a full dinner. We are currently planning to serve spaghetti, salad, and bread, but other ideas are welcome.

We can definitely use some extra hands, as we need a total of 7-14 people to host the event. Please contact Gregory Moeller at moeller.greg1@gmail.com if you or someone you know is interested in helping out, as he is the coordinator of this event.

We will discuss this event in further detail at our next Roteract meeting on Thursday, October 9th at 5:30pm at Courtside pizza.

International Literacy Day, please volunteer

2008-09-05T07:41:00.000-07:00

Hi all, please see the forwarded message from Claudia Gonzalez Vallejo:

Thanks, Verne

Hello Verne, this was sent to Rotary club. Could you please paste in our
Rotaract blog? Thanks, Claudia

International Literacy Day, please volunteer

A couple of weeks ago, President Shawna Stump reminded us of this important date
and now we have the opportunity of making Literacy Week very real in our
community. Please volunteer to read in many classes at West Elementary School,
Athens, the week of September 8, 2008. The school is thrilled to have Rotary
members celebrate literacy with the kids.

There are lots of openings so let me know when you can do it (most classes after
9:30 am and before noon).E-mail me if you are interested as I am putting a list
together for the school. Rotaract may also contact the Literacy Center at Ohio
University. They advance the goals' of UNESCO's International Literacy Day and
they always need volunteers. Check the following:
http://www.ohio.edu/av/scholars/literacy.cfm

Thank you. Claudia

More about International Literacy Day (read below):

International Literacy Day (8 September)

On International Literacy Day each year, UNESCO reminds the international
community of the status of literacy and adult learning globally. Despite many
and varied efforts, literacy remains an elusive target: some 774 million adults
lack minimum literacy skills; one in five adults is still not literate and
two-thirds of them are women; 75 million children are out-of-school and many
more attend irregularly or drop out.

(Source: UNESCO.org, Education.
http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=53299&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html)

Opportunity for Rotaract to volunteer in upcoming Rotary Golf Tournament:

2008-08-19T06:42:00.000-07:00

To all,
We have been invited by Claudia to participate in the Rotary Golf Tournament. Have a look at what she wrote:

This event should be pretty nice and a good way for Rotaract to meet
Rotarians.

Rotary needs volunteers the entire day of September 15th, in 2-hour blocks for
the Rotary Annual Golf Tournament to be held at the Country Club. The tournament
is an all day event (so they need help after 4 pm also). If you think you can
put two hours (any two hours) sometime that day, please send me your full name
and a contact number. The person in charge of scheduling will contact you by
phone. Thank you. Claudia (gonzalez@ohiou.edu)

Thanks, Verne

Meetings

2008-08-15T08:02:00.000-07:00

Meetings:

5:30 Every second Thursday of the month at Courtside Pizza!

Good works

2008-08-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

Hi again I just wanted to forward some info about Good Works:

I think we should try to work with Good Works as a group at some point!

August 13, 2008

Greetings from Good Works!

WE are writing in the hope that you might be able to assist us by providing one or more items from the following list.

Thank you so much if you can help us!

canned tuna, sugar, fresh or frozen fruit juices, coffee creamer, cooking oil or shortening, salad dressing mayonnaise, Cookies and crackers, toaster type pop tarts, paper towels and toilet paper, pint and quart size zip lock bags, 30 & 39 gallon size trash bags, disposable razors both men's and women's, hand sanitizer, disposable latex type gloves, liquid floor cleaners, laundry detergents, and Breathe Right type nasal strips.

Any of these items can be dropped off at The Timothy House (91 Central Avenue) but please call us before you come at 594.3333

If you prefer to drop them at the Good Works Luhrig Road property, this will be great. Just call us (594.3336 or 594.3339) before you come.

Love is a verb,

Keith Wasserman
Good Works, Inc.
P.O. Box 4
Athens, Ohio 45701

Contact information
The Timothy House 740.594.3333
The Hannah House 740.594.3336
Good Works Administrative Office 740.594.3339
Founder/ Executive Director 740.594.9000

Web www.good-works.net <http://www.good-works.net>
Email goodworks@good-works.net

Welcome!

2008-08-15T06:21:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Athens Rotaract Blog. I hope that this will allow all of us to communicate and share ideas for service. We had a successful meeting last night where we discussed meeting times, and opportunities to volunteer as well as the BLOG!

Quickly we have two events to tell you all about....

First:

This Saturday the 16th (thats right tomorrow) there is a Chicken B-B-Q at the Lottridge Community center and volunteers are needed. from 11:00-2:00. Some folks are meeting at the OU Inn at 10:30 to convoy to Lottridge. Please contact Claudia if you want to go at gonzalez@ohio.edu. The community center is pretty easy to find too its on Co Rd. 53. Here is a map: www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Lottridge&state=OH

Second:

Rotary will be distributing text books in Trimble, OH next week on Thursday the 21st and we have been invited by Ram Gawande to participate. This is a great opportunity for you to meet some Rotarians and also help young people. Rotarians and Rotaractors (if thats what we are) will be assembling at the OU in at 11:15 am to make our way over to Trimble.

Lastly, please feel free to leave comments so we can all hear from you. We want your cooperation, minds, and hands to help us all make an impact!

Thanks, Verne Simons