Good Morning!

We’ve always thought we were a special club with an active, engaged membership. Turns out, we were right. This Small Club of the Year Award is well-earned, and hearing outgoing DG Heather Stoa read the list of our accomplishments was impressive (and exhausting). Congratulations Sunrisers!

CU Sunrise Rotary Club members and Central High School Interact members assembled 400 hygiene kits that will be donated to C-U at Home. A District Rotary grant provided funds for the project.

“Enthusiasm in our daily work lightens efforts and turns even labor into pleasant tasks.” —James A. Baldwin – 1924-1987 – American novelist, playwright, activist

“I now tried a new hypothesis: It was possible that I was more in charge of my happiness than I was allowing myself to be.”  – Michelle Obama – Former First Lady of the United States-Author-Attorney

“No one has ever become poor by giving.” – Anne Frank – 1929-1945 – German-Dutch Diarist-Jewish Holocaust Victim

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Cary reminded everyone that there will not be a meeting this Thursday morning, 9/30/21 as we will have our social gathering at Pour Bros. Taproom 40 E. University Ave. Champaign starting at 5:30pm.

Jerry noted that he will be sending out an email to the club’s committee chairs asking for a report on what’s happening in their committee. These reports need to be sent to Jerry prior to the club’s monthly board meeting. 

Ed passed around the signup sheet for the volunteer project of folding newspapers for the Champaign County Humane Society on Oct. 16th.

PROGRAM

Cary introduced Terri Reifsteck and Carly McCory-McKay who presented about the Chambana Welcome Crew. Terri is the Vice President of Marketing & Engagement for Visit Champaign County and Carly is the Executive Director of the Champaign County Economic Development Corporation.

Chambana Welcome Crew is the collaborative effort begun in June 2021 between the You’re Welcome CU, Visit Champaign County and the University of Illinois Human Resources. Its purpose is to help recruit and attract new members to our community and welcome them to our community by providing ambassadors who assist in providing a wide range of information in-person or virtually in the welcoming process.

Ambassadors are volunteers that are matched up with the prospective new resident by demographics and areas of interest. Terri and Carly’s program this morning focused on the need for ambassadors and explaining what their role is and how you can become an ambassador. 

After filling out a detailed application that is used to better match an ambassador with prospective residents, the ambassador may invite them to a local event, give tours of the area, assist them in engaging with the local community,  and suggest restaurants, shops, parks, etc. and share their own experiences in the community. A follow up a year later may also take place.

Ours is one of the fastest growing areas in the state of Illinois and we need to be ready to welcome new residents and workers to our community. If interested in more information about Chambana Welcome Crew and how to become an ambassador contact Terri at terrir@visitchampaigncountyedc.org or Carly at carly@champaigncounty edc.org.

—

—

UPCOMING SCHEDULE (with program committee member responsible listed in parentheses)

September 30th – Club Social

October 7th – Club Assembly

October 14th – Dr. Charles Gammie, professor of astrophysics, UIUC, will speak about black holes (Tom)

October 21st – Normal Rotarian Drake Zimmerman, co-founder and chair of the Rotary Action Group Against Malaria, will speak about Global Grants of Scale (Mary)

October 28th – TBD (Charlie)

November 4th – Club Assembly

November 11th – Veteran’s One to One (tentative)

November 18th – Derek Peterson, Director, Allerton Park & Retreat Center (Joe)

November 25th – No meeting – Thanksgiving

December 2nd – Club Assembly

December 9th – TBD (Ondine)

December 16th – TBD

December 23rd – TBD

December 30th – TBD