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Welcome to the Shakopee Rotary Club

Service Above Self

We meet In Person

Tuesdays at 12:00 PM

Shakopee House

1583 1st Avenue East
Shakopee, MN 55379
United States of America

We meet the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month at Shakopee House (formerly Dangerfields).

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Shakopee Rotary Receives Global Grant Funding

Shakopee Rotary Club is pleased to announce that we have received a Global Grant for Light of Hope Water Project in Nakuru, Kenya. Light of Hope children's home Naivasha is located in Nakuru, Kenya. Light of Hope provides boarding school that seeks to equip orphaned girls and financially challenged girls with basic life skills while still giving them a home. The grant supports an underground water tank to harvest rain water in a 200,000 liter tank that would help the children's home and school in meeting clean water needs. A special thank you to Libby Bergen for over 2 years of work on this grant! The grant was for $89,000 and construction will begin in the next 2 months.

Shakopee Celebrates Reading

It is that time of year again for the "SHAKOPEE CELEBRATES READING" event when the Shakopee Rotary Club prepares to hand out a brand new book and backpacks to every first grade child in Shakopee Public and Private schools. This is a wonderful event and is always a much loved and well received program by all involved from our community.

This year we are looking to accumulate enough items to fill 600 backpacks. Items with your organization name, logo and/or contact information are welcome and can include things like pencils, erasers, bookmarks, stickers, bracelets, notepads, etc. Food and candy are not accepted. We need these items no later than April 30. Please plan your orders to allow enough time to get them to us. We are happy to arrange for someone to come and pick up the items from your business or they can be dropped off at the Chamber of Commerce offices c/o Tim Zunker as well.

This is really a great way for companies and organizations to reach 600 households and to give back to their community at the same time. A "win win" for all!

Any questions please feel free to email Shakopee Rotary Club organizer, Sheila McNeill at sheilamcneill.mn@gmail.com Thank you for your consideration and help in this worthwhile endeavor.

Shakopee Rotarians Donate to Hope for the Holidays

The Shakopee Rotarians were very generous with toys, gifts for teens, and gift cards for gas/groceries for parents. The CAP Agency was very appreciative of the gifts from the Shakopee Rotary Club, which will be given to persons in the community who are experiencing financial hardship.

District 5950 Governor Visit

We had Rotary District 5950 Governor Lloyd Campbell and former District Governor Tom Gump at our November 29 meeting. We discussed Rotary and how taking action creates lasting change in our communities and around the world. Mr. Campbell also lead a discussion on potential areas of improvement for Rotary.

November 1 Club Auction was a Success

On November 1 Shakopee Rotary held the Club Auction. It was hosted by longtime member Lee Hennen and former member Jim Cook, who was a Shakopee Rotarian for over 40 years! The auction brought in $1300 to support the Shakopee Rotary shelter at Memorial Park. Thank you to all the donors and bidders. A special thank you to Jim Cook for returning to Shakopee to help with the auction, he received a very *thank you* gift!

Shakopee Rotary donates to Scott County Sheriff Department

Shakopee Rotary donated $1500 to support the purchase of infant car seats. Luke Hennen was very happy to accept the "big check".

The Auction is Coming!

Our Rotary Auction is Tuesday, November 1 at our regularly scheduled meeting. The auction will raise money for special projects, this year the proceeds will cover the cost of rebuilding and refreshing the Rotary Rest Stop Map/structure in Memorial Park.

The auction is specific to club members. We bring and donate items (of value) that are then auctioned off to other members. (Be present to win - or send $$$ with a friend.)
Items donated and auctioned off in the past include theme gift baskets, lottery tickets, liquor, restaurant gift cards, home made baked goods, a member-catered meal, and small appliances.
Members are asked to pay the day of the sale (if possible) - cash or check.
There is no program that day - the auction is the focus of the meeting.
The more members in attendance, the more fun had and money raised. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE plan to attend!!!

2022 W. Adair Muralt Service Award Recipient is Art Quinn

Shakopee Rotary Club is pleased to announce that Honorary Shakopee Rotarian Art Quinn was selected as recipient of the 2022 W. Adair Muralt Service Award. Art was a valued member of Shakopee Rotary for 32 years. He was Club President 1997-98 and served as Chair of the club's Rotary Foundation commitment for many years.

Art received the award at Stonebrooke Country Club on Sept. 20. Rotarian Joe Schmidt was the emcee of the event. Tim Whitcomb talked about the Foundation and Erin Quinn spoke about projects the Foundation has funded and the impact of those donations. Tammy Laurent talked about The Million Dollar Dinner. Gary Laurent presented Art with the award. Congratulations Art! Service before self!

Ukraine Youth Visit Valleyfair

On Saturday, Aug. 27 Shakopee Rotary partnered with ValleyFair (thanks to rotary member and Valleyfair general manager Raul Rehnborg) to help welcome these youth from Ukraine and chaperones. Rotary provided free meal tickets for all, and Raul and his staff provided the park entrance tickets. These youth range in age from 13-18 years of age and are from all parts of their home country. They are visiting Minnesota for 5 weeks on a cultural and leadership tour. Here is the link to learn more about them https://www.globalsynergygroup.org/youth-leadership

Welcome to New Teachers at Shakopee Public Schools

Shakopee Rotary helped to welcome over 100 new teachers to Shakopee Public Schools! Libby Bergen shared the mission of Rotary, and Kathy Busch let the new teachers know about grant opportunities with SEEF. A warm welcome to all the new staff!

Eagle Club Project

Shakopee Rotary Club made a donation to Braden Burger's Eagle Project to create a Gaga Ball Pit at Sun Path Elementary. The students will be very excited to return to school and see this!

New Member Welcome

On June 14 we welcomed new Rotary member Rob Whitcomb! Stephen Huber did the induction. Congratulations Rob!

Meet the New Board Members for 2022-23

Tim Whitcomb inducted our new Board for the fiscal year 2022-23 which began July 1. Libby Bergen will be our president again this year, President Elect and International Committee Chair - Kathy Busch, Treasurer - Miles Lahr, Youth Programs Committee Chair - Sheila McNeill. Not pictured: Secretary - Holly Halloran, Membership Chair - Stephen Huber, Public Relations/Social Media Chair - Lisa Rahn. Thank you to all our volunteers who have taken on these leadership positions for this upcoming year.

Master Falconer Ben Ohlander Presents

Master Falconer, and former Rotary member Ben Ohlander brought his Siberian hawk to our July 12 meeting.

Upcoming Meeting Dates

Here are the upcoming meeting dates:

July 12

July 26

August 9

August 23

September 6

September 20

October 4

October 18

November 1

November 15

December 13

December 27 - No meeting

New Members

We are excited to welcome our newest members Peter Boosalis with Hometown Bank and Tim Zunker with the Shakopee Chamber of Commerce into our club.

Gaga Ball Pit Donation

On Tuesday, Shakopee Rotary Club donated $800.00 to Sun Path PTO from our gambling funds. Accepting the check on behalf of Sun Path PTO is Braden Burger whose Scout Project is the design and construction of a Gaga Ball Pit on the grounds of Sun Path Elementary School. Sun Path PTO is the 501(c)(3) organization which made the request on behalf of Braden Burger.

2022 Loaves and Fishes Dates

Here are the 2022 Loaves and Fishes dates! If this is a favorite event for you, sign up today by contacting Sheila McNeill.

October 11th 2022

Rotary Scholarships for Graduate Study Abroad

District 5950 will provide funding for at least two Global Grant Scholarships annually.

Criteria

Funding amount: $30,000, which can be used for one or more years of study.
Graduate study in a degree program in a country other than the United States, where the institution of study is located in a Rotary District, but is not one of Rotary’s five Peace Centers.
Cannot use the scholarship to fund studies that have already begun.
The area of study and the applicant’s planned vocation must be in one of The Rotary Foundation’s seven areas of focus:

For more information, click here

Shakopee Rotary Donates School Supplies to CAP Agency

Shakopee Rotarians donated over $800 worth of school supplies to CAP Agency!!

Pictured is Jeff Hansen, CEO of the CAP Agency and Michele Dahl.

ValleyFair Tour

Thank you to our member and executive director, Raul Rehnborg of ValleyFair for taking our club members on a fun outing for our meeting today! We got to ride on the carousel and listen to a great presentation on the history of the park and its contributions to our community. Then we got a walking tour to learn more about the park and particularly see their preparation for the very fun new “ Grand Carnivale” event starting this week running through August. The social responsibility of this corporation is exemplary and our community is lucky to have this asset here. Thanks again Raul for a very fun meeting!

More Photos From Shakopee Celebrates Reading

More classroom photos from Shakopee Celebrates Reading!

Shakopee Celebrates Reading!

Shakopee Rotary once again sponsored the Shakopee Celebrates Reading event. This week the first graders in the Shakopee School District are receiving a free backpack filled with a book and other goodies – almost 600 students in total! Below are some photos of classrooms receiving their backpacks and free books! Typically, the Shakopee Rotary meets in person for this event but we were thrilled we could still do this virtually with the help of the videos and our great teachers.

Recent Club Donations

Shakopee Rotary recently donated to the following:

Shakopee Senior Grad Party (SSGP). It’s for a safe & fun activity held locally at Canterbury this year. Our club donated $1000.
Esperanza-CAP Agency. For their needs including summer programs, food distributions, and mental health support. Our club donated $2500.
Shakopee Community Education Race for the 2021 Celebration of Children Run/Walk. Proceeds promote academic, social, and personal growth. Our club donated $500.

Shakopee Rotary Bridging Project Update

Thank you Lee Hennen for coordinating another year of our Club participation in donating to Bridging. It’s always great to get our volunteers together to help provide household goods for those in need.