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Feed My Starving Children
This yearâs Feed My Starving Children MobilePack Event was a great success.  We had a total of 574 people volunteering this year and we packed a record number of meals.  It was a total of 124,416 meals, which is enough to feed 315 starving children for an entire year.  We will find out in the next couple weeks where our meals will be sent to.
Rotary was proud to be able to partner with the many wonderful businesses, organizations, school groups, and churches that made this humanitarian effort possible.  Thank you to everyone who helped with this event and for truly making a difference in the lives of starving children.
Feed My Starving Children Volunteers Needed
Winona Rotary is hosting Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) MobilePack Event on Saturday, October 7th at RiverStar, 1705 Wilke Dr.  This is an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of starving children around the world.
We need your help to volunteer for this important event.  There are many different opportunities available.  Family and friends are welcome to help as well.
If you are able to help, please sign up at Wednesdayâs meeting or contact Autumn at 450-1320 or email@example.com.  Thank you to everyone who has already signed up to help.
This is a great event and a perfect example of how Rotary is doing good in the world. We hope all of you will take part in this great event. Come help us to feed the starving children of the world.
Rotary Social on July 19th
TIME:  5:00-7:30
DETAILS:    We will still have our regular 12:00 meeting that day!  Guests are welcome!!
PLEASE RSVP TO CHERIE at firstname.lastname@example.org with the number in your party - there will be a charge for each guest and you will be billed if you RSVP.
Directions to the Farm
The farm is located at 27171 County Highway 9. Click here for complete directions and a map.Please note that if you are using GPS or Google Maps to find us, be sure that you are going to the address north of I-90. You may want to use Cedar Valley Lutheran Church as a proxy; we're right next door.
Rotary Rose Sale Update
Thank you to everyone who participated in this year's Rose Sale.  There are a couple people who still need to turn in their rose packet, so please bring that to Rotary on Wednesday or get it to one of the Rose Sale committee members ASAP.  We had a few people who did an outstanding job and sold lots of lots of roses, however our overall numbers were way down this year.  So if you know anyone else who might still want to buy some more roses please let me know this week.  And remember the distribution dates are June 6-7 at Hy-Vee.
The Rose Sale helps us to be able to do many of our youth and community projects such as the Dictionary Project, Rotary Readers, Books for Babies, Student of the Month, college scholarships, Camp RYLA and Camp Enterprise, and many more.  Thank you, and to everyone you sold to, for helping to support these great projects!


The committee will meet tomorrow - Thursday  February the 2nd at 5:00 pm at Blooming Grounds Coffeehouse backroom (Downtown location)

Everyone is welcome to join us and we would strongly encourage your participation !!

Our Bike Tour will be held this year on September 16th and we really do NEED everyone's help to make this a successful event!

Please contact Cherie Burke 507-450-7867 or Mike Bernatz 507-457-9808 with any questions!

Scenic Ride for a Good Cause

This was featured on the front page of the Winona Daily News today

The Winona Rotary Club will be hosting a cultural and scenic fundraising tour of southeast Minnesota Saturday, available from the view of a bicycle seat.

The organization will host its fourth annual Ride the Ridges event, where bicycle riders from across the region start in Winona and ride through one of four routes in a non-competitive ride, stopping at local towns and rest stops along the way for cultural delicacies and entertainment.

Co-chair for the event and Rotarian Mike Bernatz said the club will donate all funds from sponsors and registration fees to local organizations the club supports, such as Feed My Starving Children and the kidsâ summer lunch program in Winona.

The club also uses the funds to provide dictionaries for all third-grade students in Winona County and to provide books for every mom and child leaving Winona Health after birth.

Through the ride and groups it supports, Bernatz said the club views the event as serving a dual purpose: promoting community health and supporting charities.

âItâs fun, itâs non-competitive, so that anybody can ride that is able to do the distance,â Bernatz said. âThe purpose of it is a fundraiser for Rotary, and that doesnât put money in our pockets our club pockets. But we turn around, and we donate it to projects.â

The ride consists of an 18-mile route, a 40-mile route, a 63-mile route and a 106-mile route.

Riders often comment on the challenge the routes present, Bernatz said, due to the approximately 4,700 feet of overall climbing through the bluffs, depending on the route taken.

âPeople say they come because of the hills, the challenge, the distance. They can go out and ride for a whole day, and itâs completely supported,â Bernatz said.

Along the routes, Bernatz said, there will be marker signs, and volunteers from Winona County Sheriffâs Department to encourage safe driving, road sharing and lead the riders to their destinations.

âWeâre all sharing the road,â Bernatz said. âSo we really appreciate people slowing down, moving over. Just taking it easy.â

Other rider amenities available include free food vouchers for the Kinstone food truck, showers at the Winona Middle School, volunteers from the Winona Amateur Radio Club for communication purposes, activities and food at every rest stop along the way, and vehicles that drive around with volunteers available to help with bike repairs and picking up any stragglers who have run into mechanical issues.

Bernatz added that bikers are strongly encouraged to leave Southeast Technical College and head up County Road 17 on their routes by 7 to 9 a.m. Rest stops will be available in Rushford, Houston, La Crescent, South Ridge church, Witoka and near New Hartford.

With options like lefse in Rushford or apples in La Crescent, the ride also includes a tour of the local flavor in towns around the route, Bernatz said.

âYou get a lot of people that maybe are keeping track of their miles and times, but when they get to the rest stops itâs just fun,â Bernatz said. âWe like to think of it as a social event than a highly competitive athletic event.â

From District Gov. Jum Hunt
Dear Rotarian, for 2016-17, Rotary International President John Germ has given us the grand theme of Rotary Serving Humanity. It is a powerful theme, that encompasses all we do as Rotarians.  âI believe everyone recognizes the opportunity to serve Rotary for what it truly is: not a small opportunity, but a great one; an opportunity of a lifetime to change the world for the better, forever through Rotaryâs service to humanity,â John Germ.
Jim Hunt
D5960 District Governor 2016-17
Ride the Ridges A scenic bicycle tour through the bluff lands of SE Minnesota.
See www.RideTheRidges.info.

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 Meeting Information Service Above Self

We meet Wednesdays at 12:00 PM
302 East Sarnia ST
Winona, MN  55987

Club Executives & Directors
Brad Bullard
Past President
Cherie Burke
JC Pfeiffer
Carrie McGhee
Tom Wynn
President Elect
Matthew Senne
Tara Venable
Scott Camp
Eric Schoh
Jeni Arnold
Jodi Barton
Hamid Akbari
Taff Roberts
Fatima Said
Five years since its debut, Rotary Club Central is getting a big upgrade
Rotary International Board adopts new zone structure
Centennial celebration honors 20 noteworthy global grant projects
Convention: Southern hospitality
Member spotlight: The power of the press