Byesville Rotary awards 2021 scholarships

Pictured: Maycee Dickey, Lynsey Dudley, Glavin Kreniski, and Cale Warner.

Byesville Rotary is pleased to announce the recipients of the club’s 2021 scholarships. This year the club increased the amount of the scholarships and presented $1000 scholarships to four graduating seniors.

Glavin Kreniski, attending Mid East Career and Technical Center Buffalo Campus, will be attending Zane State College, He plans to major in programming and information systems.

Cale Warner, from Byesville and attending Meadow Brook, plans to attend Ohio University—Zanesville. Cale plans to earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing and specialize in sports medicine.

Lynsey Dudley, from Byesville and attending Meadow Brook, will be attending Muskingum University. She plans to major in psychology and minor in criminal justice. Her goal is to become a forensic psychologist or a correctional counselor.

Maycee Dickey, from Senecaville and attending Meadow Brook, will be attending Columbus State Community College. She plans to major in nursing and become an RN. She would like to work in a childens hospital and would like to specialize in working with babies with special needs.

Byesville Rotary members are proud to be helping each of these recipients achieve their goals for the future and wish them the best of luck.

Connect with #ByesvilleRotary at: www.Byesvillerotary.blogspot.com , Twitter Byesville_Club, or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Byesville-Rotary/256548047818283. Watch the Byesville Rotary Facebook page for details.

 

Byesville Rotary: the little club that could

 

Club members and volunteers pack Xmas boxes

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For almost 20 years, Byesville Rotary has provided Christmas Food Baskets to residents of the Rolling Hills School District. This year--in spite of COVID-19, in spite of canceling 2 popular fund raisers Breakfasts with the Easter Bunny and with Santa—club members made a commitment to provide baskets again this year.

Challenge number 1: the 23 members of the club came up with new ideas to raise money. Project co-chairs—Jordi and Dennis Harding—set the goal at $8000 to provide for 200 families.

The Stuff Santa’s Stocking fundraiser could be done outside at an intersection. Members could wear masks and keep an arm’s length away from people in vehicles. Club members held 2 of these fund raisers raising 1/3 of the budget needed.

The club wrote and submitted 3 grants: a Rotary District grant, a United Way grant, and a third grant written when the club was invited by Byesville mayor Jay Jackson to submit a grant for CARES funds received by Byesville. To date, the club has been awarded a Rotary District Grant and a CARES Grant from Byesville.

A GoFundMe Charity account was established. That account raised $1,960 in 1 month.

Challenge number 2: ensure that each dollar spent was used as effectively as possible to buy non-perishable items. Project co-chairs worked with the Main Avenue Methodist Food Pantry to purchase non-perishable items from the Mid-Ohio Food Bank. Perishables were purchased from local business.

Final challenge—recruit enough club members and volunteers to pack 400 food boxes—2 for each family—and develop a system to keep all volunteers safe. Thank you, Jordi for all your planning.

On December 18, club members, friends, family members and student volunteers from Rosencrantz and Shenandoah, high schools, Mideast CTC and Mount Union College met to fill baskets. On December 19, a drive-by distribution process allowed families to pick up their food baskets without getting out of their vehicles. Baskets were distributed to 200 families—totaling about 800 people that will be supported by the Christmas food baskets.

Two boxes of food were provided to each family with enough food to provide a Christmas dinner and several good meals to start the new year. Perishables included a turkey, turkey breast or ham, 1 gallon of milk, butter, eggs, potatoes, oranges and apples. A second box of non-perishables included cans of fruit and vegetables, noodles, pasta, peanut butter or jam, dish soap, cereal, tomato sauce and mac and cheese.

Without community support, this project could not have happened.

Byesville Rotary is a small club but a club that is blessed to have individuals from the community and local businesses make contributions toward this important service project. Club members are very grateful to each person that drove by our Stuff Santa Stocking volunteers and made a donation. You have helped make this Christmas happier for 800 people. Thank you.

Connect with #ByesvilleRotary at: www.Byesvillerotary.blogspot.com , Twitter Byesville_Club, or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Byesville-Rotary/256548047818283. Watch the Byesville Rotary Facebook page for details. #6690

Example of box with non-perishable items.

 

 

 

 

 

Example of box with perishable items.

Byesville Rotary learns about Senior Citizen Center challenges for 2020

Pictured: Shon Gress, Executive Director of the Guernsey County Senior Citizens Center and Meals on Wheels, and Shana Fair, speaker host.

Byesville Rotary welcomed Shon Gress, Executive Director of the Guernsey County Senior Citizens Center, to the club’s recent meeting. Gress spoke to club members the COVID-19 challenges the Center faces and how he and the Senior Center staff are facing those challenges.

Shon Gress identified his challenges as providing services deemed essential with the building closed, implementing a 160 page list of state and federal requirements, and managing to pay for services to seniors and meet new requirements with a budget based on the needs of a typical year.

Gress reported his first actions were to ensure that seniors would not go hungry. The Center offered to grocery shop for seniors and expanded Meals on Wheels services. Meals on Wheels numbers ballooned from an average of 550 a day to over 1260 a day. When the Center had to close satellite sites in rural areas, Gress substituted a “Grab and Go” program in which hot meals could be picked up at satellite sites 5 days a week.

In addition to providing meals, Gress stated he initiated several new or expanded services. The Center began to pick up and deliver prescription drugs. To ensure seniors could get to and from appointments, transportation services began including Saturday mornings.

Gress explained regulations require Center staff to avoid contact with the seniors they were serving. That required some training. Staff had to deliver meals by placing meal on porch or stoop and backing off.

Expenses for the Center increased with the increased demand for services and with regulations requiring more disinfecting and PPE equipment for staff. Gress responded by spending more time writing grants. He stated that in four months he raised $469,00 in grants which helped stretch his budget. 

Gress pointed out that he is preparing for the future. He explained that when COVID first became a problem in late winter, people had hope and looked forward to spring and summer and the end of COVID. In order to prevent the mental and physical health of seniors being affected, Gress said he and his staff are trying to develop programs that will counteract feelings of isolation and loneliness.

The presentation was live streamed to the club’s Facebook page.

The club held a second Stuff Santa’s Stocking fundraiser on October 17. Community support was generous. The club has now raised 63% of the funds needed to provide Christmas food baskets to Rolling Hills families. The club continues to accept donations to support this project.

Donations may be mailed to Byesville Rotary, P.O. Box 211, Byesville, OH 43723. For additional information, contact any member of the Byesville Rotary or post to our Facebook page – search Byesville Rotary.

Connect with #ByesvilleRotary at: www.Byesvillerotary.blogspot.com , Twitter Byesville_Club, or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Byesville-Rotary/256548047818283. Watch the Byesville Rotary Facebook page for details.