August 14, 1933 was a day Bluffton will never forget.
That's the day John Dillinger's gang robbed Citizens National Bank in Bluffton, spraying downtown with machine gun fire as they made their escape. Bluffton historian Fred Steiner told us that there were only eight people on Main Street when the robbery occurred, but if everyone claiming to be on Main Street during the robbery was actually there, they would fill the Civic Center, and everyone had their own story to tell. The facts were: the robbery occurred at noon and took about five minutes. It's estimated that 40 shots were fired from both revolvers and sub-machine guns. The gang got away with $2,100, approximately $40,000 in today's money. It wasn't until four weeks later that it was learned that the robbery was staged by Dillinger's gang. Dillinger was caught and locked up in the Allen County jail. Four days later, on October 12, 1933, his gang broke him out, killing Sheriff Jess Sarber. On July 22, 1934, Dillinger was shot and killed in Chicago.
Also at Monday's meeting, we inducted three new members: Jessica Trinko, Executive Director of Lima Convalescent Home; her husband David Trinko, Editor of The Lima News; and Todd Benz, General manager of The Lima News. Please make them welcome!
You have been mailed ballots for Board of Trustees for the Lima Rotary Club and Lima Rotary Foundation. Please vote and return the ballots promptly.
The candidates for the Lima Rotary Board are: Demi Burden, Adah Ellerbrock, Sarah Newland, Tracey Regula, Tim Stanford, and Jeff Unterbrink.
The candidate for the Lima Rotary Foundation Board are: Aimee Bucher, Chris Hardesty, Berlin Carroll, Tommie Harner, Craig Kupferberg, and Aaron McLaurine.
Thank you to these candidates for stepping up and agreeing to take a leadership role in our club!
The Lima Rotary Club is exploring projects that Empower Girls.
Our Rotary International President has an initiative called “Empowering Girls." Rotary clubs and districts can participate by creating and implementing projects that enhance the quality of life for girls and improve girls’ chances of enjoying safe, healthy, and productive lives. Clubs can also modify existing projects to include components that focus on empowering girls. Lima Rotary is establishing a committee to develop a project or projects that work toward empowering girls. Our first meeting will be on Monday March 21 at 11 am in Room 6 at the Civic Center. This will be a brainstorming meeting to review current programs in our community and develop suggestions for collaboration with them or for a new program. Anyone interested in helping is welcome to attend. If you are interested but are not able to attend, please email Dr. Susan Hubbell at shubbell@wcoil.com. Also if you have any suggestions regarding projects, please email Dr. Hubbell.
The Lima Rotary Club's Spring Blood Clinic is April 30.
The Lima Rotary Club's Spring Blood Clinic is an outstanding opportunity to receive a variety of blood screenings at a low cost. Don't miss your opportunity to receive this valuable check on your health. You may download the registration form here. Please fill it out and bring it with you to the clinic.
As one of the world’s largest humanitarian organizations, Rotary has made peace the cornerstone of our global mission. We are deeply concerned about the Ukraine crisis and need your help.
Rotary is made up of people of action, especially in difficult times. In response to the deepening refugee crisis, The Rotary Foundation Trustees have decided to prioritize contributions made to the Disaster Response Fund until 30 April 2022 to support disaster response grants for districts affected by these events. These expedited disaster response grants can be used to supply water, food, medicine, shelter, and clothing.
Half a million people have fled Ukraine and are in dire need of emergency aid. The United Nations estimates that number of refugees could grow to as many as 5 million people displaced. Rotary clubs in Europe and around the world have stepped up their relief work, some working on the ground to help displaced families.
With your donation to our Disaster Response Fund, we can support communities and help rebuild lives during this tragic time.
Sincerely,
John Germ Trustee Chair, 2021-22 The Rotary Foundation
People get safe drinking water from a filtration facility in Karachi, Pakistan. The facilities were installed through a decades-long partnership between Rotary clubs and Coca Cola Pakistan. Rotary members also worked with the community to provide hygiene training and to teach community members how to operate and maintain the equipment to ensure sustainability.
Today, 2 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water services and 3.6 billion people lack safely managed sanitation services.* Without these basic necessities, people are exposed to a higher risk of disease, impacting their ability to earn a living and attend school. This issue also disproportionately impacts women and girls who, in many communities, are responsible for fetching water from sources far from their homes.*
March is Rotary Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) month. Through WASH programs, Rotary’s people of action mobilize resources, form partnerships, and invest in infrastructure and training that yield long-term change.
Learn how Rotary members and participants are supporting WASH around the globe:
In Sierra Leone, the Rotaract Club of Freetown Sunset collaborated with a local engineering company to construct a well with hand pumps for a local orphanage to make clean water more accessible. Read more.
In Nigeria, Rotary clubs in Enugu State worked together to host a seminar about the importance safe drinking water and ways that residents could increase access to clean water, such as through boreholes, water sanitation campaigns, wells, and water treatments. Read more.
In India, the Rotary Community Corps of Chennai Metrozone sponsored the construction of two handwashing stations for a secondary school. Read more.
In the Philippines, the Rotary Club of Downtown Dagupan provided water collection tanks to a nearby community to help residents collect and store rainwater. Read more.
Rotary clubs in Taiwan supported the construction of a drinking water filtration station at a high school in Northern Thailand. Read more.
Inspired to start your own WASH project? Take advantage of the resources below.
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