All of this excitement and change was to provide the maximum time for Duluth Rotary Club #25 to hear from the two finalists and to vote to select our “Signature Project.”  President-elect Michelle Buria was the Chair of the Day presenting the work of the Strategic Planning Committee to seek out a signature project for the Club to fund at a level of $25,000 this year and into the future.

 

First up were Resource and Development Director Tammy Sundbom and CEO Todd Johnson, both from the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Northland. Their initiative was entitled “Mental Health Access Program” designed to address the growing concern of mental health issues facing Duluth youth. The mission of the Boys and Girls Clubs is to empower and inspire young people to reach their full potential. To improve reaching that potential, the plan calls for providing both counseling and mental health services at the Clubs to avoid the challenges of delay, transportation, and cost of outside referrals. With the counselor or therapist physically available at the Boys and Girls Clubs, children and their parents would be more likely to access the services. With the help of Rotary, in partnership with other resources provided by the College of St. Scholastica and Essentia Health, counseling and therapist services would be made available on site.

 

Next up were Children’s Program Manager Ashley Grimm and Development Director Katherine Mueller from the Damiano Center. Their initiative was entitled “Summer Food Corps” designed to address youth employment, community leadership and understanding of local food systems. The mission of the Damiano Center is to strengthen the community by providing essential services.  The Central Hillside area is a food desert with limited access to food. Another critical need is to prepare teenagers to seek and obtain employment. The Summer Food Corps addresses both issues by providing the opportunity to grow their own food, learn about food systems while providing teenagers the opportunity of a first job and leadership training. The Damiano Center works to grow futures. With the help of Rotary, in partnership with other resources provided by the Workforce Center and private foundations and corporations, the existing program would be expanded to hire teenage youth to lead the summer work.

 

Rotary funding for the selected signature project would be from the Rotary Duck Pluck scheduled for Thursday, August 15, 2019. The Rotary Duck Pluck fundraiser is a variation on the yellow rubber duck race. With the ducks contained in the slip near Pier B to avoid them interfering with the shipping lanes under the wings of the Army Corps of Engineers (and to avoid running afoul of the Minnesota Gaming Commission, which does not permit artificial movement of the ducks) as well as to avoid mother hen responses from the DNR (which is very protective of the St. Louis River), we have a pluck, not a race. What it is, is a family friendly event in and around Pier B the Thursday after the weekend of the Tall Ships and Blues Festivals. The event will replace our regular meeting so that we can witness which of the adopted 10,000 yellow ducks will be plucked and awarded cash prizes! And our members have the first right of refusal to be a sponsor of what may well become a premier annual event on the waterfront. Members should not miss the opportunity to become a Grand Quacker, a Quacker Backer, perhaps a Lucky Duck, or even Friend of the Flock.

 

Spoiler Alert - in case you have not yet read the recent email from Michelle Buria, the Boys and Girls Club of the Northland’s Mental Health
Access Program was selected as the recipient of our Signature Project Grant by secret ballot from the membership at our Thursday meeting.

Congratulations!