Pleasant Valley Food Pantry (Aired on January 8, 2023)

           

Radio Rotary interviews Steve Gessner, Chairman of the Pleasant Valley Ecumenical Food Pantry. This is a local community food pantry sponsored by the four local churches in the hamlet of Pleasant Valley, NY. We serve the hungry and needy families in the district surrounding my local community. The Pleasant Valley Food Pantry is an agency the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, purchasing most of the food it distributes from the Food Bank at a discount. It distributes free food and items of person hygiene to about four hundred persons during a ninety-minute window each Wednesday. Families can choose the foods or supplied they want from a menu, although all get a package of fresh produce and bread along with their order. While 80% of the food distributed is from the Food Bank, the remainder is donated by individuals and groups such as the Pleasant Valley Rotary Club, which runs a food drive to fill a bus or truck with donations several times each year. The food pantry is an entirely volunteer effort with fifty or more local residents volunteering each week.

Learn More:
Pleasant Valley Ecumenical Food Pantry: https://www.nyconnects.ny.gov/services/pleasant-valley-ecumenical-food-pantry-sofa34725
Food Bank of the Hudson Valley: https://foodbankofhudsonvalley.org/
Pleasant Valley Rotary Club: https://rotarydistrict7210.org/clubinfo/pleasant-valley

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January 26, 2023 · Posted in Nutrition, Rotary Club Projects  

Vassar-Haiti Project Accomplishments (Aired on January 1, 2023)

         

Sarah O’Connell-Claitor and Kathy Kruger learn the latest development of the Vassar-Haiti Project (VHP) from Lila Meade, Executive Director of Vassar-Haiti Project (VHP), and Laury Senecal, Vassar senior who is president of the Vassar Rotaract Club and co-president of Student Executive Board. For twenty-one years, VJP the has improved the lives of Haitians in the remote mountaintop Haitian village of Chermaitre and its surroundings. Today Chermaitre and the surrounding area is served by a 200-student school, a clinic that treats 3,000 patients annually, solar-power system to bring electricity to the clinic. and a system bringing clean water to the community. A new project is adult education, teaching illiterate patients to read. Education, health, community economic improvement, and clean water are all Rotary goals as well, and 14 Rotary Clubs from District 7210 as well as three others from other districts, have been one of the main supports of VHP, along with annual sales of works by Haitian artists.

Learn More:
The Vassar Haiti Project: http://www.thehaitiproject.org/
The Rotary Foundation Global Grants: https://my.rotary.org/en/take-action/apply-grants/global-grants
Rotaract: https://www.rotary.org/en/get-involved/rotaract-clubs
Rotary District 7210:https://rotarydistrict7210.org/

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Red Hook Citizen of the Year (Aired On October 16, 2022)

      

Radio Rotary once again comes live from the Taste Budd’s Café in Red Hook.  On this program Carl Dowden, Chairman of the Red Hook Rotary Foundation,introduces Amy Smith, Red Hook Rotary’s Citizen of the Year for 2022. Smith is Director of Programs and Youth Services at Red Hook Public Library, but also is engaged with Red Hook Village in several other ways. She worked with Rotary and the Town of Red Hook on installing WiFi at the Red Hook Recreation Park for use during the covid pandemic. Smith also tutors English as A Second Language, and she is a member of both the Dutchess County Youth Board and the Think Differently Planning Committee, activities that earned her the Citizen award. Also on the program Red Hook Rotary President Jennifer Van Voorhis describes the Klick program for recycling and Red Hook Youth-Exchange (YEX) coordinator Christine Chale outlines two types of international youth exchange.

Learn More:
Red Hook Rotary Club: https://www.redhookrotaryclub.org/
Red Hook Rotary on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RedHookRotary/
Amy Smith on Daily Catch: https://www.thedailycatch.org/articles/rotary-club-names-red-hook-librarian-amy-smith-citizen-of-the-year/?fbclid=IwAR0MIGtLfcVo7KGlOzH4A0R0nocexkEjHPe12JCK0WCcdWKJpVMsUMp5C5w
Red Hook Public Library: https://redhooklibrary.org/
District 7210 Youth Exchange: http://yex7210.org/

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The Long Doggie Paddle & Bike Ride (Aired on Sept. 18, 2022)

Glenville Rotarian Jimmy Thomas has embarked on a five-month journey to support providing veterans with service dogs, dogs trained to aid in handling a specific medical need. A veteran Army MP himself, Jimmy knows first hand the difference a service dog can make. His dog, Boots, had been trained to prevent seizures and was remarkably successful, with Thomas going from a couple of seizures a month before Boots to a single episode in the five years that Boots was with him. Trained Service Dogs are very expensive, so Thomas is raising money from sponsors of his canoe trip from Glenville to Key West and bike ride back to his destination, the Veterans Administration in Albany, NY, with the money raised going to help veterans. Glenville Rotary has arranged for Rotary
Clubs along the route to support, feed, and house Thomas, although sometimes he will need to camp in a tent.

Learn More:
Doggie Paddle for Veterans: https://doggiepaddle.org/
Glenville Rotary Club: https://www.glenvillerotary.org/
America’s Vet Dogs:https://www.vetdogs.org/AV/getaservicedog/AV/DogPrograms/getaservicedog.aspx

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September 26, 2022 · Posted in Rotary Club Projects, Veterans  

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