Tag Archives: service organization

Have You Volunteered Lately?

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Monday Morning

We had a nice turnout of 20 members at our Monday meeting along with our speaker, Nancy Zompolas from the Volunteer Center of Fond du Lac County and Craig Larson, guest of Gary Ring.  Gary Ring made a donation presentation from the Spiritual Aims Committee to a needy family to help with the purchase of a used minivan.  The presentation was made to Craig Larson who spearheaded the fund raising efforts through social media to help this needy family.  Gary Ring also reminded Club members that Spiritual Aims is also collecting books for “Raffle Basket” for an upcoming Grief Relief fund raiser.   “Happy Bucks” were offered by Gary Ring in celebration of his and Lois’ 40th wedding anniversary over the weekend, Del Waldschmidt to promote our upcoming NFDL PDQ Brat Fry on April 11th, Harry Schneider for a lucky weekend at the Knights of Columbus Bowling Tournament, Jan Krug for being back from a wonderful vacation in Mexico and Glen Treml for a new grandbaby on the way.  Jackie King was the 50/50 Raffle winner on Monday and she drew the King of Spades, a non-winner.  Next week’s drawing will have 46 cards, including eight pay cards, and a pot of at least $74.

Nancy Zompolas, Volunteer Center
Nancy Zompolas joined us on Monday morning to update us on what’s happening at the Volunteer Center.  Nancy has been the Executive Director at the Volunteer Center for the past three years and has facilitated a number of growth areas at the Center.  They currently have a branch office in donated space at the Ripon School District to help extend this valuable resource into western Fond du Lac County.  Nancy talked about two programs that have really taken off over the past couple of years.  First of these is the Higher Education cService-Learning Program.

The Volunteer Center works closely with faculty and staff from local higher education institutions to help them develop service-learning experiences for their students.  Whenever possible, project ideas are submitted directly by the agencies they serve.  Participation in these programs has been growing nicely since they started several years ago.

The second program that Nancy talked about was Youth Civic Engagement & Service-Learning.  This program connects youth to service opportunities that will promote civic responsibility, understanding of diversity, skill development, and practical application of curriculum objectives. This is accomplished through the Youth & Family Volunteer Guide, the annual Youth Leadership Camp, summer school programs in Ripon and Rosendale/Brandon school districts, and partnerships with local educators.  According to Nancy, this program has exploded, especially as more students are looking for service opportunities for various reasons.  The Volunteer Center is currently working with 52 different youth groups to match them up with various service projects that will fulfill the mission of the various groups.   While Nancy didn’t give us a number of how many youth are involved it sounds like there are a lot of youth involved in these programs.

Nancy closed with a brief description of “Kitchen Table Kits” that allow just about anyone to do some volunteer activity.

What’s Being Done for Veterans in Fond du Lac?

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Monday Morning

We had 19 members at our Monday meeting back at the Retlaw along with four guests; our speaker Sandra Smet, Melissa Hildebrand a nursing student from MPTC, Stephanie Remillard, Library Director from the Campbellsport Public Library and Paula Thalacker from the Noon Club.  Paula was selling lunch and raffle tickets for the Noon Club’s Grilled Cheese & Chili Lunch on February 19th.  She also talked a little about a possible charter bus to International Convention this summer.  The Young Children’s Priority One Committee made a donation presentation to Stephanie for the 1,000 books before kindergarten program.  Caron Daugherty introduced Melissa to the Club as the recipient of an MPTC/Kiwanis scholarship to go to Jamaica on a service project sponsored by MPTC.   Paula had a Happy Buck for being to our meeting on time and Glen Treml had one because he’s going on vacation.  Vickie Goldapske was the 50/50 Raffle winner on Monday.  She drew the Nine of Hearts, a non-winner.  Next week’s drawing will have 50 cards, including eight pay cards, and a pot of at least $17.

Sandra Smet, American Legion Trier Puddy Post 75 

Since their charter in 1919, our American Legion Post has been welcoming VETERANS from all branches of our Armed Forces. Today, they continue to welcome all military personnel serving our country. Joining our Post enables you to continue serving your God, Country and Community.  Their mission is to implement the goals, aspirations, dreams, peace and blessings for our country, friends and families embodied in their preamble.

A Women’s Auxiliary of Batavia Post 504 was formed on November 10, 1921. The Legion has every reason to be proud of its Auxiliary, which gained statewide recognition because of its programs of service. Auxiliary members are always anxious and willing to cooperate in every Legion activity.

Sandra talked about her personal experiences as a veteran’s spouse and all the help they need.  She also talked about the Badger Girl’s State that their Auxiliary sponsors every year and to which our Club regularly donates to.

What’s Going to Happen to Lakeside Park?

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Monday Morning

We had a better turnout of 18 members at our Monday meeting even with the bitter cold.  Our scheduled program wasn’t able to attend due to a medical emergency.  Happy Bucks were offered by Charlene Pettit for the extra minutes of daylight we’re getting each day so it’s a little lighter in the mornings on her way to babysit her grandchildren and by Dan Leeds, even though he didn’t have an extra $1, for the birth of his second grandchild on the same date as his first grandchild.  Charlene noted that the Social Committee is organizing an after Project Linus gathering for drinks once a new date has been set.  Gary Miller was the 50/50 Raffle winner this week and he drew the Two of Hearts, a non-winner.  Next week’s drawing will have 43 cards with eight pay cards and a pot of at least $114.

Lakeside Park Survey

Since our scheduled program wasn’t able to attend, Gary Miller took the opportunity to talk about the current efforts underway to get input on future uses of Lakeside Park.

The Lakeside Park Exploratory Committee is seeking input from citizens, requesting they take a survey on the use of the park.  The results will help the committee understand how people use Lakeside Park and may identify improvements that might lead to more usage.

Paper copies of the survey are available at Fond du Lac City County Government Center, Fond du Lac Public Library and Fond du Lac Senior Center. Completed surveys may be dropped into a box at each location.

The survey can also be taken online and must be completed by Jan. 15.

Gary encouraged everyone to take the time to provide input to help the City Council in their deliberations on how to best position Lakeside Park for the future.