We had a great turnout for our 2nd annual Candy Land tournament with 16 players taking part. We were joined by Susan Cherry and Jim McFaul from St. Johnsbury Rotary, and guests - Heidi Gingue, Amanda McFarland, Topher Morse, Alexis Proia, and Maddy Vaal. The competition was fierce! Thank you to all who joined us! You made it a fun night and helped us raise $370 for Rotary Foundation's Polio+ initiative.
First Place - Sarah Piper
Second Place - Tom O'Reilly
Third Place - Alexis Proia
The final 4 - Sarah, Alexis, Tom, and Topher.
Hygiene Product Drive
Our third annual hygiene product drive, held at the White Market in St. Johnsbury was a huge success. Thanks to all who worked the drive, donated products, sorted items, and delivered to Umbrella. We also donated items for students at St. Johnsbury Academy, and will add them to our donation for H.O.P.E.
The impact - update from Umbrella: We operate a 7 room shelter in St. Johnsbury and a 2 bedroom shelter in Newport for people fleeing domestic violence. Oftentimes, people don't come to the shelter with their belongings or with hygiene products. This donation ensures that the people entering shelter - often mothers and children - have access to basic necessities. 112 people were housed in this program last year.
Tom and Kory ready to accept donations.
Brynn, Rose, Tom, Rob, Bob, and Sarah with all the donated hygiene products.
Delivering products to Umbrella - Brynn, Amanda Cochrane (Umbrella Executive Director), Rose, and Kory.
Sensory-Friendly Halloween
Thank you to Rose and Randall for taking part in St. Johnsbury Athenaeum's first ever sensory-friendly Halloween event. This offered sensory-sensitive youth a calm, welcoming space to enjoy trick or treating, crafts, and other activities. Rotary Kingdom Impact was one of 17 organizations taking part.
Becky Hatfield, the organizer of the event shared: Thank you so much for your participation. Overall, we had 41 youth in attendance. Several families expressed their gratitude and appreciation for this event. One parent even said that having events like these helps her two young children to have positive experiences at a time when they might otherwise feel scared or left out of events.
Randall and Rose handed out candy, glow sticks, fake vampire teeth, and sticker sheets.
What's up Next?
Save the Date for our Holiday Social
December 9th from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Location and details TBD
Service Projects:
Holiday Boutique Drive for Cornerstone and Arlington Schools
Collecting gently used or new items so students can "shop" for gifts for their families. Items can be dropped off at Brynn's office at SJA by December 9th. View the flyer and please share with others to help spread the word.
December 10th - Help deliver items to Cornerstone School. Meet at Brynn's office (85 Fairbanks Drive, St. J) at 12:20 to load up, or meet us at Cornerstone School at 12:30.
H.O.P.E. Donation
In the next week or so, we will gather for a "sticker" party and prep the tents, sleeping pads, tarps, mylar emergency blankets, tide single size packets, tarps, and bungee cords for our donation to H.O.P.E.'s homelessness program. Thanks to Rotary District 7850 for funding this project! Keep your eye on your email for the date and time.
St. J. Sparkles Event - December 12th from 9:00 - 2:00
We typically have a card-making table for Meals on Wheels at the Welcome Center. This year, the event is a little different, and they are partnering up non-profits with local businesses. We are trying to determine if we have interest in taking part. Please email Brynn at rotarybrynn@gmail.com if you are interested and available to help at any point that day.
