From President Dan O'Keefe:
As Club President for Prior Lake Rotary, it seems daunting having 52 weeks in front of you on July 1, and then, just like that, the Rotary year is halfway through! The fact that the Club has been very busy these first 6 months may have something to do with that.
The year started with a bang as Prior Lake Rotary’s Lakefront Music Fest was the most successful one ever. The annual event continued to be a place where our community comes together and where we are able to showcase our city to others. Part of that community engagement includes the hundreds of volunteers that help us put on this event, and that includes organizations. Following the event, we were able to share $46,267 of the profits with 27 organizations!
The Club continues to serve our community. Efforts this year include our staples, highway cleanup through the Adopt-A-Highway program, garden cleanup at Gateway Park, arranging for and serving a meal for teens for the TreeHouse organization, and new staple – the 2nd annual Pedal Prior event. Another event in its 2nd year was the Holiday Food Box. Once again, we packed food for families in need in our local communities. This year we supported 60 families, as we worked once again with Lunds & Byerly’s to purchase the food, and then with the CAP Agency to get the food in the right hands.
New projects included Marilyn’s TWOcan giving rides to seniors who can no longer ride on their own utilizing wheelchair trikes, beautifying Gateway Park with festive lights, and building beds for kids for the organization Sleep in Heavenly Peace. That included delivering beds to families on Christmas Eve.
Helping youth is a very important part of Prior Lake Rotary’s mission. Our STRIVE mentoring for students at Bridges Area Learning Center is stronger than ever this year! We have 30 students and mentors this year. The students of Bridges were each given a gift card and treated to a holiday lunch all paid for by Prior Lake Rotary. The Youth Service team staffed a booth at The Little Market That Could this past year, one of several of our teams that participated. They gave away free books and bookmarks to youth.
The Equity and Inclusion team was formed in 2020. One of the team’s roles is to help bring awareness and understanding to the work around anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion. The Club worked with our partners, Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools, cities of Prior Lake, Savage, Credit River, and Spring Lake Township, for a successful 1st annual Prior Lake Rotary’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day breakfast on January 17, at Prior Lake High School. We had well over 100 participants!
The Membership team has been busy as well. We inducted 8 new members, which brought our overall membership above 100 for the first time! We are always looking for “People of Action” that want to do good and have some fun!