During the coronavirus shutdown, we are continuing to support the Reading Food Pantry by making weekly trips to the Greater Boston Food Bank.  Art Hayden is coordinating the driver & helper schedule.  The RFP is experiencing greater demands as more people are facing food insecurity.

 

If the RFP needs additional volunteers, they will be contacting us.  

 

Rotary has made an additional donation of food and gift cards.  If you or anyone else is looking to help the RFP, you can donate food at collection boxes at Stop & Shop and Market Basket.  Gift cards (increments of $25 or less) may be left at drop boxes at the Police Station or at the Town Hall (by the side entrance).  The Reading Food Pantry also has a Paypal for cash donations.

 

Pictured here are Jeanne Borawski and son Ray making the Food Bank Run this Thursday.  Jeanne has caught on to Reading Rotary's tradition of roping in family members to help with our projects.  Thanks, Jeanne & Ray!

 

We are scheduling our second club meeting through Zoom on Monday, April 13 at 12:15.  If you did not get the link, please contact Tim Kelley.

 

If you have questions about how to connect or call in, contact Tim.  

 

This new normal will take us all some time to adjust to and master.  I can't promise I have the answers, but I'll try to have my kids on call to help with the technical issues.  If my 86 year old mother can have 2 regular Zoom meetings per week, I'm confident we can master it, too.

 

We received a very sweet thank you note from Mrs. Foresman's 1st grade class at Wood End School for the Rotary Reader Project books and backpacks.  We got through about half our scheduled classes before school was furloughed.

 

RYLA, which was scheduled for May 8-10, has been postponed due to the pandemic lockdown.  We will update with any additional news as it comes in.

We hope everyone is doing as well as they can be during this public health emergency.  This crisis is unprecedented. 

 

If any of our Rotarians are in need of assistance with shopping or errands or anything else, please let me know.

 

Rotary would like to help, but we, like you, are in uncharted waters.  Rotary has members and volunteers who are willing to be of service, but we need help identifying persons or populations in need.

 

We know there are individuals, whether they be senior citizens or families, who may be in need of help with shopping or errands or other things.  If you know of someone who needs help in the community, please let us know.  We may be able to help or may be able to identify other resources.

 

We also know there are businesses that are hurting.  Local businesses, especially restaurants, are the first to be asked by local charities for donations of gift certificates, sponsorships, goods and services.  Those local businesses are the ones who have supported Rotary and so many other local groups in the past.  Now they are in dire need of our support.  Please consider ordering takeout, purchasing gift certificates or patronizing their business in some way (appropriate social distancing required).

 

We are struggling to see how we can help.  Please reach out to us with your ideas and let's stay a strong, united community during this crisis.  Perhaps as important as our physical needs now are social and emotional needs.

 

Our motto is Service Above Self.  This ethic can help keep us connected and lift our spirits.  

 

Best wishes to all from Reading Rotary.

Keep our schedule of meetings and events at the tip of your fingers.  You can sync the Club Calendar on ReadingMaRotary.org with Outlook, Google Calendar or Apple Calendar on your personal device.  Go to this page, click subscribe and follow the instructions.