My fellow Changemakers, we are starting the second half of the 2025-2026 Rotary Year. Now is the time to step up and get involved in our club! I am pleased to announce that Julie Zillmer is our President-Elect, who will be president in 2026-27. We are still looking for a Treasurer, a co-chair of the service committee, a President Nominee who will be president in 2027-2028, and those interested in forming new committees. We always welcome your suggestions for our monthly guest speakers. Sydney Widell from the Coon Creek Community Watershed Council is our guest speaker on January 2nd. Invite your family and friends to join our monthly Zoom meeting at 8 am. And, join us for fellowship at 7:30. (Rotary International causes: Providing Clean Water and Protecting the Environment)
We still need a speaker for February 6th; please let me know if you have someone that you could invite. Our March speaker will be Ben Stanger, CEO and Founder of Green Box Compost in Sun Prairie. I have a Green Box Subscription and every other week my compost box is picked up and a new box is delivered for me to fill up. My statistics so far are 394 pounds diverted from the landfill, 390 driving miles offset, 2.6 seedlings planted, and 17 gallons of gas offset by diverting food scraps from the landfill. (Rotary International cause: Protecting the Environment) Bonus! I get five gallons of composted matter twice a year to add to my flower beds, AKA Pollinator garden.
Please join me and all of your fellow Changemakers in making this second half of the Rotary year a great one!
We have several position openings for the upcoming year, including membership committee, foundation committee, president, president elect, grants committee and treasurer. 
District Grants are based on giving to the Rotary Foundation. We are all encouraged to participate in the very Rotarian, Every Year program of donating $100 to the Rotary Foundation each year. Go to myrotary.org to make a payment or set up ongoing contributions.
The theme of the 2026 Rotary Rose Bowl Float will be unite for good. There is magic in teamwork. #Unite for Good.
Our application for a Rotary Peace Pole for Elmwood Elementary's Peace Pollinator Garden in Zion Illinois has been approved. Final logistics to get the chosen languages on the pole and delivery are underway. Elmwood Elementary School is planning a ceremony to dedicate and celebrate the pole, and to create an annual tradition to reaffirm their collective commitment to peace, empathy, and belonging.
Next month Sydney Widell will present on the Coon Creek Community Watershed as our guest presenter. Coon Creek watershed suffered major damage during a serious storm a few years ago. The community has rallied to prevent this type of damage happening in the future.
Our December speaker was Nancy Comello, member of the Board of Directors of Supporting Safe Birth, and member of the Rotary Club of Madison West Middleton. Their club project is Improving the health and survival of mothers and babies in Guatemala.
They have an upcoming global grant with a Guatemalan rotary club. The goal is to educate birth attendants in Guatemala. They have a high mortality rate for babies and for the mothers. Most of the deaths are preventable.
Training will include sending Manikins and other training aids to train the attendants. The project conforms to Global Health Best Practices.
Keep the Rotary International Foundation on your list of worthy recipients. If you haven’t yet donated to the annual fund now is the time. Besides fulfilling your pledge to Every Rotarian, Every year, you can donate now to include it in your annual charitable gift giving to be declared among your tax deductible contributions for 2025. And don’t forget Rotary’s goal to End Polio. If your friends, neighbors, colleagues, or relatives ask for ideas for charitable deductions, I highly recommend that you encourage them to donate to the Rotary International Foundation. (rotary.org/donate) 
The service committee has news from the Ukrainian-Hungarian Bilingual School for Ukrainian Refugees! Viktória Griessmüller, the founder of this school, has been recognized for her work, as one of the 40 under 40 Business Elite Europe honorees. She also received the Rotary International’s highest distinction - the Service Above Self Award, becoming the first person in Hungary to receive this global recognition for humanitarian impact. “Viktória transformed crisis into opportunity, creating the largest ongoing Rotary peace and conflict resolution initiative in education worldwide. Through partnerships with three non-profit organizations and collaborators across five continents, Victória has mobilized more than $500,000 in funding and in-kind support - $300,000 already delivered and $200,000 in progress - ensuring both educational continuity and community resilience for families affected by war. Over the past two years, the Ukrainian Refugee School in Budapest has provided Ukrainian-language education to more than 450 refugee children and employment for 43 displaced teachers and two psychologists.” (Business Elite Awards) Our Rotary district is ready to share funds we have collected for this school when the Global Grant is approved. (Rotary cause: Supporting Education)
And speaking of Nancy’s Rotary Club, its President Mary Beth Growney Selene is pictured in the montage of Rotarians titled What Makes Us Happy pages 36-37 in the December Rotary Magazine, The Happiness Issue. 
Sharon Bradish, Val Wachuta, and Julie Zilmer from our club attended the Vibrant Club Workshop in downtown Madison on November 1st, networking with members from other clubs in our district and getting ideas on making our club more vibrant.
Changemakers Rotary Club has received the 2024-2025 Club Excellence Award for achieving at least half of the goals in Rotary Club Central. We reached all 18 of our selected goals! Sure, we mentioned this last month, but it's a big enough deal to repeat ourselves!
Changemakers Rotary@Changemaker_Rotary
Service Above Self
La Crosse, WI 54601
United States of America