Last night's meeting was a meeting for service!  Not only were many club members in attendance, but some new possible members were there as well, lending a hand.  The working group also included another 25 people (or so) from the community, all there to help bag rice!

In total, 400 boxes of rice were bagged, besting the last record for a night of 150!  Excellent work was done by all, and kudos all who supported the event.

Check out the pictures here!

March 6: Kristen Hertzog, Executive Director of  Haitian Connection
Network (HCN), a 501c3 non profit organization, headquartered in Lancaster
County, PA. They run a safe Student Computer Center located in
Port-au-Prince, Haiti where students can earn an AA in Business Admin or
Computer Science, on-line and tuition-free through the U.S.-based
University of the People. Their partners include Yale University Law
School, NYU, Hewlett Packard and the Clinton Global Initiative. HCN then
provides opportunities for internships and post-graduation job placement
assistance within Haiti via a collaborative professional network. Their
website is: http://www.haitianconnectionnetwork.org/

March 13: Jeffrey Tinsman who is the Chairman of the Board of Directors
for the Harrisburg Area River Boat Society will be speaking. They maintain
and operate the Pride of Susquehanna that does river boat cruises during
the spring and summer.  They are a 501(c)3 and are very involved in community service. All of their board members are volunteers. Their website is http://www.harrisburgriverboat.com/.

March 20: Duane from Danzante Community Art Center is coming to speak.
Danzante program began in 1978 with the presentation of Spanish flamenco
dance and culture to residents of Central Pennsylvania. In 1992, Danzante
received 501(c)3 status and began after-school programming in collaboration
with the Church of the Brethren in South Allison Hill, Harrisburg, serving
primarily a Latino population. In 1999, Danzante initiated a capital
campaign totaling $333,000 and developed its state-of-the-art community
arts center in the McFarland Building on Crescent Street in South Allison
Hill. In 2004 Danzante received funding through the National Endowment on
the Arts to create and install the Mulberry Street murals. They are now in
their thirty-third year of existence and serve a multi-cultural group of
youth and adults. Their mission is to serve as a multicultural community
resource to provide artistic education for Latinos, Hispanics and others as
a means of developing career opportunities, healthy minds and bodies, and
respect for self and the environment. Their website is:
http://danzante.org/

March 27:  Doug Tierney from Kids Chance.  They are a non-profit organization who raises scholarships for children whose parents were killed in a work related accident.  http://www.kidschance.org/

The excitement began to build about a week before, as more Rotarians sent emails with names of expected guests for our 4th Annual Rotary Awareness Guest Night.  With a week to go, we were already expecting over 20 guests!

As the week progressed, names kept pouring in, and the final preparations to present the awesomeness of Rotary and the diversity of embracing “Service Above Self”, all while having fun, networking and being part of a worldwide community  much larger than ourselves, took on an energy all its own.

“Wow, can this be?” I thought as I started printing out nametags; counting over 40 names of expected guests. “I hope we have enough food!”  Remembering previous years of having lots of food left over, I took a deep breath and hoped for the best. Long story short, the energy carried straight through the evening and into the following days, as the feedback received from our guests was overwhelmingly positive.

Rotary is so much more than getting together to sing, eat a meal or hear a speaker. Rolling up our sleeves and seeking out partners to multiply our efforts has been the core for the Harrisburg Keystone Rotary Club, and will continue to be a focal point of what it means to be a Rotarian in this young, vibrant club!

With an eye toward minimizing time “in meetings,” and out-of-pocket costs, the Harrisburg Keystone Rotary Club is an ideal place to hang out, do good work, and build lifelong friendships.

Hearing little snippets of some aspects of what Rotary offers, including Group Study Exchange (GSE); efforts to eradicate polio; and local and international humanitarian service; as well as opportunities to develop leadership skills; and a warm, friendly, and safe environment to develop public speaking skills; all were inspired to give back to those in need.

And as a demonstration of new and excited commitment to serve, two Rotary members, Amber and Craig Mease, were installed and welcomed.

Two of our evening’s guests have already submitted their applications to join the club, and a dozen others are seriously considering making Rotary a regular part of their lives – each with their own reasons why this is important to them!

Thank you to all who participated and contributed!

David Ritter, Membership Chair

Harrisburg Keystone Rotary

dar.4.service@gmail.com