AM Rotary Community Service Committee Projects

First Offenders Program: AM Rotary members volunteer for and train as probation representatives for first time offenders assigned to this program by the Court. The members set up and conduct required monthly meetings to discuss the probationee's situation and act as a mentor, letting the person knows the community does care about their actions and their successful rehabilitation.

Partners in Reading: This program was developed, and is administered by Pat Schnack, a teacher in the Iowa City Community School District. AM Rotary members volunteer to be a reading partner to an 8th grade student at Southeast Junior High. Both the student and the Rotarian read the same book over a six-week period, and exchange weekly journal entries. They write about their opinions and reactions to the book, plus personal information about each other. It has proven to be a positive and meaningful experience for both student and Rotarian alike.

Meals on Wheels: AM Rotary members volunteer to deliver noon meals on a regular basis to local shut-ins. The program is sponsored by the Iowa City Senior Center.

Holiday Food, Toy and Housewares Drive: Each Christmas season for the past several years AM Rotary members have donated food, money and other needed items to various charitable groups, such as the Crisis Center or the Domestic Violence Intervention Project. The items are collected over a four-week period at regular meetings accompanied by challenges among the members as to who can bring the largest container of food, the most different types of the same food or other opportunities for creative giving.

Other Projects: AM members participate in many other ways to support our community. These have ranged from financial donations to needy groups to highway cleanup projects. Members have consistently indicated their willingness to give of their time and resources to benefit our community.

Rotary Youth Exchange Program: Almost every year the AM Rotary hosts a high school student from another country for the school year. Typically, three families, Rotarian or not, will volunteer to be host families for one student, dividing into three or four months of hosting each. Other Rotarians will get involved by inviting the student to plays, concerts and special events. Each Youth Exchange Student is expected to attend club meetings several times during the year and to give one or two programs for the club about their home country and their experiences in the United States. The club, in turn, pays a small stipend to pay for school expenses and incidentals.

AM Rotary has hosted students from Germany, France, Spain, Mexico, Japan, and other countries around the world. These young people take back with them a greatly sharpened knowledge of English and American culture. They and their parents often remain close to their host families for years after the exchange.

World Community Service

• Participation in the PolioPlus 1999 vaccination campaign in Gujarat, India
• Attendance at the 2000 Rotary Project Fair in Tegucigalpa, Honduras
• Attendance at the 2001 Rotary Project Fair in San Salvador, El Salvador
• Sponsorship of a clean water project for a school in Amreli, India
• Visits to FAMSCO project sites and attendance at the dedication of the Pete Peterson wing of the Nuevo Amanecer School in Guatemala City, Guatemala
• Active support of FAMSCO (founded and funded by District 6000 Rotarians and Central American Rotarians, this non-profit corporation has procured and transported some 70 vehicles - firetrucks, ambulances and schoolbuses - and over 200 tons of donated medical supplies for use in Central America) and participation on the FAMSCO Board of Directors. In the past 12 months, four shipping containers of medical supplies, each with seven to nine tons of goods, have been collected, packed and shipped to Guatemala and El Salvador by FAMSCO.
• Longtime active support and assistance to the Rotary Club of Marcala, Honduras
• Programs given to our club as well as the Iowa City Noon, Tipton clubs on the January 13, 2002 earthquake in El Salvador and the Project Fair held shortly thereafter
• Arrangement for the reception and distribution of five shipping containers - over 170,000 11 ounce cans - of nutritional supplement to El Salvador and Honduras