Albert Lea, Austin clubs among Rotary groups to raise $18,000 for September’s flood victims
Published 12:00 am Friday, December 17, 2004
By Josh Verges, From the Austin Daily Herald
Minnesota Rotary clubs have scraped up $19,000 in goodwill for September flood victims, both home and business owners.
Thirteen Minnesota Rotaries, including the Albert Lea Rotary Club, and one from Wisconsin purchased Christmas decorations and gift certificates from Mower and Freeborn County businesses, including some hit by the flood.
&uot;We chose Jim’s SuperValu specifically for that reason,&uot;
Austin Rotary Club member Kathy Stutzman said.
Cashwise and HyVee have been willing donors to the flood cause, so in buying gift certificates from them, the Rotaries are saying thank you while easing residential victims’ grocery burdens.
&uot;Food is the universal comfort gift,&uot; Stutzman said.
Fourteen Rotary Clubs, led by Austin, participated in a &uot;fast for flood,&uot; raising $11,000 thus far. The Rotaries ate soup and crackers instead of their usual more filling meal, and donated the unspent money to the United Way’s flood relief effort in southeastern Minnesota. The regional Rotary district in Minneapolis contributed $8,000 in matching donations.
The clubs usually &uot;fast for hope,&uot; donating that money to needy countries.
&uot;We are very dedicated to strengthening not only the world, but our community. We want to build goodwill and peace in our own backyards,&uot; said Austin Club President Alice Holst.
The flood effort began when the regional Rotary district’s incoming governor called Holst to ask if she was OK after the flood. They discussed a statewide Rotary relief campaign, and the district offered to match what local clubs could give, up to $8,000.
The money was donated to the United Way, which enlisted the help of churches in the Austin Area Interfaith Disaster Response to identify flood victims.
Homeowners have already received about 150 bags of Christmas items and $100 in gift certificates. The Rotaries expect an additional 50 bags will be handed out by the end of the campaign. The donations show flood victims that people are still thinking of them, said Glenn Monson of Our Saviors Lutheran Church.
&uot;They have FEMA and maybe insurance money, but they still have unmet needs. The people are certainly overjoyed they haven’t been forgotten,&uot; he said.