At it’s Wednesday meeting, the Camden Wyoming Rotary Club prepared for its annual delivery of dictionaries to third graders in the Caesar Rodney School District. Members placed Rotary stickers on the books ahead of the December distribution.
At our weekly Wednesday meeting we were given a demonstration of "Ugli Quilts" by Diane McGuire and Denise Adams of the Woodside United Methodist Church. Diane, Denise and a few others come together on most weeks to produce a quilt, which in essence is a sleeping bag for the homeless. Diane donates the finished quilts for various organizations around our area to distribute to those in need.
Diane talked about the fac that for 22 years the women of Woodside United Methodist Church have been making the sleeping bags for the homeless. The group relies on donations, both monetary and material to accomplish their work. She noted that since 2021 the number of homeless has doubled. There are approximately 2,300 homeless in Delaware, including 106 households of veterans. There are only 500 emergency shelter beds in the state. Of those, 143 are in Kent County. Many homeless do not feel comfortable going in to shelters for various reasons and need the sleeping bags and Diddy bags that are provided to them by the church.
Items used and needed year-round:
Towels, wash cloths, combs, hotel samples shampoo etc., gloves, toothbrushes, toothpaste, socks, men’s ties, sheets (any size), blankets, mattress pads, neck scarves, and 55 gallon trash bags.
These items can be dropped off at 2022 Highland Ave., Dover, DE 19901 (place items on the front porch with a note)
Monetary donations can be made to Woodside UM Church, P.O.Box., Woodside, DE 19980 (memo: Ugli Quilts)
Members of the Camden Wyoming Rotary Club were given a tour of Caesar Rodney schools by District School Superintendent Christine Alois. Eleven club members met with the Superintendent at district headquarters and went to the Caesar Rodney High School where they were met by the High School Principal, Dr. Sherry Kijowski. She talked about the 2300 students at the high school and the many programs available to them. Dr. Kijowski guided the Rotary members on a tour of CR High School where they got to see the athletic facilities, the cafeteria, the ROTC classroom, a dance studio, a culinary arts classroom, and several additional areas of the high school.
The group then went to WB Simpson Elementary School where they were met by Ashley Holmes the Principal of Simpson Elementary. She took the group to a Chinese immersion class where they were able to see the first graders learning the Chinese alphabet. The tour group went outside to see the gardens that the children take care of as well as the outdoor play area that the students are holding a fundraiser to get additional funds for more playground equipment.
The Rotary members were impressed with the neatness and decorum in the schools. Several members of the Rotary Club will be back to the elementary schools in early November to deliver dictionaries to all the 3rd grade students as part of an annual program.
CW Rotary Club President Yasmith Johnson and Chad Robinson Food Bank of Delaware Director of External Affairs
Chad Robinson, Director of External Affairs at the Food Bank of Delaware visited the Camden Wyoming Rotary Club at their meeting on September 21st to review the work the Food Bank does in Delaware. He talked about the over 16,000,000 pounds of food distributed between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022; that included 4,290,000 pounds of produce and 2,591,000 pounds of meat. By county, this broke down to 8,516,000 pounds in New Castle County, 4,272,000 pounds in Kent County and 3,600,000 pounds in Sussex County.
Chad spoke about the impact of Covid on the residents of Delaware and how the Food Bank ramped up to provide services to those in need. The Food Bank has a variety of programs in addition to the distribution of food. They have a nutrition and education outreach program, a food bank farm, and a culinary school which is a 14-week program for unemployed, underemployed common individuals with disabilities to learn skills in food service.
The Food Bank of Delaware distributed over 170,000 backpack meal kits. Over 41,000 of the food deliveries were made to people’s homes by Amazon and DoorDash. The food bank had 15,541 volunteer visits with over 46,000 hours donated. To help with the increased need in Kent and Sussex County the Food Bank will build a larger warehouse in Milford.
On Wednesday, August 31, 0ur resident IT pro Dave Walczak coordinated a Zoom call with District Executive Secretary Sandra Early to teach CW Rotary members how to use DACdb
On April 1, 2022, Dr. Christine Alois began her tenure as the first woman and 11th Superintendent for the Caesar Rodney School District.
Before taking the role as Deputy Secretary for the Delaware Department of Education in 2018, Dr. Alois served in various roles in the Caesar Rodney School District for 24 years.
Dr. Alois addressed the club about the district goals and objectives for the upcoming school year. The club is working with the district to distribute dictionaries to third graders again this year.
Left: Dr. Christine Alois Right: Dr. Yasmith “Jassy” Johnson, CW Rotary Club President
It was a record year for our Flag program, with 255 Flags flying proudly around our community and in Brecknock Park.
We hope you’ll join us again next year!
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