March 2024
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Club Executives & Directors
President
President Elect (Programs)
Treasurer
Secretary
Community Service
Community Service
Club Service - External
Club Service - External
Youth/Vocational Service
International Service
Ways and Means Director
Foundation Liaison
First VP (Charitable Giving)
Recording Secretary
Webmaster
Sergeant-at Arms
Sergeant-at-Arms
Sergeant-at-Arms
New Member Orientation
Past President
Chili Open Chair
StrongFest Chair
Youth Protection Officer
Kids Fest/Duck Race Chair
Keep The Dreams Alive Sponsors
We are extremely thankful for the gifts of support from the following companies and individuals who
have helped keep our Strongsville Rotary dreams alive this year:
 
Visionary Sponsors ($5,000)
Southwest General Health Center
 
Hope Sponsors ($1,000)
Altenheim
Gerald Balint
Prudential Insurance
Rick Weiser
Serpentini Chevrolet
Superior Energy Systems
VFW Strongsville Post 3345
 
Wish Sponsors ($500+)
Kevin Crocker
Kiwanis Club of Strongsville
Manjit Khuban
Rick Voigt
 
Other Sponsors ($100-$499)
Edward Bond
Daniel Cricks
Sandra Croft
Charles Cury
Neha Dayakar
Jamie Debenham
Bill DeMarco
Kenneth Dooner
Sheila Dunn
Joseph Dzurilla
Kristine Heinrich
Bruce Kahn
Bernice Kaldy
James & Mary Kaminski
Robert Kammer
Richard Kiplinger
Neal Klabunde
Brian Kruszewski
Kevin Lynch
Scott Maloney
Beth Mlady
Peter Nixon
Karen Novak
Dale Piper
Ed Plaspohl
Joyce Reed
Elizabeth Rowan
Dan Sage
Robert Simon
Barbara Stettnisch
John Turnbull
Sarah Zatik
Club Information
Welcome to our Club!
Strongsville

Service Above Self

We meet In Person
Fridays at 7:15 a.m.
The Walter F. Ehrnfelt Recreation & Senior Center
18100 Royalton Rd. (Rte. 82)
PO Box 360401
Strongsville, OH 44136
United States of America
Contact John Turnbull at 216-235-6086 for more information about our meetings or joining the club.
Home Page Stories
The Strongsville Rotary Foundation will award several college scholarships to high school seniors who live in Strongsville. One is reserved for a parochial student and one is reserved for a Polaris student.

Applications are available in the High School Guidance office or download the Scholarship Application form here.

Applications must be RECEIVED by Rotary by Friday, April 1 2024 to be considered. Mailing instructions are on the applications.
George Schindler and Chris Kneeland of Hospitality Restaurants visited this morning to present a check to Strongsville Rotary Foundation president Ashley Gay from the fundraiser held at Rosewood Grill Strongsville to celebrate their reopening last month after renovations. The funds are earmarked towards the Strongsville Town Center Enhancement and Walkability project.
 
The City of Strongsville held a ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony for the Strongsville Town Center Initiative.  The Strongsville Rotary has pledged $50,000 towards the project, and current Rotary Club of Strongsville president John Turnbull participated in the ceremony.  Proceeds from StrongFest benefit this project among other local and international projects, and we look forward to hosting future events at the new facilities. 
The Rotary Club of Strongsville and Rotary Club Kraków have completed a joint project and purchased two ambulances for Ukraine.
 
Pictures from the transfer of one of them are included. It was also specially prepared by us - it is painted in a different color than traditional ambulances, due to the fact that the average life of an ambulance in Ukraine is one week - Russian soldiers have priority to destroy all kinds of medical equipment.  The second car will be ready in days and handed over ASAP.
 
Therefore, the Rotary Club Kraków decided to continue the project and collect funds for further purchases of ambulances for Ukraine.
 
In addition, our contact at Rotary Club Kraków and his wife have made their whole house (in our private house) available for refugees and at the moment we are hosting 7 people and we are waiting for another 2 to arrive in the coming days.
 
Another project implemented by our club is the service of refugees by doctors with whom we cooperate on a daily basis (they run a non-profit clinic for the homeless).   If a refugee does not yet have Polish documents entitling him to use the Polish health service, then he or she uses the possibility of all tests and the help of our doctors.
 
In addition the Rotary Club Czestochowa has already shipped the next aid for Ukraine consisting of textiles and canned food worth about $11,300, and are working at two next deliveries: mobile diagnostic devices, mobile x-rays and consumable medical aid (gloves, antiseptics, dressings). The transportation and delivery have been donated by a local Polish company.

The Rotary Club of Strongsville Gives $7,000 in Scholarships to Strongsville High Students

 
Seven Students who are part of the Leadership-Connections Program at Strongsville High School were awarded $7,000 in scholarships. On Friday morning, May 6th students, along with teacher Mike Rodak, attended the weekly Rotary Meeting held at the Senior Center.
 
A group of people standing in front of a displayDescription automatically generated with medium confidenceStudents who attended were introduced by Mike Rodak, who has guided them through the program, told a little about them and their initial meeting in the program, then each student had the opportunity to share their story about how they have grown with the help of the Connections program and how Mr. Rodak has helped guide them through some of the challenges they’ve faced. 
 
All of the students did a great job handling the daunting task of standing in front of 75 people they’ve never met before for and giving a speech about themselves, their high school journey and the program. They definitely held the room as you could hear a pin drop during their presentations. 
 
The theme from all of them was about how being part of the leadership program had a positive impact on their high school years and what they plan to do after high school.
 
Every year the Rotary Club of Strongsville hands out 5 scholarships to graduating seniors from the program. This year due to members of the club stepping up with additional donations the club was able to fund two additional scholarships. This is in addition to $16,000 in other scholarships the club hands out to Strongsville Students, not in the Leadership program.
 
The club looks forward to hearing directly from the students every year, getting to see and meet the students they will be giving the scholarships to, some Rotarians even commenting “it’s our favorite meeting of the year”.
 

The Rotary Club of Strongsville Puts Boots & Life on the Ground to Help Ukrainians!

Thanks to everyone in the community who donated to our fund, which has raised over $60,000 so far.  Money has already been wired into Poland to assist there, and Pat and Brian are assessing further needs.
 
Update from Brian:
 
From Warsaw to Częstochowa to Krakow, we are accomplishing our mission in Poland 🇵🇱
 
Our trip has been a very humbling experience thus far. It is overwhelming to see the look on the refugees’ faces: terrified, uncertain, fear, and the look of “what next” from the children.
 
At our Rotary meeting in Częstochowa, we heard Alina’s story, a 13-year old Ukrainian refugee who escaped with her grandmother. (Pictured below) Alina and her grandmother walked for over 16 hours to get to safety in Poland. The Częstochowa Rotary group has taken her and other refugees into their care. Provided food, job, loving home and stability. The power of Rotary and the human heart is amazing!
 
As we reflect on her story, We are so blessed to be in America. We should not take our liberties for granted. ❤️
 
Update: Medical supplies and donations delivered to our Polish Rotary groups. The funds will be used for a much needed ambulance, medical supplies and family refugee support.
 
Everything here is very well organized and running smoothly. The refugees are well taken cared for and provided many of their needs. Many of whom are returning to their families in Ukraine.
 
We continue on our way to provide goodwill. ❤️ Highly encouraged by the Polish Rotary groups, Pat and I are on a tour today to visit Auschwitz, Birkenau, and the Oskar Schindler Factory.
 
Thank you everyone for the overwhelming support and prayers. We could not do what we are doing without you all! God bless! 🇵🇱🇺🇦
On March 1st, 2022 the Rotary Club of Strongsville partnered with the American Red Cross to sponsor a blood drive at the Strongsville Senior Center.
 
Our goal was to collect 36 units, and thanks to great support from our members, the Strongsville Post and the community we collected 47 units, which have the potential to save 141 lives, and reached 4 first time donors.
 
Thanks to everyone who donated, and our Rotarians who helped sign people in, Neal Klabunde, Jay Dzurilla, Dave Riehl, Barry Kuzmickas and Melissa Krusz.
Thanks to Manjit and his family who organized a truck to take supplies down to Kentucky, including blankets he purchased, and CVS donated 500 first aid kits, sanitizers and 240 boxes of face masks, along with donations for the local Rotary Clubs.
 
In addition our Strongsville Rotary Foundation approved a donation of $2,000 to the hardest hit Rotary Districts to help rebuild their communities, some of which had entire business districts destroyed by tornados.
 
Thanks to all our members and supporters for making this possible.
The Rotary Club of Strongsville is launching an exciting raffle, with $1,000 of cash, $1,000 lottery tickets, and over $3,000 of gift cards to local businesses and restaurants including:

Marc’s, Lowe’s, Pettiti’s, Target, GetGo, Costco, Rosewood Grill, Sergeant Clean, Century Cycles, Panera Bread, Architectural Justice, Mulligan’s, Strongsville Spirit Shop, Olympia Sweets & Treats, Dunkin, Starbucks, Donut Scene, Fox & Tree Bakery, Wine Down & Sweets, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Bennett’s Pizza, Brew Garden, Square 22, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dairy Queen, Goldie’s Café, Slim & Chubby’s, J Bella, Shinto’s, Don’s Pomeroy House, Gran Fiesta, Mama Julianna’s, Aladdin’s, Gourme, Triv’s, Harvest Saloon, Local Bar, Sweet Mango, Allison’s Supermarket, Cinemark, OBM Arena, Dear Mama’s

The drawing will be held on the evening of January 7th, and funds will support Rotary projects throughout the year.

Buy your tickets online at http://trcs.info/vault

 

Some of the Rotarians who helped distribute gift cards
This year thanks to donations from the Senior Christmas Luncheon and Rotarians we were able to help needy families in Strongsville celebrate Christmas this year with a Christmas meal and toys for the children providing $75 gift cards for each of sixteen children in eight families. Every year the Rotary Club of Strongsville collects funds to make sure that those families most in need have a brighter Christmas. Any donations would be appreciated.

 

After hearing about the tornados in Kentucky the Rotary Club of Strongsville immediately launched into action with a call for blankets that could be delivered to Kentucky.  At our Friday meeting we collected blankets, and on Sunday member Chuck Cury loaded his truck with 110 blankets to take to Mayfield.
 
The Rotary Club of Strongsville once again manned the kettles at the Giant Eagle Market District in Strongsville for a day to raise  money for the Salvation Army.  This year there was $1,254 in the kettle, which is almost exactly the same amount raised last year, and better than prior years.  Thank you to all who donated.
Art Basa, charter member of the Strongsville Rotary Club, provided an update on the artesian wells that were funded by a matching grant from Rotary International in partnership with the Western Pampanga Rotary Club.  The pictures show one of the 22 artesian wells that were built.
The Strongsville Rotary Foundation approved a donation of $3,000 to Boys Hope Girls Hope Northeastern Ohio (BHGH) to assist with the purchase of an event tent that will serve as an outdoor learning and gathering space for programming.
 

Throughout the pandemic, Boys Hope Girls Hope has worked hard to quickly adapt and innovate their programming to adjust to the needs of their Scholars, and the restrictions on out-of-school-time programming due to COVID-19. As they move to the next phase of the pandemic, they are pivoting their focus from their Scholars' and their families' emergency basic needs to the profound gaps that have emerged in both their learning as well as Impacts on their social emotional health. With appropriate precautions in place, BHGH were thrilled to recently resume full in-person after-school programming with 6th-12th grade-level cohorts staggered throughout the week. As BHGH plan for summer programming, when all the middle school Scholars are on campus daily for five weeks and the high school Scholars for an additional two weeks, the need for a covered outdoor learning space is evident. The addition of a large, sturdy event tent will provide the capacity needed to maintain social distancing during these weeks of intensive full-day programming. Furthermore, the tent will be used for additional programming throughout the spring, summer and fall, providing a safe gathering space for Scholars and staff.

Mike Rodak of the Connections program at Strongsville High School reached out to us about a student who needed some help finding a car so she could get to work and to school.
 
This young lady has bounced back from several family challenges having to do with her parents and wants to graduate this year but has rent to pay and bills to pay so she has to work.


 

Strongsville Fire & Emergency Services maintains a commitment to fire safety education with their Firepup® Program.

The Strongsville Rotary Foundation is donating $600 to the program to distribute educational materials the cover a broad range of topics including general fire safety, burn prevention, dial 911, smoke alarms, senior safety, and many other topics for 300 children.

An update on  the progress our club is making in Honduras. 

Pat Greco will be going there this Saturday for 1 week and meeting with recipients  of our financial support and others. As you know we have received a matching district grant and have furnished a computer lab at a girls school there. We also had a very nice plague made dedicating the computer lab to our own Bill Gordon.  
 
I will also be meeting with the Comandante General of the Fire Department who just received 50 set of fire gear from the Strongsville Fire Department that we provided the shipping for.
 
The club is focusing on the End Polio Now during October following Stew Buchanan's recent presentation.  All fines and happy bucks will be donated towards the End Polio Now fund.  If you wish to donate extra you can donate through our foundation at http://trcs.info/polio.
The Rotary Club of Strongsville hosted the annual Rotary Senior Picnic at the Senior Center, which is followed by a concert from the Strongsville Community Band.  Every year we grill and serve hot dogs and hamburgers to several hundred seniors in Strongsville, who greatly appreciate having a taste of summer.
 
The Rotary Club of Strongsville worked together with the Club Rotario de Tegucigalpa and Rotary District 6630 to fund a computer lab and school library to serve the Zambrano community about 40km north of Tegucigalpa, Honduras.  This will be used to aid in the education of young women of integrity to break the cycle of poverty.
 
The computer lab is named after Bill Gordon, a long time Strongsville Rotarian who, in keeping with this years Rotary Theme "Rotary Connects the World", started the process of connecting people that several years later got the project funded.
As recently featured on Fox 8 Cleveland's Own the Rotary Club of Strongsville has a 40+ year history of serving the community, including the local food banks. In 2014 the Rotary spearheaded a project to build a new building for the Strongsville Food Bank after they lost their previous space.
 
Since 2010 we have hosted the "Taste In Strongsville", one of the premiere events in Strongsville, every October at the Petitti Garden Centers in Strongsville, as well as monthly food drive projects.
 
If you would like to be involved please donate, or follow our Facebook Page to stay up to date with our events and projects.
Speakers
Kara Lapso
Mar 22, 2024 7:25 AM
Shelter Box
Pastor Heidi
Mar 29, 2024
Good Friday
Dan Jorgenson
Apr 05, 2024 7:25 AM
Author / Longtime Rotarian and Paul Harris Fellow
Ashley Gay
Apr 12, 2024 7:25 AM
Club History - 46th Anniversary
Jason Trusnik
Apr 19, 2024 7:25 AM
Former NFL Linebacker, Local Business Owner and new SHS Football Coach
Bob DiBiasio
Apr 26, 2024 7:25 AM
Cleveland Guardians
Roseanne Cyngier
May 03, 2024 7:25 AM
Former Chemist/Former owner of Cyngier Heating & adoption coordinator for NorthEast Ohio Collie Resc
Ravi Velu
May 31, 2024 7:25 AM
Kids Fest Setup
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