Hi! My name is Jenny Arihood-Hanabarger and I'm the Youth Protection Officer for Rotary After Hours and Valley View Rotary. I just started in this role this summer, after being on the Youth Committee for a couple years. I'm also currently a co-chair for the After Hours Service Committee and just started a three-year term as a Director on the board.
Outside of Rotary, I work as a Manager of Business Intelligence for Humana's Wisconsin Medicaid Market (Inclusa & iCare). I'm also a certified social worker and, prior to my current role in Business Intelligence, I worked as a social worker for Inclusa, working primarily with adults with Developmental Disabilities. Before that I worked for eight years doing child protection investigations at Monroe County.
I currently live in Onalaska with my husband and our boxer dog. I have two adult sons and a daughter-in-law, who have thankfully returned to the area after two finished college and the other finished his military service.
Thanks for your help in supporting The Brain Game so that even more babies and families can benefit from its proven, fun ways to help babies' minds grow!
FAMILY PHOTO SHOOT OPPORTUNITY
The Downtown Rotary Brain Game Marketing Committee is seeking volunteers for a photo shoot Vendi will be conducting. All Rotarians or their friends and family are invited to participate!
The photo shoot will be Saturday, August 15th, with individual, 1-hour time slots:
8am-9am
9am-10am
1pm-2pm
2pm-3pm
4pm-5pm
Parents/grandparents/caregivers and children ages 0 to 3 are invited to be models! If you are willing to volunteer, please contact Kasey at kaseyb@vendiadvertising.com, and she will work with you to schedule a 1-hour time slot. The photos will be used in marketing and promotional materials for The Brain Game book, and may be used in future editions of the book itself!
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Last week we heard Nancy Depcik talk about the power of simple words: “Curious”, “Yes And”, “Yet”, and how they can encourage positive dialogue instead of negative, defensive thoughts and reactions. In July we also heard Lee Rasch talk about Civil Discourse. Lee recently wrote and recorded a blues song called “(Then Again) I Could Be Wrong”. It’s about misunderstanding, pride, and the courage to consider another point of view. The music video is just a few minutes long, but its message reaches far beyond the blues. In the spirit of positive thinking and conversation, it's worth consideration:
Please join us for an evening of great food, fellowship, and fun on Wednesday, August 26, from 5:30-7:30pm. Dinner will be provided, and we'd love it if you brought a favorite dessert to share. Please RSVP using this link so we can get an accurate headcount: Picnic RSVP
If you're able to lend a hand, we've also included an option on the sign-up form to volunteer for table and chair setup at 1:00 p.m. We'd appreciate a few extra hands to help get everything ready before the festivities begin. NOTE: There will be no regular meeting that morning due to the picnic. More to come on driving and parking directions.
We hope you can make it and look forward to spending the evening together!
CONCESSIONS VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Valley View Rotarians will run Moon Tunes concessions on behalf of area high school Interact Clubs, Aug 20, Aug 27 and Sept 3rd. Student availability is limited at this time of year due to school sports starting up. Nancy Schmidt will bring sign-up sheets to our meetings so you can sign up for popping corn and running the concessions stand.
moon tunes VOLUNTEER sign-up
“Many hands make light work”… and it's FUN!!
We have many opportunities remaining for shifts at Moon Tunes this season. Use the link below or log into ClubRunner and click on Volunteers then View Sign-up List.
Check out the remaining dates and sign up for fun!
The Downtown La Crosse Rotary Club will be collecting and recycling lithium-ion batteries and rechargeable devices that you’ve been holding onto in your junk drawers! Join us at Moon Tunes and bring your lithium-ion batteries and rechargeable devices including smartphones, tablets, electric toothbrushes, laptops, power tool batteries, rechargeable vacuum batteries, wireless headphones, and any other lithium-ion battery and help close the loop. The battery drop-off location is the Interact Popcorn tent.
Climate change is creating a global imperative to electrify everything from our vehicles to our grids. Lithium-ion batteries are at the heart of powering all these solutions and are made up of the same metals like cobalt, copper, nickel and lithium. At the end of a product’s life, every rechargeable lithium-ion battery is a source for making new batteries and sustainable energy products in the US. By responsibly recycling our products and batteries, we keep them out of landfills, reduce the need to mine critical minerals, and help increase the security of our domestic supply chains. Note: Only undamaged lithium batteries can be accepted. Come recycle with us!
ROTARY AFTER HOURS MINI-MASTERS 9/19
Rotary After Hours (RAH) is holding its annual Mini-Masters golfing event to raise funds for youth exchange programs. This year's event will take place on Saturday, September 19, from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM at Riverside Amusement Park (1304 Interchange Place, La Crosse). Valley View Rotary Club will put a team together to participate, so please see Amy Bettis to sign up for a fun afternoon!
RAH is also seeking event sponsors and raffle donations. Please see Nancy Schmidt for additional information.
WORLD'S LARGEST POLIO WALK - OCTOBER 24
Several area Rotary Clubs are in the planning stages of the World's Largest Polio Walk on Saturday, October 24th, 2026 at 10 am. This is an international walk to raise awareness and funds to help end polio for good. 4,000 Rotary Clubs worldwide are anticipated to participate!
Tom Byerly will represent our club in a collaborative committee of representatives from all participating clubs in the area. Sponsorship and Monetary commitments will be discussed by the committee, but we do know that registration will be $20 per person, which gets you a red End Polio Now t-shirt as your "ticket" and the remaining $ go to the Polio fund. There will be an after-party following the walk, so raffle items will be needed to help make a generous donation to support Polio. Tom will keep us informed as more information becomes available.
This is going to be fun, easy and a short 1 mile walk. We would love to have a great showing of the La Crosse area and a big group photo, so please mark the date on your calendar. Other D6250 clubs are also participating but we feel that our area is the BEST so we need your HELP and SUPPORT!
Rotary provides many opportunities to create positive, lasting change in our community and around the globe. One meaningful way to strengthen that impact is to enroll in Rotary Direct, our Foundation's recurring giving program. Last year, thanks to generous donors, our Foundation was able to fund more than 1,488 global grants, 457 district grants, and 57 disaster response grants to help communities in need. Rotary Direct is one of the easiest and most secure ways for our donors to support this work. Because contributions are automated, donors don't need to send checks or remember to make an annual contribution.
Rotary Direct saves time and reduces administrative costs. It offers flexible giving options to fit every donor:
For more information, you can refer to these frequently asked questions. Thank you for your dedication to Doing Good in the World!
rotary works foundation
The Rotary Works Foundation was founded in 1982 with the purpose of awarding grants for qualified activities. Through generous gifts from local Rotary Clubs (including VVR) and others, the Foundation makes a difference in the quality of life in our communities. Please click on the link below for more information. Grantees of RWF funds are listed in the ABOUT section after the list of sponsors.
