what we've been up to

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We recently hosted Cheers for Children, Tap Takeover event at Beaver Island Brewing Company, in support of the Child Advocacy Center (CAC). Member Clare Richards will be competing in Dancing With our Stars St. Cloud for the CAC where 60% of her chance to win derives from how much money she has raised. We were proud to provide Clare, and the CAC, with a check for $500 at our event! 

On March 2, we hosted the first ever Cooking with Krewe event - a virtual cooking course with Chef Mateo, owner of Krewe Restaurant in St. Joseph. Guests life-streamed as they watched Mateo prepare   

seared peppered hanger steak, crispy rice and pea shoots - mimicking him in their own kitchens! A massive thank you to Chef Mateo, Krewe, and Bitstream Productions for making this event a success! 

We toured the CAC alongside Clare Richards, Rotaract founder and participant in the Dancing With Our Stars St. Cloud Event! Clare has chosen the CAC as her beneficiary should she win the competition - allowing her to donate her goal of $50,000 PLUS an additional $15,000 from the Women's Foundation Grant. The mission of the CAC is to provide protection, advocacy, justice and healing to all child abuse victims and their families in Central Minnesota. It works to preserve the dignity and spirit of the child by supporting, advocating for and educating families. Learn more: https://www.centracare.com/services/child-advocacy-services/

At our recent Member Social event, we got to know new prospective members from St. Cloud State University (and more) while enjoying food, drinks, conversation, and a keynote by Rotaract District Representative Clare Richards! Thank you to everyone who joined us for this evening. A shout-out to Granite City Rotary Club president, Bodette L John, for joining us virtually, as well! 

St. Cloud Rotaract recently participated in the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Minnesota Go Big for Kids' Sake event! We created a virtual  contest where funds were raised by the public voting for which of our 5 featured members was the cutest baby. Nearly $700 of donations were collected! Congratulations to member Lacey Solhied for winning!  

We participated in a Pinewood Derby at the local brewery, Pantown Brewing Co., in support of the Central Minnesota Council Boy Scouts of America. Congrats to all participates - we had a ton of fun! 

 This club service product will make history! Thank you to our new community engagement partner, the Stearns History Museum , for providing us with such a fun service task! We got to see some really cool items and artifacts when we cleaned one of their offsite storage buildings! 

We're PROUD to announce that Saint Cloud Rotaract has adopted a highway! We got together in October for our first clean-up action. What a fun way to get outdoors and make a difference in our community - from the ground up. 

On September 1, our club had an incredible meeting at the Stearns History Museum with Executive Director, and Rotary Club of St. Cloud member, Carie Essig. We toured some of the thousands (and growing) of artifacts and documents they have, and got to explore current exhibits, too!

Members gathered (at a safe distance) outside at Milk & Honey Ciders patio! We enjoyed an internal coloring contest, cold ciders, and even encouraged another gathered group to join the coloring fun. This much-needed gathering was planned by our event coordinator Ashley Bukowski.

We kicked-off our very first coloring contest in June or 2020! Local artist and owner of Cream City Tattoo, Ryan Schepp, created these MN inspired coloring sheets that we shared on social media and at partnering locations! It was a fun way to start the summer with some color. See a video announcing our winners here! 

With the help of MANY community members, volunteers, United Way of Central Minnesota and the Jugaard Leadership Program, we exceeded our 2019 goal to fill 100 backpacks for local school aged children living in the Saint Cloud Area!   About 17% of the school aged youth in the St. Cloud area live in poverty, so every pencil and notebook makes a difference!