Stories

We had a great speaker in our meeting today.  Jeff Heinrichs, a local firefighter, talked about Bellingham and Whatcom professional firefighters efforts with Operation Warm.  Operation Warm is a national non-profit that Bellingham/Whatcom County firefighters have partnered with to provide warm coats to Whatcom County students.  This local group has been able to give out more than 3,500 coats to students in need.

This year the coats will be given out to Custer Elementary students.

 

"In our communities, nearly one in five children live in need. For their families, paying for food, housing, heat, and healthcare takes priority, meaning many children must go without proper weather essentials needed to stay healthy and active."

 

For some families, finding scholarships for their students is even more important right now.  The Mt Baker Rotary club is once again opening the opportunity for students to apply for a one-year scholarship.

Four-year, two-year, technical, vocational, beauty, cosmetology, whichever you choose, this scholarship can help pave the way to the next step.

Students can find the application here on this website, or at their school's career center.

With sadness the club says goodbye to our friend, Frank Mansfield.  After joining the club in 1999, Frank served in many roles within the club including president in the 2006-2007 rotary year.

We will miss his company and his smile that he brought to our club over the years.

 

 

A couple COVID-19 delays later, it is finally here!

The Mt Baker Rotary auction is usually in the spring, but we all know what happened to our spring.

But now we are back with a new format.  This year we are online, and bidding is open for a week.  It will all culminate with a live stream showing of the live auction items.

Here are the details to get you started...

It was June of 2019 that we broke ground on our biggest community project in the Million Smiles Park.  So many great things have happened, so many people from our community have stepped up to lend a hand, businesses from all over the county have given of their goods or talents.  It has been a humbling experience.  But, an endeavor that we knew as a community we could take on and finish.

It's been along road,and the weather is working in our favor, so we are back at it.  But it is time to play in the sand!

First a big thank you to the Mt Baker Rotary members and community members who helped on Friday (5/29) to get the sand volleyball court finished up.  It looks amazing.  

Here are a few photos of the work and of a job well done.

 

Due to the closure of local high schools Mt Baker Rotary is extending the deadline to turn in the scholarship application.  We are moving the date to June 15, 2020.

Again, if you have questions about the scholarship or the application, please email mtbakerrotary@gmail.com or email your high school counselor.

As a club, we are so excited by the many ways that we get to serve our student community.  From scholarships for continuing education and packing backpacks of food for elementary students, to helping to fund building and athletic programs, the list of our involvement in student-centered projects goes on and on.  We feel honored to be a part of each activity.

 

We are loving all the excitement and conversations the new sports park at Bender Fields is getting.  Almost daily we are reminded of how giving and selfless people and business in our community are.  But, I thought we could take a moment and look at the other projects Mt. Baker Rotary has been involved in over the past year.

Mt. Baker Rotary is thrilled to get started on our 2019 Major Project! We're building a Sports Park in the south part of Bender Fields! The park will include climbing boulders,  lighted basketball courts with 6 hoops, picnic seating and beautiful landscaping. It will be a jewel in the community and a great space for people of all ages!

Todd W. was our program chair for the day.
Todd introduced John Slagle part of the owners family to make the presentation today.
John told us about how the Technic training center got started and how it has filled a special need in the construction industry. It is a nonprofit organization managed by the Lynden Door family of companies.
Rod Visser is the training and shop manager while David Dunkin is the training administrator.
They finish this past year with 72 students from north county school students. Students can earn a CTE credit for every 130 hours of lab time which is 1 semester.
The students made a special sign for our Rotary club with our name and the Rotary wheel to place in the rotary building.
What a great resource for the students interested in the wood side of the construction industry. Hope we can help them again in the future as we and the Jansen Foundation did in the past by paying for the dust removal equipment.

Find out more about the Technic Training Center.

Our program chair for the day was Paul Kenner. Paul had as his presenter, a good club friend, Jack Louws, our county executive.
Jack has just announced his retirement from the county executive position as of next January.
Jack talked about his successes as executive in the last 7 years, and time as Lynden city mayor before that.  He talked about passage of property tax for emergency medical services and that contracting out for services has worked out well.
Jack is looking forward to retirement and spending time with his family and friends. 

Our students today are from the Meridian School district.  The students were introduced by principal Derrick Forbes.

The student were Dillon, Lindsey and Chad.

President Craig, a graduate of Meridian himself, presented each student a Plaque as well as a small monetary gift.

Dick Bedlington reminded me that this year marks the 38th year the club has supported the Salvation Army with bell ringing.

Make this your tradition and come by on December 13th, between 10:00 AM and 6:00 PM, and drop a donation in the pot. 

Whether it is change from your car that you give the kids to drop in the pot, or check from the bottom of your heart, your donation will serve the needs of the community - what a great Christmas gift.

Mount Baker Rotary held its annual auction on Saturday April 17, 2016 and it was a great success!   Over $240,000 was raised which will go towards many worthy causes both locally and internationally.   As part of the auction, nearly $50,000 was raised to help Cornerstone Kids, a non-profit organization which provides orthopedic services to disadvantaged youngsters.  In addition, over $30,000 was raised for scholarships. Overall, a job well done and kudos to the Auction Committee, the Club, and to the Community for making the auction another great success this year!  

Mount Baker Rotary has recently funded the drilling of nine more wells in a remote area in Nigeria.   This brings the total number of wells funded by Mount Baker Rotary in Nigeria to fifty.  Access to drinking water in certain areas of Nigeria remains difficult and we are proud to be a part of bringing this life necessity to these remote areas.  

Race day registration will be from 8:00-8:45 AM. Registration will be located at Lynden Christian High School, 515 Drayton Street, Lynden, WA 98264. Race Begins on Saturday, July 18, 2015 at 9:00 AM

 

Each year the Mount Baker Rotary rings the bell for the Salvation Army.

The Mount Baker Rotary Club is proud to be a 2014 Gold Sponsor for the North Whatcom Relay for life. 

The water wells in Nigeria are moving forward with a total of 41 wells completed to date and more on their way.

Starfish Ministries in Haiti
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The Million Smiles Playground needed a big push leading up to its spring 2007 construction. Rotary primed the pump with a huge $100,000 gift to prompt others to give.

At the time, club president Frank Mansfield termed it the “perfect project” because of its scope.

“We are able to give back to the community on a big scale,” Mansfield said. “A large segment of the community will be able to make use out of this.”

A delegation of Rotarians went to Oak Harbor to tour a playground already designed by the Leathers & Associates consultants. “We wanted to see what it looks like and if it was worth this much money,” Mansfield said.

Then the discussion in the club was overwhelmingly in favor of going forward.
Construction of the imaginative colorful playground near Fishtrap Creek in the park made extensive use of community labor but still had hard expenses for all the material

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