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AIRED ON FEBRUARY 19, 2023
Bringing DEI to RotaryRadio Rotary welcomes Rotarians Boe Loendorf (Cairo Durham Rotary) and Elena Mosley (Hudson Rotary), part of the eight-member Committee for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in Rotary District 7210. The members of this committee are fanning out through District 7210, helping Rotary Clubs increase their commitment to DEI. Rotary was once an international club whose members were primarily wealthy male businessmen or government leaders, which might still describe Rotary in some nations. But in the United States, Rotary has been growing more diverse to reflect the local community. No longer does Rotary include primarily professionals—people of all vocations are welcome. Since 1987, when Rotary clubs in the United States began to admit
women as members, the clubs in this country have become more devoted to service without abandoning fellowship. Clubs actively change their meeting schedules and practices to attract younger members and members of all community groups. From this program, you can learn about some of the ways to make DEI happen. Learn More: What is DEI? DEI in District 7210 Hudson Rotary Club Cairo Durham Rotary Club |
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AIRED ON FEBRUARY 12, 2023
Comedy Night to Support Polio EradicationHyde Park Rotarians Richard Mattocks, 2022-23 club president, and John Vanderlee are interviewed on Radio Rotary about their club’s activities, focusing mainly on a comedy night at Coppola’s Hyde Park restaurant to support Rotary’s Polio Plus program, which is making great strides toward eradicating polio completely throughout the world. The comedy night program will feature two well-known stand-up comedians, Kendra Cunningham, and Katina Corrao. Dinner at Coppola’s is included. Proceeds of the event will benefit Polio Plus and also other activities of Hyde Park Rotary such as scholarships, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA), and “Little Libraries.” The “Little Libraries” are available day and night—residents can take a book and/or leave a book for others to read.
Learn More: Hyde Park Rotary Hyde Park Rotary on Facebook Kendra Cunningham Katina Corrao PolioPlus Coppola’s Restaurant |
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AIRED ON FEBRUARY 5, 2023
Village in Zambia Aided by RotaryRotarians Steven Caine and Laura Lee (Burnt Bills Ballston Lake Rotary) visit Radio Rotary to tell about their efforts to help bring medical facilities to Muchila Center, an isolated village in Zambia—the nearest hospital is two hours away. In addition to assistance from the Rotary clubs of Kusinta and Lusaka, the new clinic uses equipment supplied by Project C.U.R.E. Much needed dental facilities and transportation are also part of the nonprofit Muchila Access Project, which will serve over 43,000 persons in the Muchila region. Burnt Hills Ballston Lake Rotary is working on a Rotary Foundation Global Grant directed primarily toward providing maternal and child health and disease prevention and treatment, including dental health. As many as 1 in 13 women die from maternal related causes in regions like Muchila, compared to 1 in 4,000 in developed countries, and about 80% of the population in the region suffers from oral disease.
Learn More: Burnt Hills/Ballston Lake Rotary Rotary Club of Lusaka (Zambia) Rotary Club of Kusinta (Zambia) on Facebook Muchila Access Project Project C.U.R.E. |
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AIRED ON JANUARY 29, 2023
Preventing Substance Abuse through EducationCAPE is the Council on Addiction Prevention & Education in Dutchess County. For this program, Dora Celestino, Community Educator, returns to Radio Rotary to talk about how CAPE uses education about the harm caused by substance misuse disorder—including addiction to tobacco, alcohol, prescription drugs, or street drugs— as a way to prevent such misuse. Duchess County currently experiences more overdose deaths than any other county in New York State, mainly due to the synthetic drug fentanyl. While fentanyl may be taken deliberately, it is also used as an additive to other drugs, so persons may be exposed without expecting it. CAPE teaches children, often younger than 13 ,to avoid buying drugs over the internet. Another frequent misuse of drugs is taking a prescription medicine by raiding a medicine cabinet. But the most common form of drug misuse among children is vaping, nicotine delivered with an electronic device as a substitute for cigarettes. CAPE is also showing a movie about a family after their 19-year-old dies from drug misuse (Life After You at the Millerton Moviehouse)
Learn More: CAPE (Council on Addiction Prevention & Education) U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, One Pill Can Kill Dutchess County Addiction Prevention Services Trailer for Life After You |
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AIRED ON JANUARY 22, 2023
Millbrook Celebrates 50 Years of RotaryMillbrook Rotary is 50 years old and celebrating the anniversary Radio Rotary welcomes Millbrook Rotarians past-district-governor Cindie Kish and charter member David Brinkerhoff to describe the history and activities of the Millbrook club. In 1973 a group of about 25 men—at the time only men were admitted to rotary—began meeting in the Cottonwood Inn and soon petitioned Rotary
International and were granted status as the Rotary Club of Central Dutchess with an official territory extending from Pine Plains in the north, LaGrange and Pawling in the south, and Pleasant Valley in the west. As time went on groups from that club spun off the Hyde Park, Rhinebeck, Pleasant Valley, and LaGrange Rotaries, leading the Central Dutchess club to change its name to Millbrook Rotary. A major change occurred when women were admitted to Rotary starting in 1987. The 50 th Anniversary will be celebrated at the Links in Unionvale, guest speaker Cara Mia Bacchiochi, founder of Hope on a Mission, one of the many organization that Millbrook Rotary partners with in community service. Learn More: Rotary Club of Millbrook Millbrook Rotary Group on Facebook Millbrook Rotary Business Directory Rotary District 7210 Hope on a Mission |
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AIRED ON JANUARY 15, 2023
Hudson Valley Helps RefugeesHighland Rotarian BJ Mikkelsen returns to Radio Rotary to report on the progress of his efforts to help refugees from the February 24 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Mr. Mikkelsen was in Berlin on the day after the invasion, where he observed thousands of Ukrainian refugees crowding the main Berlin train station. He quickly raised money for food and other supplies, and in October traveled with a truckload of relief to Lviv, Ukraine. Since then he has created the nonprofit corporation “Hudson Valley Helps Refugees,” which by the end of 2022 had collected and delivered some $40,000 in aid. The key elements in getting the aid to those in need are a Rotary Club in Warsaw, Poland; another Rotary in Helmstedt, Germany; and St. Nicholas Ukrainian Church in Berlin. One of the main projects needed for refugee help in Ukraine is an additional ambulance, and Hudson Valley Helps Refugees is working toward providing that, but there are also many other ways that the organization provides aid.
Learn More: Hudson Valley Helps Refugees Rotary Club Warszawa Fryderyk Chopin Rotary Club of Helmstedt St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church Highland (NY) Rotary Club |
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AIRED ON JANUARY 8, 2023
Pleasant Valley Food PantryRadio Rotary interviews Steve Gessner, Chairman of the Pleasant Valley Ecumenical Food Pantry. This is a local community food pantry sponsored by the four local churches in the hamlet of Pleasant Valley, NY. We serve the hungry and needy families in the district surrounding my local community. The Pleasant Valley Food Pantry is an agency the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, purchasing most of the food it distributes from the Food Bank at a discount. It distributes free food and items of person hygiene to about four hundred persons during a ninety-minute window each Wednesday. Families can choose the foods or supplied they want from a menu, although all get a package of fresh produce and bread along with their order. While 80% of the food distributed is from the Food Bank, the remainder is donated by individuals and groups such as the Pleasant Valley Rotary Club, which runs a food drive to fill a bus or truck with donations several times each year. The food pantry is an entirely volunteer effort with fifty or more local residents volunteering each week.
Learn More: Pleasant Valley Ecumenical Food Pantry Food Bank of the Hudson Valley Pleasant Valley Rotary Club |
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AIRED ON JANUARY 2, 2023
Vassar-Haiti Project AccomplishmentsSarah O’Connell-Claitor and Kathy Kruger learn the latest development of the Vassar-Haiti Project (VHP) from Lila Meade, Executive Director of Vassar-Haiti Project (VHP), and Laury Senecal, Vassar senior who is president of the Vassar Rotaract Club and co-president of Student Executive Board. For twenty-one years, VJP the has improved the lives of Haitians in the remote mountaintop Haitian village of Chermaitre and its surroundings. Today Chermaitre and the surrounding area is served by a 200-student school, a clinic that treats 3,000 patients annually, solar-power system to bring electricity to the clinic. and a system bringing clean water to the community. A new project is adult education, teaching illiterate patients to read. Education, health, community economic improvement, and clean water are all Rotary goals as well, and 14 Rotary Clubs from District 7210 as well as three others from other districts, have been one of the main supports of VHP, along with annual sales of works by Haitian artists.
Learn More: The Vassar Haiti Project The Rotary Foundation Global Grants Rotaract Rotary District 7210 |
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AIRED ON DECEMBER 11, 2022
Hope On A Mission Helps Homeless and MoreCara Mia Bacchiochi returns to RadioRotary to describe progress of Hope on a Mission, her continuing ministry to homeless Poughkeepsie women (and men), many also addicted to drugs or alcohol. Seven years ago, as she was once-again in jail, Cara Mia vowed to help street women, aware of their needs because she had been one. When she was out of jail, she borrowed a car, filled the trunk with bottles of water and parked at the corner of Main and South Clinton, one of the most traveled locations for street women and addicts in Poughkeepsie, handing out water to those who past. Since then every Saturday evening, sometimes in rain or snow, her the street ministry Hope on a Mission (HOAM) has served from that corner. Bacchiochi and volunteers, many from local Rotary clubs, distribute food, clothing, and personal care items, restoring dignity to the homeless and addicted. Those who are ready to change their lives are escorted to Dutchess County’s Stabilization Center or to Mid-Hudson Regional Hospital (formerly St.Francis) for treatment. Since that first visit, Hope on a Mission has added a Saturday breakfast and dinners on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, a 20-passenger bus bringing help where it is needed, and a partnership in a thrift shop.
Learn More: Hope on a Mission Website Hope on a Mission HOAM Facebook Page Cara Mia Bacchiochi on Facebook Stabilization Center Mid-Hudson Regional Hospital Chemical Dependency |
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AIRED ON DECEMBER 5, 2022
Toys for Tots Returns to Hudson ValleyToys for Tots in the Hudson Valley is updated in this program where cohosts Sarah O’Connell-Claitor and Jonah Triebwasser interview Mike Binns (Ulster County Coordinator), Marine sergeant Felipe Cabrera, and PAMAL radio host Randy Turner (who is also engineer for the Radio Rotary team). Toys for Tots was started by the Marines in Los Angeles 1947 to provide toys for children in need—distributing 5,000 toys in that first year. Walt Disney designed the familiar logo. Every holiday season since it has continued to be one of the charities that everyone loves, providing presents for children who might otherwise go without holiday gifts. Local businesses, such as Adams Fairacre Farms and have provided bins for collecting brand-new, unwrapped toys. Cash can be donated online at the website to buy toys, also.
Learn More: Hudson Valley Toys for Tots Toys for Tots on Facebook Marine Reserve Corps at Stewart Air Base WBPM (92.9) National Toys for Tots campaign |
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AIRED ON NOVEMBER 20, 2022
Join Rotary for ServiceRadioRotary welcomes District 7210 Membership Chair and Past District Governor (2020-21) Highland Rotarian Tony Marmo who describes some of the many benefits of becoming a Rotarian. He personally likes the way that Rotary not only aids local community organizations but also has a global reach. With over 200 nations that have active Rotary clubs, Rotarians around the world can find partners to promote such goals as peace, literacy, clean water, maternal health, and disease prevention (notably the work toward eradicating polio). Rotary was founded in 1905 by four professionals who met weekly for lunch to plan community improvements. Today’s Rotarians have expanded their reach by including meetings for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and also by working with satellite clubs, with the high school and college adjuncts (Interact and Rotaract), and with online e-clubs.
Learn More: Rotary Club Locator Highland (NY) Rotary Club Millbrook Rotary Club Pleasant Valley Rotary Club Red Hook Rotary Club |
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AIRED ON NOVEMBER 6, 2022
Making Affordable Housing AvailableRadio Rotary interviews Christa Hines, CEO of Hudson River Housing, a vital service primarily in Dutchess County (but with a few facilities in nearby counties). For the past 40 years Hudson River Housing has worked to solve the housing problems of those who my face housing choices that would be more than 30% of their income, providing more than 1,500 units of affordable housing as well as a homeless shelter for those with no housing at all. Since the pandemic brought many new, relatively wealthy families out of the city or suburbs, the need for affordable housing in the region has increased—and Hudson River Housing has helped in several ways, not just with acquiring or building new units. Some of their programs include employment services, a drop-in center for youth, housing options for veterans, and senior housing services.
Learn More: Hudson River Housing Poughkeepsie Housing Authority Housing and Homelessness in Mid-Hudson |
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