On August 31st, John "Jack" Morehead, a former LFLB Rotary Club member, Club President and District Governor, passed away. Deepest condolences to Jack's family. Thank you to Jack for his service to our country and community. Read more about Jack's life here.
Welcome to our new 2023-24 Club President, Zhuming Smith! She leads the Rotary Club of Lake Forest - Lake Bluff, a service and social organization with over 50 members. Members are united in creating lasting change locally and globally. Since 1959, the club and its local Foundation have donated more than $1 million to causes in our community and the world. Welcome Zhuming!
BRING THE WORLD TO YOU: HOST A STUDENT!
Attend our information session next week on Thursday, March 16, 10:00am at CROYA, 400 Hastings, Lake Forest and find out how to become a host family! Hear first hand from Jan Roessler, a former exchange student who participated in our local program!
 | We're profiling our members, starting with some of the new ones. Come learn more about some of the amazing people that make up the Rotary Club of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff. This spotlight focuses on member Megan Morris. |
Rotary Club of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff earns Rotary Citation.
On August 18th, Karl Nagel, a former LFLB Rotary Club member and Club President (1973-1974), passed away. Deepest condolences to Karl's wife, children and grandchildren. Thank you to Karl for his service to our country and community. Read more about Karl here.
On August 2nd, Marc Munder, a member of our Rotary family, passed away. Deepest condolences to Marc Munder's wife, kids, and grandchildren. Thank you to Marc for his service to the country through the military and to the community through Rotary. Read more about Marc at https://www.rtfunerals.com/obituaries/Marc-Munder/#!/Obituary.
Our deepest condolences go to our neighbors in Highland Park, especially to those families who lost loved ones and whose families are deeply impacted by the shooting at the Highland Park parade. Thank you to local law enforcement and health care providers in North Chicago, Lake Forest, Highland Park, and neighboring communities for responding, for treating those in need, and for bringing the suspect into custody before the end of the day.
Welcome to our new 2022-23 Club President, Jerry Kelly! He leads the Rotary Club of Lake Forest - Lake Bluff, a service and social organization with over 50 members. Members are united in creating lasting change locally and globally. Since 1959, the club and its local Foundation have donated more than $1 million to causes in our community and the world. Welcome Jerry!
Welcome to our new 2022-23 Rotary International President, Jennifer Jones! She leads a service and social organization of 1.4 million members in 46,000+ clubs worldwide, including neighborhoods near you. Members are united in creating lasting change locally and globally. The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International is ranked by Charity Navigator in the top 5 of the '10 of the Best Charities Everyone's Heard Of.' Welcome Jennifer! https://www.rotary.org/en/2022-23-president-jennifer-jones-eager-advance-rotarys-narrative
Thank you to our outgoing 2021-22 Club President, John Barth. Under John's leadership, club members, including 2021-22 board members, accomplished key goals in fundraising, donations, sponsorships, youth initiatives, communications, memberships, and social events! https://lflbrotary.org/page/accomplishments-2021-2022
On June 29th, we celebrated the accomplishments of our 2021-22 club president, John Barth, his board, and our members. We welcomed the new 2022-23 club president, Jerry Kelly, and his board. It was a beautiful evening under the tent with great food and company.
Thank you to the Lake Forest Police Department for hosting the Bike Rodeo, for helping kids have great cycling experiences! The Rotary Club of Lake Forest - Lake Bluff enjoys being part of this event - rain or shine! And it's great to see fellow service organizations like Fill a Heart for Kids.
The pandemic has taken a toll on many businesses. LFLB Rotary Members, spouses, and significant others gathered last month for good company and to support a restaurant, Szechwan North in Glenview. John and Sunny coordinated the event. Sunny's wife arranged the family-style menu with a variety of savory Chinese dishes and drink options. The Chinese banquet was a big success!
Club Members gathered to take new group photos! In addition to taking an updated photo in front of Lake Forest Club, members took a poolside photo too. Thank you to Hector, Miguel, and Andrew for your photography skills.
Tonight, Lake Forest and Lake Bluff libraries are presenting this year's Read Between the Ravines signature author event. Join us in the Hughes Theater at Gorton for a conversation between Ron Hirasawa, of our LF-LB Rotary Club and a marketing professor at DePaul University, and author Maxine Bédat about her book "Unraveled: The Life and Death of a Garment." One of Rotary's key areas of focus is protecting the environment. Register for free here: https://gortoncenter.org/event/read-between-the-ravines-unraveled/
Rotary is mobilizing to provide medical supplies and other humanitarian support to Ukraine and refugees in surrounding areas. We have 60 clubs in Ukraine. Check out this morning's video between the Elgin Club in our district and club members in Ukraine: https://www.facebook.com/ElginBreakfastRotaryClub/videos/656382645695788.
On March 2nd, the Lake Forest–Lake Bluff Rotary Club Foundation held its 20th Economic breakfast and fundraiser! This Economic Update featured Charles Evans, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Charles discussed the two goals of the Fed and how they have one tool. Charles shared his perspectives on employment and inflation rates: previous years of promoting a higher inflation rate, reasons for inflation, and how the inflation rate is now too high. He talked about wanting to reduce the size of our balance sheet. The pandemic times and supply chain issues were discussed. Carl Marcyan was the moderator. Opening and closing remarks were delivered by John Barth and Larry Kuhl, the Event Chair.
Join us for a timely event featuring Charles Evans, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Attendees will hear his comments on the outlook for the economy, inflation, employment, and the future of monetary policy in a question-and-answer format. Live online tickets of $150 are tax deductible. Your support benefits the many causes of the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Rotary Club Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public foundation. To attend in-person at the Lake Forest Club, become a sponsor, starting at $1250 for 9 guests. For live online tickets or to download the sponsorship brochure, go to events.absolutepros.live/economicbreakfast2022/.
The Rotary Club of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff received the ShelterBox HERO recognition for Rotary Year 2021-2022. Thank you to everyone who gave to this important initiative in support of Haiti Earthquake Relief. At the end of the Rotary Year, the LFLB Rotary club will be listed on the HERO page at shelterboxusa.org/hero. #shelterboxhero
Become a Sponsor for this rare and timely event featuring Charles Evans, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, presented by the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Rotary Club Foundation. Sponsors and their guests gain insights into the Federal Reserve policy on interest rates, employment, inflation and economic growth in a question-and-answer format. The Economic Breakfast brings together local business owners, professionals, and community leaders. Your support benefits the many causes of the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Rotary Club Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public foundation. For more details on sponsorship opportunities and an order form go to the 2022 Rotary Economic Breakfast Info and Order Form.
From July through December 2021, your Local Rotary Club awarded $17,903 in cash, coats, and books. As we celebrate the new year, we also celebrate organizations making positive impacts in our and other communities. To join us in contributing to causes like these, please go to https://lflbrotary.org/page/donate.
$5760 of warm winter coats to school children (still underway)
$4043 to the NCCP Family Care Closet Food Pantry
$3000 to ShelterBox for Disaster Recovery initiatives
$1400 to Deer Path Middle School’s 8th Grade Service Project
$4043 to the NCCP Family Care Closet Food Pantry
$3000 to ShelterBox for Disaster Recovery initiatives
$1400 to Deer Path Middle School’s 8th Grade Service Project
$1000 (and 59 coats) to Midwest Veterans Closet
$1000 to Feed my Starving Children
$1000 to the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International
$500 to the Lake Forest High School Madrigals
$200 worth of Children’s books for our local literacy project
$1000 to Feed my Starving Children
$1000 to the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International
$500 to the Lake Forest High School Madrigals
$200 worth of Children’s books for our local literacy project
A new blog featuring local stories around Lake Forest, lakeforestlove.com, profiled our Operation Warm initiative. Thank you to Kim Piekos, the author, for spending time with our team and learning more about this important initiative to bring warm winter coats to school children in Highwood, North Chicago, and Waukegan. Check out the article at lakeforestlove.com/post/rotarians-provide-warmth-to-needy-children.
On November 4th, Russ Clark, a member of our Rotary family, passed away. Deepest condolences to Russ Clark's wife, kids, and grandchildren. Thank you to Russ for his service to the community through Rotary. Read more about Russ at legacy.com/us/obituaries/chicagotribune/name/russell-clark-obituary?id=31609963.
To keep kids warm, the Rotary Club of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff began distributing winter coats on November 2nd. This season, we anticipate donating around 411 coats. We made the first delivery of 131 coats to Neustro Center of Highwood, North Chicago Community Partners (NCCP), and Waukegan Public Schools. The next set will be delivered to schools Tuesday, November 16th. Over the past 12 years, the Rotary Club of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff has distributed over 6,000 new winter coats.
Over the past 35 years, Rotary has vaccinated 3 billion children in 122 countries from polio, a paralyzing and potentially deadly infectious disease. Even a member of our Rotary Club of Lake Forest – Lake Bluff and his wife helped immunize children in India against polio. Working with key partners, we’ve reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent. We need to stay vigilant, even though it has been a long time since the US housed polio patients in iron lungs (pictured).
In a demonstration of Rotary’s global reach, your local Rotary Clubs worked with the Rotary Club of Davangere South in India to donate a Mobile Medical Van. India is estimated to have the second highest number of hemophilia cases with an estimated 80% of Indians with this serious blood disorder going undiagnosed [India Healthworld, April 2019]. The Karnataka Hemophilia Society will use this Rotary Hemophilia Van to bring diagnostic tools to remote areas.
Thank you to the 8th graders at Deer Path Middle School (DPM) for continuing to hold their annual Community Service Day - even in a pandemic. They raised over $5000 for Camp Kesem! We appreciate being a sponsor of this important event. And we look forward to seeing the impact these students' commitment to service will have on our community in the years to come!
The October 2021 issue of Forest & Bluff magazine published an article 'Service Above Self' highlighting our Lake Forest - Lake Bluff Rotary Club. Pages 38-39 introduce Rotary, our club, our weekly meetings, our global network, our foundation, our causes and service projects. Quotes from members Fred Jackson, John Barth, Zhuming Smith, and Sunny Lu drive home the spirit of fellowship and service in the club! Members of the community are encouraged to join us for a breakfast by emailing us at info@LFLBRotary.org. Thank you to Mary Kelly for submitting the story. To see the latest issues of Forest & Bluff, go to https://jwcdaily.com/forestbluffmagazine/.
It was a pleasure to have Kevin Stevens join us at breakfast at the end of September. He discussed the district and global grant process. Kevin also outlined key initiatives and goals including growing clubs and membership, updating technology used by clubs, and improving our visibility within the community. Kevin is our Rotary District Governor (DG), the primary link between our district and other districts in the region and beyond. He serves on many boards as an advocate for literacy, education, career development, and veterans' causes.
Great job on the parade, Lake Forest! Our club is proud to both help coordinate spots along the parade route as well as participate as an entry. If you were in the Lake Forest Day parade, you probably interacted with a Rotarian and may not have known it. Other Rotarians walked and drove the parade route under the Rotary banner. Thank you to the American Legion for hosting the successful event!
It was a pleasure to have Melvina Lube join us at breakfast last week. She shared her experiences in Rotary including hosting exchange students, traveling to South Africa and Cuba, and attending international conferences. Melvina is our Rotary Assistant/Area Governor (AG), the primary link between NE Illinois district leadership and individual clubs like ours.
Thank you to last year's Rotary Club of Lake Forest - Lake Bluff 2020-2021 board members: Dick, Jerry, Larry, John H, JJ, John B, Mark, Steve, and Tom (pictured) as well as Sonia, Art, John L, Marc, and David. Thank you to John Hancir for leading the club through this challenging past year! What a beautiful evening celebrating them and the induction of John Barth as the new 2021-2022 club president.
The Rotary Club of Lake Forest - Lake Bluff donated funds to the Lake Bluff Open Lands Association (LBOLA) for a number of trees. Club members Rick, Steve, JJ, Tom, Bill Summers, Bill Shepherd, and Mark (pictured) as well as Sunny donated their time to help clear buckthorn. Thank you to LBOLA for coordinating the event and providing support with power tools and expertise.
Congratulations to the 2021 Deer Path Middle School Graduates! Thank you for your work on Community Service Day. We appreciated being a donor to this important initiative. Always remember that helping others is a lifeway commitment!
