About Our Club
Subpages
Metro North Grant Application
 
Metro North Rotary was chartered on May 23, 2003 with 34 members. MNR strives to live the Rotary motto of 'Service Above Self.' We focus on action and positive results, and through our community events we raise money to serve underprivileged children both locally and internationally. The club works on a regular basis with Metro High School and Boys & Girls Clubs of the Corridor, as well as being involved with other community service projects. Our club's focus is simple: we strive to select great members who want to attend relevant and dynamic meetings, get involved in both social and service opportunities, and HAVE FUN! 
 
 
Executive Board
Our Executive Board is responsible for the overall administration of the club. Terms of office follow our financial year (July – June). Current executives are:

President: Lindsay Glynn
President Elect: Ash Wagel
Secretary: Dave Carlson
Treasurer: Will Schwickerath
Past President: Kyle Boardman
 
Board Members
In addition to the Officers and Directors, the following people have been elected to serve on the Metro North Rotary Board and act as liaisons to the various committees our club utilizes to accomplish our mission:
 
  • Outreach: Ruth Nebergall
  • International: Ash Wagel
  • Communications: Al Buck
  • Program: Felicia Taylor
  • Membership: Patti Kunz
  • Foundation: Kyle Boardman
  • Construction Crew: Will Schwickerath
  • Social: TJ Meiners
 

Committees
We ask all of our members to share their talents and skills with others through at least one committee. These committees help to support our service efforts both locally and across the globe. Below is a listing description for each of our committees. For questions about or to get involved in any of these committees, please contact the board liaison for the committee listed above.
 
 
Outreach
In keeping with the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self” Metro North Rotary is committed to serving disadvantaged children in our community and internationally. Our Community Service Committee leads our local efforts by gathering project ideas from club members and partner organizations, researches these submissions, and presents this information for our members to select a project. The club works on a regular basis with Metro High School and the Boys and Girls Club of Cedar Rapids, as well as being involved with other community organizations service projects. Here’s just a small sampling of projects we have worked on recently:
 
Projects at Metro North High School
  • Built the new incubator lab
  • Redesigned and rebuilt: three science rooms, the art room, and the main entrance to the school
  • Donations to Metro Threads - a program to provide work attire and interview clothing to students
  • Day of Caring – days set aside for community service with students, staff, and other volunteers
  • Donations of Christmas Gift & Food Baskets for Metro High School students and their families. 
  • Prep-to-Grad Class - designed for graduating seniors to help prepare them for life after graduation.
  • Annual Teacher Appreciation Breakfast or Lunch
 
Projects at the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Corridor:
  • Fish-O-Rama – This is the Boys & Girls Club’s largest annual fundraiser, our members donate time and funds 
  • Serving Thanksgiving Dinner at the various Boys & Girls Club locations
  • Youth of the Year Competition - Youth of the Year is Boys & Girls Clubs of America's highest honor! Each year, our Rotarians volunteer their time to judge Boys & Girls Clubs of the Corridor's local youth of the year competition and select the member who will represent BGCC at the state level competition.
    
 
 
Other Projects:
  • Built a Nature Explore Classroom at the Indian Creek Nature Center
  • Selection and sponsorship of one or two high school students to RYLA (Rotary’s One Week Camp for Emerging Young Leaders) annually
 
 
International
Our international committee is made up of two sub-committees:
Rotary International Youth Exchange is one of the oldest and well recognized exchange programs in the world.  It is a study-abroad opportunity for young people who spend anywhere from a few weeks to a full year as an international student hosted by local Rotary clubs.  The mission of Rotary International is to provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace….it is never more evident than in our international exchange.  Rotary members support students around the world by hosting students and provide scholarships which makes this exchange program one of the least expensive exchange programs available.
 
MNR has always understood the importance of the exchange program but earlier in its history when the club didn’t have a lot of funding, MNR partnered with Day Break Rotary to help send a student.  That student was Kayla Phelan who went to South America and she is now a member of the MNR Club.  It’s such an honor to see this program come full circle.  Past President Dave Reisner was instrumental in developing our inbound program and has hosted many students.
 
Since that time we have sponsored several students.  Two of note would be a Paraguayan student named Sol who is now going to Law School to be an International Diplomat, and Yrupe from Argentina who shared, “My world is so much bigger now, I used to only think about my city, now I know I have the whole world available to me.  I have changed and I have opinions now.”  Our current exchange student we are hosting is Maki from Japan.
 
The International Service Committee leads our club’s global efforts in exploring and implementing international community service projects. Rotary members unite across the globe to put our experience and knowledge to work tackling our most pressing challenges. We focus our efforts in six areas: promoting peace, preventing diseases, providing access to clean water and sanitation, enhancing maternal and child health, improving basic education and literacy, and helping communities develop.  A few of our recent projects:
  • Provided 10 computers and school supplies for the ACAPADES school in Tivaouane, Senegal in Africa.
  • Provided 15 laptop computers to the school in Kipkaren, Kenya.  
  • Raised over $24,000.00 and drilled three wells in Kipkaren, Kenya supplying the town with fresh water for the first time ever. 
  • Provided school supplies to a school in Laos.  
  • Provided 8 laptop computers and school supplies to a school in Pinion, Haiti.
  • Funded and sent one of our members on a Uganda Mission Trip that brought 50 Laptops loaded with Khan Academy (a digital learning curriculum) to three remote villages.

Lager 'Lympics

 
 
Lager 'Lympics is our club’s new annual fundraiser.  While organizing the event requires many hands, it is quite a lot of fun as well.  Our members help to form three subcommittees to develop and put on the event:
 
 
  • The Lager 'Lympic Event Committee plans and oversees all of the logistics and decorations for the event.
  • While every member is responsible for helping to raise funds through donations and securing of sponsorships, it is the Fundraising Committee who organizes and leads the fundraising efforts of our club.
  • The Marketing Committee leads our efforts in creating materials, maintaining our online presence, and working with local media or vendors to market the event.
  • Contact our event chair Cheri Monahan to get involved today! Cheri.Monahan@cipco.net

 
 
Communications
 The Communications Committee promotes and informs our members and the general public about the service projects and other activities of Metro North Rotary and Rotary in general.  To accomplish this the communications committee is broken down into four sub-committees who rotate responsibilities for publishing and/or producing communications for our club.  These sub-committees are:
  • The Newsletter Team rotates the responsibility of taking high-level notes at each week’s meeting of the announcements and speakers topic and then sends those notes out through our newsletter.  You can find a link to our latest newsletter on our home page.
  • The Production Team produces electronic and print materials for the promotion of our club’s activities
  • Social Media Team maintains our social media presence with live status updates and tweets from our meetings and events.  You can find us on Facebook at:  www.facebook.com/metronorthrotary or our Twitter handle is:  @mnrotary
  • Many individuals across our club help to update our website with different material on a regular basis.  However, it is our Website Team that handles the overall design and administration of our site.
 
 
Programs
Our club’s success is due in large part because our weekly meetings are a good balance of education and fun.  The programs committee plans and coordinates our programs and speakers who share information on a variety of informative, interesting and engaging topics.  At the end of the school year, they also select, purchase, and donate a collection of special books to the Metro High School library as a thank you in honor of each speaker throughout the year. 
 
 
The Social Committee plans and coordinates social events that promote the development of relationships between club members in a fun and highly entertaining setting. While we always seem to have a good deal of fun together, social events scheduled throughout the year provide opportunities to get together not only with our own members, but to interact with each member’s spouse/significant others. 
 
 
Membership
The Membership Committee informs prospective members about the privileges and responsibilities of Metro North Rotary membership while overseeing their application process.  They also facilitate the orientation of new members during their first 6-months in the club, and are responsible for the administration and tracking of member attendance.  For more information about becoming a member of our club, please click here. membership application
 
Foundation
The Foundation Committee informs members about the benefits of the Rotary Foundation and eases the process of members donating.  For more information about the rotary foundation, please click here. Rotary Foundation