Weekly Update from President Scott Emley

Greetings Rotarians,

This week's email is going out a little earlier than normal as I want to get information to you regarding our club's ALS challenge.  Our club has challenged the Konza Club to an ALS fundraising challenge in honor and memory of those Rotarians and families affected by this horrible disease.  The challenge runs until our meeting on the 25th.  Between now and then you can make a donation by check or online which will count towards our club's total.  You DO NOT need to designate your donation as "Manhattan Rotary Club" as this is not an "official" challenge but just a fun way to work together with fellow Rotarians from the Konza Club towards a worthy cause.  At the end of the challenge, we will total contributions made by each club.  The club that raises the most funds will make their club president available to be dumped on by the other club president.  That's right, if we "win" in our fundraising efforts, I will have a bucket of ice water dumped on me by President Lisa Sisley of the  Konza Club.  I know that seems backwards (at least to me) but several members have already shared that they think this is a brilliant strategy to motivate our members to give more!  

For those of you who wish to give online you can go to the ALS website which is www.ALS.org.  You will clearly see a red "donate" button at the top right of the page you can click on to donate online.  If you choose to donate online, please email me the amount you have donated so we can add your amount to our club total.  If you choose to donate by check, please make your check payable to "ALS Association".  I have attached a donation form that you can bring with your check if you desire a contribution acknowledgement from ALS for tax purposes.  We will collect all donation forms/checks for the next 2 weeks and then submit all donations together at the end of this challenge.  We will have ice buckets at our next two meetings where you can leave your checks.  We  also have a club member who has offered a .50 cent match for all donations given between now and the 25th.  That means for every $100 we collect, the match will be $50.  This is a great opportunity for you to leverage your gift to ALS Association and another reason it is important to report your donation to me if you donate online so we can get the match.

As I mentioned at our meeting last week, my motivation in issuing this challenge was Mel Chastain.  Mel and DonnaDee lost their son-in-law Peter Anderson to ALS last year.  Since announcing this challenge, I have learned that President-Elect Betty Stevens lost a cousin recently and Jim Reed lost 2 friends to this disease.  I'm sure there are countless others in our club and community that have been affected by this disease that were are not aware.   This is one small way as Rotarians we can assist in the research for treatment and ultimately a cure for ALS.  Thank you in advance for your generosity.

This week we welcome  two more new members in Phil Mattox and Steve Lambert.  Our club continues to add new members who are getting involved immediately and contributing to the betterment of our club.  We have another excellent program this week as K State music professor Bryan Pinkall  will discuss "Producing the Winter Olympic Opening Ceremony."  I hope you will  join me for lunch this Thursday!

Scott Emley
Rotary Club of Manhattan