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Prior Lake Rotary Club

Doing Good; Serious Fun!

We meet In Person

Wednesdays at 7:00 a.m.

Shepherd of the Lake Lutheran Church

3611 N. Berens Road NW
Prior Lake, MN 55372
United States of America

District Site

Venue Map

4th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration

Celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during this annual event. Activities will include performances by the Prior Lake High School and Glendale Elementary Choirs, a message from keynote speaker Alex Krafft, student presentations, recognition of the "I Have a Dream" poetry contest winners, guided table discussions and samples of a variety of multicultural food after the program.

This event is free and open to the public and is sponsored by the Prior Lake Rotary in partnership with Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools.

LINK BELOW TO FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE:

http://www.facebook.com/events/2536549110070299/?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22mechanism%22%3A%22your_upcoming_events_unit%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22bookmark%22%7D]%2C%22ref_notif_type%22%3Anull%7D

Robust Youth Programs

It has often been said that the future of our country and our world is in the hands of our young people. With that in mind, Prior Lake Rotary has worked towards a robust youth program.

Model United Nations, Students Taking a Renewed Interest in the Value of Education (STRIVE), and Camp Enterprise are a few of the most visible programs our Rotary Club supports.

Model United Nations

Model UN is a simulation of the United Nations General Assembly and its other multilateral bodies. Students act as ambassadors while debating topics such as gender equality, climate action, global health, and more. This year's Model UN was held at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. Twenty-three students attended for $38 per student, and two teachers from Prior Lake Schools accompanied them.

Each year, UNA-MN hosts fall and spring conferences, during which students from across the state debate important, real-world issues that the United Nations faces.

Prior Lake Rotary financially supports the students and their advisors by funding registration costs and transportation to and from the event. This is an opportunity for our club to provide a real-world, hands-on experience for students to learn to advocate for issues, work in partnership with others, compromise, and understand how interconnected the world's countries are.

Camp Enterprise

Prior Lake Rotary was fortunate to send five students to Rotary District 5950 annual Camp Enterprise this year. The Camp is held at Maple Lake, MN's beautiful Camp Courage facilities.

Camp Enterprise is a Rotary-sponsored and coordinated camp designed for high school juniors and seniors who aspire to or are considering a future business career. This year's event took place from October 31 through November 2. The cost for each student was $450. This included transportation, lodging, meals, keynote speakers, chaperones, and activities.

Each year, 60-70 students attend. The students are divided into random groups and assigned to create, market, and pitch a new product. At the end of the week, a “Shark Tank”-style

judging is held!

On the final day, five $1,000 scholarships are awarded to students with the best, most well-thought-out, and presented ideas. One of the Prior Lake-sponsored students, Kaiya Hoben, was awarded one of the scholarships!

We had outstanding feedback from the five students who attended from Prior Lake. The five students are all seniors at PLHS and attend MN CAPS on the business career path. The Alexandria Rotary Club founded Camp Enterprise, a long-standing Rotary-sponsored and facilitated event whose origins date back to the late 1970s.

Lots of fun, hands-on business activities and new friendships were made.

STRIVE 2023-2024

Prior Lake Rotary Strive Program, or Students Taking a Renewed Interest in the Value of Education, supports students who, for whatever reason, have faced challenges in completing their secondary education. These students return to school determined to graduate and continue their education.

Prior Lake Rotary supports these efforts by providing mentors from the club who meet regularly with students. With the help of mentors, students work toward credit recovery, higher attendance, and on-time graduation.

During the 2024-2025 school year, we paired 25 students with 25 mentors. Members will meet 19 times, mixing speakers, goal setting, and conversation. We also added a Holiday Celebration at Fong’s Restaurant, two highway clean-up sessions, and a college visit to Normandale Community College.

The dedication of the mentors, mentees, and District personnel ensures that STRIVE will continue well into the future.

Harry Algyer- Prior Lake Rotary

This article was completed with contributions from Mary Haugen, Lance Smith, and Tim Bell.

Students attending Model United Nations

A photo op at Camp Enterprise for the students who were awarded scholarships. Kaiya Hoben is pictured in the middle.

Lakefront Music Fest Volunteer Groups

We have shared before how Prior Lake Rotary’s Lakefront Music Fest, the proceeds from the Club’s largest fundraiser, help to make a difference in all the giving and doing the Club does. As we recently shared, this giving and doing totaled $439,095 in the 2023-2024 Rotary year alone.

This year, we had 33 non-profit organizations or clubs who participated as volunteer groups. And eight of those were other Rotary Clubs from around the area. In all, these groups provided 3,600 volunteer hours, while the general public had 2,200 volunteer hours. For Prior Lake Rotarians, the documented total, which we know is definitely on the light side, had 1,550 documented, while their family members had 500 volunteer hours. That brings us to just over 8,000 total document volunteer hours. As Mary Haugen, one of the of our Volunteer Coordinators stated, “Every time I do these calculations, I'm sort of overwhelmed. That's what it takes to put on this Music Fest. And without all of you who are guests today, we wouldn't be able to do that."

For the funds earned from those groups and those volunteer hours, Prior Lake Rotary was able to give out $108,615! Today, we had most of those organizations in attendance. And they shared what the funds will be used for. We wanted to share a few of those.

The Prior Lake Snowmobile Association will use the funds for new signs for trails for smaller snowmobile clubs around Scott County, and even Chaska in Carver County. The Prior Lake Bass Club will use the funds to put on a spring crappie tournament for youth. It’s treated like an actual fishing tournament and they give away free prizes. Holy Trinity United Methodist Church will use funds towards their community garden which supports the CAP Agency and other food shelves. La ola del lago school helps fund the Spanish intern program serving about 500 children. Southern Valley Alliance will use the funds for their 24/7 crisis line for emergencies or for people who just need assistance or help. In 2023, 2,251 calls came into the crisis line, so it is a very needed service. Jordan Lions will use the money to support events like A Basket of Food at the holidays that serves approximately 200 families. Prior Lake Lions will use the money to fund diabetic kits in the schools for nurses to treat children when they have low blood sugar.

For some of the Rotary Clubs, West St. Paul/Mendota Heights Rotary Club will use the funds to offset the costs of the ethics program they hold for about 65 youth. Orono Rotary will use the donation and pass it on for Venture, who they support, which will provide 1,800 meals, and also to support an organization that has saved 516 young women to date from human trafficking. Shakopee Rotary will use the funds for the Shakopee Celebrate Reading program where they provide a book and backpack full of goodies for every 1st grade student, which is about 600 students. And also to help support the quarterly Loaves & Fishes program, which serves about 800 people. So about 1400 people positively impacted.

Lakeville Rotary will help fund a program called GiGi's Playhouse for down syndrome children and adults. Specifically, the achievement center will provide advanced education for down syndrome children in high school. All programs are free of charge, and they currently serve 15 families. The donation to Edina Morningside Rotary Club will translate into 9,000 meals that will be provided through VEEP, a food shelf that addresses food insecurity. Said Brad Johnson from Edina Morningside Rotary Club, “I think it's unprecedented that a Rotary Club shares their successful-event proceeds with other Clubs.”

It was truly amazing to hear all the good the money will be used for. As Prior Lake Rotarian Harry Algyer stated, “This is always one of the best Club meetings of the year! It is great that all the Rotarians get to hear all the good these funds will go towards because we put the Music Fest on every year.” We couldn’t agree more, Harry. What a morning!

Prior Lake Rotary Club, P.O. Box 271, Prior Lake, MN 55372

July 12 & 13, 2024

www.lakefrontmusicfest.com

August 24, 2024

www.pedalprior.com

More Information

Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration
Jan. 20, 2025
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Rotary Board Meeting
Shepherd of the Lake Lutheran Church

Jan. 21, 2025
7:00 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.
Youth Service Meeting
Jan. 22, 2025
Public Image Team Meeting
Boathouse Brothers Brewing Co.

Jan. 27, 2025
5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Foundation Committee Monthly
The Pointe

Jan. 28, 2025
5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Vocational Meeting
Shepherd of the Lake Church

Feb. 05, 2025
8:30 a.m. - 9:15 a.m.