Local Rotarians spread holiday cheer to soldiers

Published 11:25 pm Thursday, December 9, 2010

MILL CREEK

Christmas packages are on the way to local soldiers in six platoons in Iraq and Afghanistan that, if it calculated right, the Rotary Club of Mill Creek expects to reach the soldiers by Christmas Eve.

A Rotarian whose son is serving in Iraq gave the group the idea to send packages to the troops, said Bob Collard, who handles the group’s public relations.

With help from Fort Lewis officials, six platoons were identified for the Rotarian Christmas packages. Boxes filled with gifts, beef jerky and necessities like toothpaste were shipped out earlier this month.

“We sent things people assume the troops had but they didn’t,” Collard said.

The Mill Creek Rotary has approximately 35 members, which Collard described as a fairly small group compared to neighboring Rotary groups.

“It’s amazing how much we accomplish,” he said.

Rotary President Barbara Athanas said by July she would like to have at least 40 members.

“When you see people having a good time, you want to be around that,” Athanas said. “We have people who know how to get things done. Together we’re an unstoppable force.”

The Rotarians also helped with the Dec. 5 Santa’s Comin’ to Town parade that weaved through Mill Creek Town Center.

The week before Thanksgiving, Athanas said the group was already planning an event in January. The Rotarians will partner with YWCA Pathways in Everett to offer dental care to women and children. About 30 appointments will be offered for routine cleaning or for more complicated dental work.

Given the economic conditions, people need more help than ever, Athanas said. “We’re addressing the needs of people in our community.”

The Rotarians take a two-prong approach, helping locally and internationally. Locally, the group offers scholarships, acknowledges students of the month from nearby schools and “adopts” families at Christmas by providing gifts.

“With the mixture of things we’re involved in, there’s something that appeals to everyone,” Collard said.

Internationally, the group donates to the national Rotary Wheelchair Foundation that provides wheelchairs to people in countries with limited medical resources, including Costa Rica, Guatemala and Armenia.

“It’s liberating for them to get around,” Collard said.

Collard said the group has donated 2,000 to 3,000 wheelchairs since becoming involved with the foundation.

The local Rotarians also partner with other Rotary chapters on international service projects. The club’s International Committee, for example, donated $2,000 to the Mercer Island Rotary Club. The Mercer Island group is supplying water to the Akola region in India.

In October, the Mill Creek group held three mini-auctions during its weekly lunchtime meetings to raise more than $1,100 for First Harvest, which provides produce to food banks.

“We got everyone’s adrenaline going,” Athanas said.

For Halloween, the group participated in the city’s Trunk-or-Treat event at Mill Creek Town Center, where members handed out candy.

Athanas said there are a lot of open-hearted people involved with Rotary and that, once they get an idea, they roll up their sleeves to get it done.

“You can’t fix everything, but you can certainly reach out to make things warmer,” she said.