Tuesday (June 25) morning’s speaker was Bruce Day, Executive Director of Helena Food Share.  Bruce gave a positive and upbeat message about the difficult subject of hunger in our community.  HFS was founded in 1987 to help provide emergency food to our neighbors who face hunger.  HFS provides emergency food for 1,500 local families each month, serves nearly 1,100 elementary school students every week with the Kid Packs program and distributes nearly 6,000 pounds of food to local families in need each day.  The agency’s mission is, “Serving our neighbors in need by providing food in a respectful and dignified way and by working with others to eliminate hunger in the greater Helena area.”  More information may be found at: https://helenafoodshare.org/

Kees (“Case”) [L] and Mayumi (“May-u-me”) [C] van der Pol, pictured with club member, Greg Duncan [R], spoke to the club on Tuesday, June 11, 2019, about peace parks, particularly a park in process of creation on the border of Pakistan and India.  Kees and Mayumi are from Nakusp, British Columbia.  Kees is a past governor of District 5080 and Mayumi is the current president of the Nakusp Rotary Club.  Rotarian Action Group for Peace (RAGFP) members in Rotary District 3011 and District 3070 (India) have joined with other Rotarian Action Group for Peace members in Rotary District 3272 (Pakistan) to create a Peace Park, called The Indus Peace Park Project, within the disputed borders of Pakistan and India. The mission is to “create an international peace park on the border of India and Pakistan by August 2022. To promote lasting peace, goodwill, and collaboration between the peoples of Pakistan and India and to put a stop to unnecessary loss of life across the border.”  This Peace Park is supported by other voluntary members in Rotary districts worldwide, including 1130 (UK).  Districts 5390, 5080 5370,and 5360 include Rotarians and RAGFP members in the USA and Canada. Rotarians in Africa of District 9212 also support this peace project. Rotarian Action Group for Peace is also a partner in this project.  More information may be found at:  https://www.rotarianactiongroupforpeace.org/the-indus-peace-park-project/