Nation’s first inner city Rotary Club celebrates 20 years

Minneapolis South Rotary seeking new members—particularly from local neighborhoods

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN
For 20 years, the Minneapolis South Rotary Club has been living out the Club motto, “Service Above Self.”
As the organization celebrates two decades, it is seeking new members.

 The South Minneapolis Rotary Club is diverse in many ways—gender and gender identity, race, profession, political leanings, nationality, according to Past President Lynn Keillor. “Rotary is an on-the-go, tuned-in group in the Twin Cities with fun, energetic and interesting people,” said Keillor. (Photo submitted)

Through the years, the club has met the different needs of different members and has accomplished some really neat things, according to Past President Lynn Keillor. “However, there’s been some attrition in the past few years—some members moved, work schedules have changed, life happened.
It was as if we looked up one day and said, ‘Gosh, we don’t have the hands to do the cool stuff we want to and should be doing.’”
She acknowledged that it doesn’t help that Rotary has a bit of a stodgy reputation. “In actuality, our club is diverse in so many ways—gender and gender identity, race, profession, political leanings, nationality. Rotary is an on-the-go, tuned-in group in the Twin Cities with fun, energetic and interesting people,” said Keillor.
“We’re at an interesting point in the club where we can grow it up into something really cool—it’s like we’ve been given the good fortune of a blank slate and the opportunity to write the next chapter.
There are countless good ideas and projects we could do in South Minneapolis, in the Metro area or even worldwide. “This can and should be as vibrant of a club as is the neighborhood we’re in.”
Milin Dutta of Standish is passionate about keeping the South Minneapolis club going. She’s a member of the larger Minneapolis City of the Lake Rotary club, but attends the South Minneapolis meetings each week as a guest. “Why you should join Minneapolis South Rotary Club? What do you lose? $25 per month? What do you gain? Good network and you could listen to great speakers every week,” she stated.
Libraries, school supplies, job readiness and more
The South Minneapolis Rotary Club was chartered in 1996 as a special project by the Minneapolis City of Lakes Rotary Club with the support of the Edina Rotary Club.
It’s the first Rotary club in the nation to be established in an inner-city neighborhood.
The group’s contributions to the South Minneapolis neighborhood are many.

Minneapolis South Rotarians welcome a 2016-17 exchange student, Arya, from Indonesia. He plays guitar and piano; enjoys basketball and badminton; and is especially active with his school debate team. “I love Rotary Youth Exchange. I feel it’s a true vehicle for global peace and understanding,” said Lynn Keillor, who helps manage the exchange program. (Photo submitted)

They built 12 (and installed 11) Little Free Libraries in South Minneapolis neighborhoods with low literacy and low-access to books, including one at the Friendship Academy School of Fine Arts (2600 E. 38th St.) and one at Folwell School (3611 20th Ave. S.). The books were provided by the Minneapolis School District.
Most recently, Rotary donated money to the Friendship Academy of Fine Arts to help buy uniforms for youth in need.
Rotary has also provided 500 sets of warm mittens and hats for Minneapolis students for the last several years, and Back-to-School supplies for dozens of Minneapolis students who can’t afford them for the last ten years.
The group has helped with a job readiness program for youth with special needs, which includes a job shadow day at the VA. “It’s a program of the WorkForce Center, and we help with a donation as well as talking to students about our careers and performing mock interviews,” explained Keillor.
Another project is the annual Aliveness Project’s Holiday Baskets program, which benefits the families of people with HIV or AIDS. They have contributed money and delivered many baskets over the past several years.
Through a partnership with the Plymouth Rotary Club and the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Survivors Group, they have conducted community CPR and AED training. (Look for another class this fall.)
Programs for global peace and understanding
Perhaps the project the Rotary is known most for is its International Exchange program.
It is the Rotary Youth Exchange that pulled Keillor into the organization when she was a high school participant, and it remains one of her favorite pieces of the organization today. “I love Rotary Youth Exchange. I feel it’s a true vehicle for global peace and understanding,” she said.

Physically disabled people in the Andhra Pradesh region of India now have personal transportation, thanks to a project that provided 290 hand-crank tricycles to those in need. The project was supported financially by the Minneapolis South Rotary Club. “The project gave a boost to the beneficiaries by restoring their dignity and self-respect through independent mobility,” said the final report submitted by the Rotary Club of Kothagudem. “They now do not have to depend on others for their mobility and livelihood and, in the process, live a better life with esteem.” (Photo submitted)

Keillor was active in an organization for returned Rotary exchange students in college, and then it dropped off of her radar until her early 30s, when she went on a vocational exchange, also sponsored by Rotary. She got back involved with the youth exchange program at an organizational level, and eventually joined the Minneapolis South Club in 2010.
The South Minneapolis Rotary Club has sponsored both an inbound and an outbound International Exchange Student (a one-year program) each year for the last several years.
Two former exchange students from Minnehaha are CiCi Donovan and Andrew Vrabel-Miles.
Donovan, a 2014 South High graduate, spent the 2014-15 school year in Brazil. Vrabel-Miles, a 2014 Southwest High graduate, spent the 2014-15 school year in Thailand.
It the past, families from Page, Minnehaha, and Hiawatha have opened their homes to Rotary Youth Exchange Students as host families.
“I work a lot with the exchange program—both with Minneapolis students going abroad and from the students we host. They are such well-rounded, motivated, interesting and interested young people who stretch themselves to the limits with this program,” said Keillor. “I love seeing them push themselves and grow.”
This year, there are ten students from Minneapolis studying abroad for a high school year; six of them are sponsored by the Minneapolis South Club. The club is also hosting a young man from Indonesia, who is attending Southwest High.
‘Like getting a personal Ted Talk each week’
The weekly Rotary meetings are an opportunity to learn about all types of topics of interest. Recent topics include an update from the Lake Street Council on transportation issues, an Allina surgeon talking about her medical missions in Guatemala, and a three-meeting series on food issues.
“I love the variety of speakers that come to our meetings each week,” said Keillor.
“I love learning, and it’s like getting a personal TED Talk every week. I enjoy being connected to the greater world of Rotary, and have met interesting people locally, nationally and internationally with whom I otherwise would’ve never come in contact.”
The group meets on Tuesday mornings, 7:15-8:30am at Urban Ventures Center for Fathering, 3023 4th Ave. S. Dues are $75 per quarter or $300 annually. For more information, browse www.MinneapolisSouthRotaryClub.com.

This story was printed in the November 2016 Longfellow/Nokomis Messenger.