Northwest Rotary Clubs unite to help Ukrainian refugees

Gladstone/Oak Lodge Rotary was proud to contribute to an international project organized by the Rotary Club of Portland Metro. Together, in just 1 week, 38 Rotary clubs from Oregon and Washington teamed up to raise more than $140,000 to help Ukrainian refugees, mostly women and children fleeing the Russian attack on their nation.

Here is a news story about the effort:

Rotary gives dictionaries to Gladstone third graders
 
Third graders at John Wetten Elementary each received a personal dictionary from the Gladstone/Oak Lodge Rotary Club.

"My class was thrilled," said teacher Patti Banka. "They immediately began looking up words, learning about the 50 states, and practicing sign language letters from the information in the back."
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Rotarian Baldwin van der Bijl organized the project, which is special to him because he learned English at age six as an immigrant from Holland.
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"Whenever I found a word I did not know, my mother would tell me to look it up in the dictionary," he said. "Now these kids can do the same."

Holiday Giving

Knowing that one in five Oregon kids lives in poverty, several Gladstone organizations join forces annually on the Adopt-a-Family project to provide holiday help to low-income families

The Gladstone Fire Department, Kiwanis, our Rotary club, and Gladstone High School work together to gather and distribute food, toy, and gift card donations.
 
During the holiday season, blue donation barrels are located at 17 locations around Gladstone, including the Gladstone Public Library, restaurants and  businesses like Bound to Happen.

Clothes Closet Support

A $2,000 grant from the Rotary Club of Gladstone/Oak Grove provided Gladstone students with necessities like socks, shoes, and underwear.  

The Clothes Closet is run by a coalition of community groups including Rotary, Gladstone Mutual Aid, Gladstone Christian Church, Hillside Fellowship, and St. Stephen's Lutheran Church.

“The goal of this effort is to provide for some essential needs,” said Rotary member Baldwin van der Bijl.  “We know that kids have better odds of academic success once their basic needs are met.”

Feeding Homeless Neighbors

During the pandemic, our Rotary club has twice provided hot meals to 60 homeless neighbors served by Father's Heart Street Ministry.