Larry Lunsford, a member of the Rotary International Board of Trustees, presented the program at the Thursday, Aug. 24, meeting of the Trenton Rotary Club. Jackie Soptic presided over the meeting, Dan Wilford led the prayer, Michael Ormsby and Brian Upton served as sergeants-at-arms, and Diane Lowrey introduced the program speaker.
Lunsford, a native of Macon, is a member of the Kansas City Plaza Rotary Club and the official “cheerleader” of the District 6040 Shoes for Orphan Souls project. This project was established during his term as district governor. Lunsford provided a brief history of the project, which began in 2001. It has resulted in 10,180 pairs of shoes being donated to orphans in various countries around the world, along with 12,019 pairs of socks, 483 pairs of shoelaces, and cash donations totaling $31,832.50. Rotary collaborates with Buckner International of Dallas, TX, to distribute the shoes.
Trenton has participated in the project since its inception, donating 1,867 pairs of shoes and $3,220 in cash. The Trenton club also collects shoes for the Bright Futures Trenton project, in addition to collecting for Orphan Souls. Lunsford announced that next year, all three Rotary districts within the state will hold a joint meeting, and all three districts will collect shoes for the Orphan Souls project. He hopes that 50,000 shoes can be collected and noted that clubs in other parts of the state have already begun collection efforts. He challenged the Trenton club to collect at least 133 pairs of shoes to reach the 2,000 total collection mark.
During the business meeting, Mrs. Soptic reminded members about the multi-club district governor visit, which will be held in Brookfield on Sept. 14 (there will be no club meeting on that day). Members were also reminded to pick up their fish fry tickets from Elizabeth Gibson. The fish fry is scheduled for Sept. 16 at the Rock Barn from 5 to 6:30 p.m. and will be both an eat-in and to-go event. Funds raised will go toward the club’s Rotary International contribution at the district level.
There will be no meeting on Aug. 31, as the club will have a social that evening. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 7, with Tom Witten and Jeff Crowley in charge of the program.
