Is there a Rotary project near and dear to your heart that you think needs additional funding? Or perhaps you have "just the project" for the club but are wondering how to get the money to move your idea forward. Join us on Thurs., Aug. 31 when we'll hear from District Grants Subcommittee Chair Margie Horning and former District Governor Craig Leiser about Rotary District Grants.
Rotary District Grants return a portion of your donation to the Rotary Foundation back to your club to be used for projects either locally or internationally. And those District Grants can match a club's investment three to one. That's right, you heard correctly. Come to our Aug. 31 meeting and hear about how it all works and what Farmington Rotary needs to do to participate in this amazing opportunity. Because who doesn't want to triple their money, right?
When Minnesota native Sylvia Allen was asked more than a decade ago to be the honorary grandmother to over 1,000 children in the rural African village of Mbiriizi, Uganda at the tail end of a humanitarian trip, she set out on the conquest of a lifetime – to not only love and support her newly adopted grandchildren, but to make a difference in their lives.
Today, Sylvia’s Children improves the lives of children at the Mbiriizi Advanced Primary School and the village of Mbiriizi by helping to implement and cultivate a self-sustainable economic and entrepreneurial system. Come to our Sept. 7 meeting and hear this amazing story.
The best way to get to know your fellow Rotarians and feel a part of this club is to participate in our service projects. Following are multiple opportunities this fall:
Wed., Oct. 4 – Farmington Rotary has a float in the Homecoming parade.
Meet at 5:30 p.m. at the Dakota County Fairgrounds. I'm sure you know where that is by now.
Two weeks to Ramble Jam! As of the morning of Aug. 29, we've sold 560 VIP tickets and 642 general admission tickets, for a total of 1,202 tickets sold.
It's important that everyone in the club understands the finances for what is a $400,000 event for us. The budget to date reflects a $20,000 profit at this point, but David cautions that we are about to pay a number of large bills including the final payment for artists of $50,000.
Ticket sales historically spike after Labor Day when kids are back to school and people start thinking about their plans for the fall season. This is also when we launch the bulk of our promotional efforts on K102 and through our digital strategies. And it's when we pray for amazing weather for the weekend since that heavily impacts sales in the final days. Please help promote Ramble Jam by sharing the attached graphic on your social media pages and linking it to our ticket page.
You know that TV game show Cash Cab? If you don't, Ben Bailey – the cabbie and game show host – drives his cab around New York City picking up unsuspecting riders who then get the opportunity to play a guessing game and win cash. Whenever they stop at a red light, Ben issues a Red Light Challenge, giving his riders the chance to win extra money. Well, our own Sara Butruff has issued a similar game for Rotarians. I'm calling it the Ramble Jam Raffle Challenge and you have the opportunity to win extra money – as does Polio Plus.
Previously, Sara issued a challenge to Rotarians to boost raffle ticket sales. Barb and David were the winners of that challenge, and Sara's business, Travel Leaders, donated $75 to Polio Plus for each raffle ticket sold that week. This week she has reissued the challenge and upped the ante. Here's how it works:
Turn in your raffle ticket sales by Sept. 7
If you sell 20 tickets or more, you will be entered into a drawing to win a $50 Bourbon Butcher gift card
If you sell 10-19 tickets, you will be entered into a drawing to win a $30 Bourbon Butcher gift card
If you sell 5-9 tickets, you will be entered into a drawing to win a $15 Bourbon Butcher gift card
Travel Leaders will donate $1 per ticket sold to Polio Plus
Be sure to turn in your tickets by Sept. 7 to participate in this final Ramble Jam Raffle Challenge. You can get more tickets from Heidi or Krysia. And remember to thank Sara for this generous offer.
If you read last week's Source or were at the Aug. 17 meeting, you know about the challenge Sara issued to sell Ramble Jam raffle tickets. Here are the details:
Sell more than five tickets and be entered into a drawing for a $30 gift card to Bourbon Butcher
Sell more than 10 tickets and be entered into a drawing for $50 gift card to Bourbon Butcher
For every ticket sold, Sara will donate $1 to Polio Plus
To play, you had to turn in your money and ticket stubs at the Aug. 24 meeting. Janie collected stubs and money and there were a handful of Rotarians who qualified for the drawings. But who won? I don't know. I'd suggest attending the Aug. 31 meeting to find out.
Thank you to Sara for her incredible generosity. Krysia or Heidi have extra tickets if you need more to sell.
Once again, we pulled it off. I often wonder how a few administrators, a bunch a business owners, a handful of bankers and mortgage brokers, a couple of English majors, a police officer (okay, we know how he does it) and various chiropractors and nurses pull off a 2-day country music festival, and I think the answer is because we like each other and we respect each other.
And everyone always wants to know how many tickets we sold and much money we made. David and Lori are furiously crunching the numbers, and if you come to Thursday's meeting you might get a hint. But here's the thing: Rotary is a service organization, and if we determine success strictly by the numbers, we will be disappointed every year. You only need to stand by the concert bowl gate and thank our fans as they leave on Saturday night to realize what an impact we make. The economic boost to Farmington businesses alone is enough to keep going. Ask the FHS video class students Lori arranged to run the Jumbotron for $10 an hour what kind of an impact we made on them. I would argue we need to judge our success not on numbers alone, but also on service to our community.
Here's something else to consider; We took a huge leap with our budget this year. I remember other years we've taken a huge leap with this event and we've always taken a step backwards in our profit. But then the event grows and the next few years are even more successful. So stay tuned. The story is only beginning.
Volunteers are still needed for Ramble Jam. Please click on the link to review the volunteer positions available and forward it to anyone you know who's interested in helping. Thank you!
Thursday, Aug. 31 is the deadline for receiving commitments for sponsoring Ramble Jam if businesses want to take advantage of any of the remaining promotional opportunities. Please finalize any sponsors you are currently working with and make sure the paperwork gets to Lisa, Jenna and Lori before then. We can still recruit and accept sponsors after that – and would be grateful for them! – we just need to finalize banners for the event by then. Download a sponsorship brochure here.
Thank you to our Rotarian businesses who have already committed to being a sponsor: Anchor Bank, Anytime Fitness, City of Farmington/Farmington Liquor Store, Dakota Electric, Janie's Home Team, Market on Oak, Marschall Lines, McKnight family, Pellicci ACE Hardware, Premier Bank, River Valley Home Care and TOWN Sports. And thank you to all who worked to secure sponsors for Ramble Jam. Your efforts are greatly appreciated.
We are still about $5,000 shy of our $60,000 goal for sponsorships this year. Thanks to everyone who's worked so hard on this effort.
Once again, we pulled it off. I often wonder how a few administrators, a bunch a business owners, a handful of bankers and mortgage brokers, a couple of English majors, a police officer (okay, we know how he does it) and various chiropractors and nurses pull off a 2-day country music festival, and I think the answer is because we like each other and we respect each other. 
