SEK Wands for Wildlife – Generation Z Volunteering

Four members of the Frontenac High School freshman class have spearheaded a community service project to benefit Wands for Wildlife. With the Pittsburg Lions Club as a sponsor, these students have created SEK Wands for Wildlife.  

Engaging in community service provides students with the opportunity to become active members of their community and has a lasting, positive impact on society at large. Community service or volunteerism enables students to acquire life skills and knowledge as well as provide a service to those who need it most. Participating in community service not only makes a difference to the organization and people being served, but also makes a difference to every student's career prospects. 

Each student is playing to his/her strengths within the roles they have taken on. Hannah Lee is the Organization Chair. Coy Medlin is the Volunteer Manager; Camden McDonald is the Social Media/Marketing Chair; Abe Fredrick is the Communications Chair.  By playing important roles in the project, the students want to enhance their resumes by obtaining work-related skills prior to graduation, build good references for employers in regard to community involvement and provide a forum to network with future potential employers.

The students selected area businesses spread throughout the community to contact about becoming a drop-off location for mascara tubes. This project had the students contact the businesses. By having the students initiate the communication, the hope was to enhance their personal knowledge, grow from new experiences, and develop better interpersonal communication skills. Seven (7) area businesses have offered to become designated sites. Frontenac High School, Raider Express, Labette Bank-Frontenac, Lindburg Pharmacy North, Celebrations by Lori, Attractions Salon, and Ascension Via Christi Hospital.  

All the businesses received a collection box decorated by Hannah and delivered Camden. Weekly pick-up of the wands will be conducted by a Lions Club member. Once there is a substantial amount of wands, the students will schedule a date and coordinate with other students wanting volunteer hours to clean and package the wands to be mailed to the Wands for Wildlife Foundation.

Wands for Wildlife benefits a wildlife rehabilitation nonprofit in Western North Carolina, that recycles old mascara wands to help remove fly eggs and larva from the fur of animals. The wands work great because the bristles are so close together and gentle to use on the injured and orphaned wild animals receiving care. 

Convoy of Hope - F.E.A.S.T.

Convoy of Hope in Springfield, Missouri, has a mission statement of definition, "we are a faith-based, nonprofit organization with a passion to feed the world through children's feeding initiatives, community events, and disaster response."

AS the need for food in Haiti continues to grow in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, Convoy of Hope has been working to ship 11.8 million meals and other relief supplies to Haiti. The meals are designed to provide calorie-dense nutrition as each rich and soy meal also includes vitamins, minerals, and dried vegetables.

The Frontenac United Methodist Church (FUMC), under the leadership of Pastor Annie Ricker, has partnered with Convoy of Hope to create a food packing community involvement event - F.E.A.S.T. On Saturday, March 23rd, teams of volunteers from various church groups, families and organizations throughout Southeast Kansas worked together for 1.5 hours to package 10,000 individual meals to be delivered to the children of Haiti.

One of these groups of volunteers consists of members of the Phi Tau Omega Philanthropic Sorority (PTO). PTO's national platform for 2018-19 is "Feed the Hungry". So this opportunity was an obvious fit.

FUMC Pastor Annie Ricker is a member of the Theta Epsilon Chapter of PTO and was instrumental in connecting the sorority with the event. Members from the Theta Epsilon Chapter (Girard, KS), Alpha Kappa Chapter (Arma, KS), and Phi Kappa Chapter (Pittsburg, KS) all took part in this worthy endeavor.

Formed in 1925 by eight women, Phi Tau Omega became a national social and philanthropic sorority. With chapters in five different states, Phi Tau Omega's generosity reaches numerous communities.

National philanthropies include Box Tops for Education, Ronald McDonald House, and Coupons for Troops. Each chapter selects local philanthropic endeavors to benefit by volunteer hours as well as monetary donations.

With an active membership of over 240 women, Phi Tau Omega is always looking for women who share our passion for friendship and philanthropy. For more information about our sorority, please visit our web site at www.phitauomega.org or contact ptosorority@gmail.com.

Frontenac Rotary Turns 40

 On February 9, 2019, the Frontenac Rotary Club, District 6110, celebrated its 40th year as an organization. The Frontenac Rotary has been a community organization since February 3, 1979. As part of Rotary International, the Frontenac Rotary represents community leaders who tackle our community's most persistent problems with fresh thinking and enduring solutions.

Our club gives you an opportunity to join leaders to take action on important issues affecting our community, our nation, and the world. We also have a lot of fun - whether we're socializing or working together on service projects.

Together we make great things happen. We have a structure that focuses on action and positive results. Our motto is "service before self" and that is also our mission.

Belonging to a Rotary Club provides members with an opportunity to give back to their communities and to connect with like-minded leaders & friends.

People join Rotary for many reasons, including community involvement, personal development, professional networking, and camaraderie. But perhaps the most important benefit is the satisfaction you gain from making a real difference in your community and the world.

If you are interested in learning more about Frontenac Rotary or attending a meeting, please contact us.

What about your Friends?

On November 1, 1980, the Pittsburg Morning Sun newspaper printed a brief announcing an organizational meeting of the Friends of the Pittsburg Public Library.  

The brainchild of head librarian, Nann Blain Hilyard, the Friends organization was to be a way to establish a closer relationship between the library and the community. 

Having got the idea from the Texas library Nann had previously worked at, she believed forming a group of library supporters would "...bring in money by making the public more aware of the library and its needs, allowing the library to expand the collection, and the services it provides to the public." 
The Friends was formed to work to promote an increased knowledge of the functions, resources, services, and needs of the library and to ensure continued high-quality library and information services. 

A planning committee was formed that was compiled of Dr. Penny Armstrong, Sharon Harrison, Dr. Stephen Teller, Norma MacAusland, Elizabeth Scheran, and Nann Hilyard. 

A kick-off meeting to attract members of a candlelight wine and dessert reception was held later that year. Dr. Stephen J. Teller was named the first president of the Friends of the Pittsburg Public Library. 

Through the years, the Friends have supported numerous programs, activities, and services at the library including Walking Books, the homebound delivery service in the 1980s, The Talking Heads discussion group, and the Summer Reading Programs. 

In recent years, the Friends have become known throughout southeast Kansas for their semi-annual used book sales that raise thousands of dollars, that all go back to the library to support their services. 

The Friends host an annual program following their annual meeting in April. Previous programs have included: 

2011 - What's New at the Review by Wayne Bockleman, Al Ortolani & Mike Hogard 
2012 - The Little Blue Books by Randy Roberts, PSU Curator of Special Collections 
2013 - The March of the Amazon Army by Linda Knoll 
2014 - Nina Mukerjee Furstenan Rsading & Book Signin
2015 - The Orphan Train by Serena Price 
2016 - Ethiopia Reads by LeAnn Clark 
2017 - Little House on the Prairie through Quilts by Judy Wampler 
2018 - The Candy Bar Pilot by Dagmar Snodgrass. 

The annual program for 2019 will be "From Duckling to Disney, the Literary Life of Hans Christian Andersen" by Dr. Michael Holworth. The annual meeting and program will be Monday, April 1, 2019, in the meeting room of the Pittsburg Public Library. The Program is open to the public. Refreshments will be provided. 

Paint & Pinot

Best advice – beverage on the left, paint water on the right. 

 What began as an idea for a fundraiser for the Frontenac Rotary became a new set of quasi-skills I learned. It was my tenure as Rotary Club president and we needed new ideas for fundraisers so we could, in turn, help out our community. Most trends take a while to reach Kansas, so the paint-and-sip experience was just taking off.  

The paint-and-sip experience, which was born around 2009, hit Southeast Kansas around 2016. They are used as fundraisers, birthday parties, girls nights and even date nights. Paint Parties allow for painters, both seasoned and green, to enjoy a drink or two and snacks while they follow instructions to achieve some semblance of the model painting.  

Now, as a non-profit group, we had to keep our expenses low. This meant we bought our own supplies and we would teach our own experience. The group decided that Lori Lavery and I would teach the class. Having never even attended one of these experiences, I had my work cut out for me.  

So, like all curious, needing to learn people, I went to Google and searched. I found in detail, step-by-step classes that I could get a membership to, for a price, so I did. I learned and I broke it down until I could explain it. But how do I teach, in person? 

The Crawford County Historical Museum was holding a paint-and-sip fundraiser the week before ours, so I signed up to learn what I needed to do. This class was not nearly as structured as the one online. People asked questions, wanted one-on-one assistance, and on top of all that, wanted to be entertained. So, while I was sitting there, I was taking mental notes and storing it for future use.  

I realized that although people were there to paint and, especially sip, they were receiving additional benefits from the event as well. Benefits of group creativity such as paint-and-sip events include: 

• Becoming a better problem solver 
• Connect with your community 
• Save money because all supplies are provided 
• An expanded sense of time 
• Self-Awareness & expression 
• Freedom 
• Stress Relief. 

• 
  

The Frontenac Rotary held two paint-and-sip events per year as our fundraising projects. We learned those fall events were much more heavily attended than spring events; some people showed up for the supplies and comradery and painted their own thing, and there was a need for social interaction away from the other areas of our lives.  However, when our attendance started dwindling due to the oversaturation of the same events in a small community, we started to struggle with our next big endeavor. Part of staying relevant will be to diversify the offerings a bit and trying new things that will appeal to the customer base. Future ideas include wineglass-painting workshops, pallet painting, and even cupcake decorating...with wine, of course.

4 Corners Graphics

/krēāˈtivədē/

noun

 the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work.

What makes a person creative?
Creativity is any form of an idea that solves a problem in a better way than normally done.

So, when my father got fed up with his four children’s constant bickering while he was trying to work in the yard, he had to come up with a creative solution to end it. As he looked around the yard, an idea came to him.

My father, the retired army captain, used his no-nonsense commanding voice and ordered each child to go stand in a different corner of the fenced-in yard. Once we got to our corner, we were then told to turn around and face outwards and keep quiet.

This went on for about fifteen minutes when my Uncle Murvel pulled into our driveway. As he and my Aunt Mary got out of the car, his eyes went from one corner of the yard to the next, taking in the four of us. He comes walking up to me with a big grin on his face, “What’s this new game? Four Corners? Can I play, too?”

And thus, 4 Corners was introduced into my family’s vernacular. It wasn’t until much later, after I was grown and started using my graphic design skills for my friends and family that 4 Corners Graphics was developed.

Business school taught me the importance of branding. Life experience taught me the importance of incorporating my passion into my work in order to draw others to my visions. So after many name ideas, brainstorming sessions, and failed starts, my childhood and adult life came together to describe the work that I use to help others.

I assist smaller organizations to create their unique marketing presence on a grassroots budget. I do this by blending graphic design with a marketing background that fits the needs of organizations that otherwise cannot afford a marketing department and/or has not the marketing/branding experience.

Empty Bowls - Feeding the Hungry

Do not miss out on Wesley House's event this Friday, October 19, 2018,  from 11 am - 2pm. Bowls will be $20, there will be soup, tours and a silent auction. All proceeds go to our emergency food pantry.

This is the third time I have purchased an "empty" bowl that was created by a local artist. Each piece is unique and beautiful. My purchase of a $25 bowl (pre-sale)  allows Wesley House to purchase 6 1/2 meals from Kansas Food Bank. 

Wesley House is an outreach mission of First United Methodist Church in Pittsburg, Kansas.  It was established in 1982 to address the needs of low-income families in the area.  The mission of Wesley House is to provide a safe, welcoming place for individuals and families of Crawford County to seek assistance, advocacy, education and hope for a brighter tomorrow.  The ministry has grown and evolved through the years, but the primary purpose remains the same- to reach out with God's love to those who are in need in Crawford County.

Like Wesley House on Facebook here to learn more about them and the Empty Bowls event.