The Rotary Club of Prairie du Chien is active in community service projects on the local and international level.
The Rotary Club of Prairie du Chien provides scholarships to graduating high school seniors from the high schools in our local area. Two $500.00 scholarships were awarded to 2009 graduates, one to Lindsey Mezera from Prairie du Chien High School and another to Jaimie Peterson from MLF Mar-Mac High School. The scholarship application for 2010 graduates will be available on this website in January 2010.
• Prairie du Chien Beautification Project
The Rotary Club of Prairie du Chien has, since approximately 1988, assisted in beautifying our community by planting and maintaining flower pots (85 currently) along a one mile stretch of Highway 18-35/Marquette Road, the main highway through Prairie du Chien. Our club maintains these flower pots from early May through mid-October. Club members volunteer, in teams of two, to water the pots for scheduled weeks. Seventy percent of our club members participate in this project, which consists of spring planting, watering throughout the summer, and fall clean-up.
• St. Feriole Island Flower Gardens
The Rotary Club of Prairie du Chien is beginning to work with a local group on the development of a Rotary flower bed as part of the St. Feriole Island Flower Gardens. Each fall, Rotarians transplant perennial plants from the Marquette Road flower pots to the St. Feriole Island gardens. This Rotary project is in its infancy, and will be developed under the guidance of master gardeners who are responsible for the development of the St. Feriole Island Flower Gardens.
• Rotarians for Safe Riding Project
On May 16, 2009, at the Prairie du Chien High School parking lot, Prairie du Chien Rotarians distributed, at no charge, 100 Giro bicycle helmets and 36 Bell multi-purpose bicycle lights to children from local communities. This distribution occurred at an event called, “Mighty Machines,” which was a fundraiser for the community’s Family Resource Center. The Center is a department of the Prairie du Chien Memorial Hospital that provides parenting and support services to local families. Helmets and lights were distributed to the first 136 children attending the Mighty Machines event. Families began lining up to enter the event at least 30 minutes prior to the “gates” opening, and all of the helmets and lights were distributed in the first 30 minutes. The owner of a local bicycle shop also attended and sized the helmets on the children to ensure proper fit. In addition to distributing helmets and lights, Rotarians distributed Rotary literature to the adults who accompanied children to the event, so as to increase awareness of Rotary International and the Rotary Club of Prairie du Chien throughout the local communities.
• Orphan Train Project - Peru, South America
The Rotary Club of Prairie du Chien has been working with the Orphan Train project for the past two years. We are a conductor for the Pillco Mozo orphanage in Huanaco, Peru. We had met the director of the orphanage, Sr. Mary Ann Leininger a number of years ago when she visited Prairie du Chien, and have developed a good relationship. The club's first project was to supply Sr. Leininger with funds for a printer/copier/scanner that was needed at the orphanage. Currently, Sr. Leininger is developing an art enrichment program for the children with funds from our group. An art teacher will be coming on Saturday mornings October – December and providing art lessons for the children. Our funding covers supplies as well as a stipend for the teacher. We are hoping that as the children share their work, we’ll be able to continue to expand the Prairie du Chien/Pillco Mozo relationship.
The Rotary Club of Prairie du Chien also plans to become a conductor with the orphanage at Tingo Maria, Peru. The needs of this program are much more basic, and we feel that we can help to make a difference in the lives of the children at this orphanage, which is located at the edge of the jungle. We’ll be supplying each of their six group homes with a MP3 player for activities during the rainy season when they can’t be outside.
• PolioPlus Campaign to Eradicate Polio
The Rotary Club of Prairie du Chien has been active in supporting the Rotary International PolioPlus campaign. Individual club members donate money to assist Rotary International in its efforts to eradicate polio from the earth.