It started with a again porch pandemic dialog. Brenda Kelly Fauber, service chair of the Covington Rotary, shared with Judith A. Marlowe ’69, Ph.D., chairperson of the Thomas More University Board of Trustees, her disappointment that COVID prevented the Rotary from celebrating their 2020 centennial with Thomas Extra, which was approaching their centennial celebration in 2021. The longest standing service membership in Northern Kentucky and the primary faculty of Northern Kentucky ought to rejoice these milestones collectively.
Covington Rotary, chartered in December 1920, is devoted to “Service Above Self” and is understood for its 4-Method Take a look at, a non-partisan and non-sectarian moral information to skilled and private relationships: Is it the reality? Is it honest to all involved? Will it construct goodwill and higher friendships? Will or not it’s helpful to all involved?
TMU and Covington Rotary workforce up for service.
Thomas Extra College, based in September 1921 as Villa Madonna School, positioned in downtown Covington all through its first 50 years, challenges college students to look at the final word which means of life, their place on this planet, and their accountability to others, which incorporates service.
Past the alignment of those guiding rules there are many years of shared members as previous Covington Rotary Presidents embrace a number of Thomas Extra trustees and directors.
Rotary Presidents included John Cronin (Villa Madonna School Board of Overseers, 1967), Frank Sommerkamp (Thomas Extra School Board of Trustees Chair, 1974), Raymond Hebert, Ph.D. (Thomas Extra College professor, Dean of the School Emeritus, 1984). Mary Fisher, former Vice-President of Institutional Development at Thomas Extra, was one of many first two girls admitted to Covington Rotary in 1989, when membership was now not restricted to males. Extra not too long ago, Covington Rotary established a Rotaract Membership beneath the management of Thomas Extra’s John Wolper, Ph.D., to develop the group service pursuits and expertise of scholars from all native faculties and universities.
Clear up Rotary Grove in Devou Park
With roots in downtown Covington, a historical past of shared leaders, and a mutual dedication to service, the concept to hitch in a special occasion of initiatives to commemorate this relationship and rejoice centennials was inevitable.
The consequence was that Thomas Extra college students, school, and employees put apart their common duties for a day to work alongside Covington Rotarians, together with Thomas Extra alumni, and even former Secretary of State and State Consultant Ken Harper, the longest serving Covington Rotarian.
The Rotary Membership related Thomas Extra with a number of of their ongoing service initiatives and facilitated further alternatives to serve the group in quite a lot of places that included:
• Clearing 1.45 tons of particles from the Kentucky facet of the Ohio River in cooperation with the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Fee, and the Metropolis of Covington Strong Waste and Recycling and Public Works groups,
Frank Sommerkamp with the group at Grasp Provision
• Making ready sandwiches and assembling private hygiene kits for the Parish Kitchen, and portray benches at their Madison Avenue location,
• Clearing and mulching Rotary Grove and trails in Devou Park in cooperation with the Metropolis of Covington Parks and Recreation,
• Eradicating particles and restoring NaturePlay, a free, handicapped-accessible inexperienced house the place youngsters and their households can discover the outside, positioned on the Behringer-Crawford Museum,
• Delivering donated clothes to the Thomas Extra campus, together with sorting and packing, for Grasp Provisions to ship to 7,000 individuals in want in Togo, Ghana, and Honduras.
Serving to out at Parish Kitchen
“What an thrilling and galvanizing day for everybody who participated,” an enthusiastic Fauber mentioned. “Rotarians had been capable of show their dedication to service, meet and share the day with fantastic Thomas Extra college students, school, and employees. Better of all was the prospect to take pleasure in seeing how the group benefited from their joint efforts as they considered the outcomes of their accomplished work.
“Our Worldwide Rotary President Shekhar Mehta has noticed that ‘Service is the hire I pay for the house I occupy on this earth’ and we agree wholeheartedly. This Day of Service will likely be an annual alternative for a really rewarding expertise.”
Marlowe concurred, including, “Bringing collectively two of the longest standing group property in Northern Kentucky in such significant exercise is a vital step in nurturing a tradition of social accountability and repair that advantages our area and past. That has been the mission and legacy of each Thomas Extra College and Covington Rotary all through our respective first 100 years.
“As Thomas Extra President Chillo reminds the campus group, ‘growing a dedication to service is important to fulfilling our mission,’ and for that reason, we look ahead to persevering with to associate with Covington Rotary to do exactly that as our second century unfolds.”
Discussion about this post