May 1st, 2020
While we may be enjoying our respite from working with — and in close proximity to — our work partners, there’s no denying that working at home (for those who can) has some perks. Hold on tightly to that thought!!! If you’ve been missing our weekly meetings, and the lunches at 9BB, take heart! Our Optimist Club weekly meetings will resume virtually. Watch your email for a message from the club with an invitation to join a Microsoft Teams Meeting. The time and days will remain the same (noon on Thursdays). If you can’t log in from your computer, we’ll provide a phone number for you to call in and participate. We’re lining up some great speakers to give updated information on the COVID situation, and what they’re seeing in their respective fields (more information to come). Please check us out and join an Optimist Club Teams Meeting starting Thursday, May 7, at noon. Hope we’ll see you there (er, on our screens….)!
“New and Improved” Website Coming Soon! Our Optimist Club website will be getting a facelift. We’re excited to be able to provide an improved experience for those looking for more information about our club. One feature of particular note will be a “Donate Here” button. that will allow donors to make donations easier and quicker than ever. Please visit often and look for changes.
Generosity Pours in. The following is a list of donors and some of the items that were either directly donated (or purchased by donors for delivery) to the frontline staff at St Luke’s Magic Valley Medical Center:
Starbucks, Bridge Street Coffee, Costco (pastries), Kneaders, Yellow Brick Café, La Fiesta, and Guppies Hot Rod Café all delivered items paid for by donations;
Copy-It made and donated, “Heroes Work Here” signs;
Bill Ystueta of Chick-fil-A donated 3,000 free meal and free dessert cards to St. Luke’s staff;
Beans & Brews Coffee donated 240 gift cards for coffee;
Watkins Distributing donated hundreds of energy drinks and 40 gift cards for local area restaurants.
McAllister’s, Dominos, Cappriotti’s, La Casita, Sips Cookies, Idaho Pizza, Chobani, Scooters, Dutch Brothers, Maxie’s, 9 Beans and a Burrito, Pandora, and The Cookie Basket all delivered donated meals and or treats.
More Giving!
Thank you to: Twin Falls Lowes for donating protective masks, equipment, and sanitizer; Vipers Idaho who donated hundreds of T-shirts to the St. Luke’s Superhero Nurses; and to Apryl Mendez, representative for Lalarue LuLaRoe who donated a hundred leggings to the nurses as well.
County Commissioners STEP UP!!
The Magic Valley Health Foundation set up a COVID 19 Response Fund to receive donations to help with patients and employee assistance during the crisis, and to purchase needed equipment and items to help provide the best care for our community. All of the Twin Falls County Commissioners and all of the Jerome County Commissioners committed to helping, and 100% of them donated to this fund. Thank you to our Elected Officials who care so much about the health, safety, and wellbeing of our community!
Leaving a Legacy: The Optimist Foundation has started an Endowment that will allow our club to provide the children in our community things we have always helped with in the past. The Endowment is a way to provide services to our community in perpetuity: it will go on for generations to come. Our goal is to raise $250,000, so that the interest can be used to fund our programs long into the future.
Because this is such an important endeavor, both the Optimist Club and Optimist Foundation Boards of Directors have voted unanimously to give individually to the Endowment. Our boards have committed to have 100% participation in donating to the Endowment. We encourage all club members to participate with us in this very important cause. You can write a check to the Twin Falls Optimist Foundation, Inc., and mail it to the Foundation at P.O. Box 755, Twin Falls, Idaho 83303. Please consider making your gift today, and remember that our foundation operates with no overhead and zero loading.
Heroes Honking for Heroes! On April 20, many of our area first responders and kindred spirits (Police, Firemen, and Emergency Medical Technicians…. in other words, our Heroes!) circled the St Luke’s Magic Valley Medical Center to pay tribute to our other heroes (Nurses, Doctors, Medical Technicians, and Certified Nursing Assistants). See the video here!
McDonald’s and Bill Kyle Step Up Again! Our community is truly blessed to have so many generous individuals and businesses who have helped out during this time. McDonald’s has provided an incredible gift of free meals to all first responders and medical staffs throughout our area.
They started giving free meals to those directly working on the front lines on April 6, and will be doing so through May 5. They’ve been averaging a little over $4,000 worth of meals given away DAILY since they started. At that pace, they will have given out $120,000 worth of meals over that 30 day period.
Please join me in showing your gratitude to Bill Kyle and his family for the generosity they continuously show our community!
The Blue Lakes Twin Falls Rotary club is seeking beer-pouring volunteers for Saturday, August 1st, from about noon until 6:00pm for their 9th Annual Magic Valley Beer Festival. Despite their inability to gather at the current time, the Blue Lakes Rotarians are still in full planning mode for the event. While they realize things could change, they’d prefer to be prepared rather than have to scramble at the last minute. That being said, they’ll monitor the situation on a monthly basis in case the festival needs to be delayed.
For their commitment, volunteers will receive a tasting mug and a t-shirt. Volunteers may not have time to wander the event, but they’ll be rewarded by having fun pouring beer to 1,500 of Magic Valley’s finest beer drinkers. To learn more about the event, check out the event website http://www.magicvalleybeerfestival.com. Please let Anna Scholes know, at [email protected], if you’d like to volunteer, no later than May 25th. They’ll need your name, t-shirt size, and preference of male- or female-style shirt. The Blue Lakes Twin Falls Rotary Club has chosen to support the Valley House and Your Special Smiles as the two larger recipients of their 2020 earnings.