WHITNALL PARK ROTARY CLUB

Serving Greendale, Greenfield, Hales Corners, and Muskego, WI since 1975

Serving and enriching our community through leadership and learning

People of Action

Home of District 6270 Governor 2013-2014

Welcome to our Club!

Serving and Enriching Our Community through Leadership and Learning

We meet In Person

Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m.

Double D's

5171 S. 108th Street
Hales Corners, WI 53130
United States of America

1st & 3rd Wednesdays at Double D's (5171 S. 108th Street, Hales Corners) at 5:30pm. Board meeting 4th Wednesday at 7:30am at Nolan Accounting (4162 S. 108th Street, Greenfield).

District Site

Bulletins

Venue Map

Spring Craft Fair
Whitnall High School

Apr. 05, 2025
9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Play & dinner
Sunset Playhouse

May 09, 2025 7:30 p.m.

Greendale Literacy Project

Whitnall Park Rotary Club is proud to have supported a $3,500 grant to the Greendale School District to fund a Literacy Project supporting 2^nd grade students at College Park Elementary School. The grant was made possible by a $3,000 grant from Rotary District 6270.

On March 12, the Whitnall Park Rotary Club was able to take part in a reading event using the materials purchased with the grant. The event, called Westward Expansion Day, allowed the students to dress up “for the prairie” and learn at each stop along the “westward expansion”. Such a creative way for the students to learn from this Knowledge Unit!!! Our Rotarians were thrilled to take part in this event!!!

Muskego Feeds

On Saturday, March 15, the Whitnall Park Rotary Club was able to assist with the Muskego Feeds project organized by Lakepoint Church. The project, in one day, makes 200,000 meals that will be sent to Peru to support the Marantha Learning Center and Casa Luz Orphanage in Ayacucho, Peru. Whitnall Park Rotary Club was thrilled to not only be a financial supporter, but also to work at two of the preparation tables today, along with the Muskego Police Cadets.
What a great opportunity to serve those in need in our world!

Education Grants - Round 3

We are happy to announce that Whitnall Park Rotary Club has granted the third round of Educational Grants for the 2024-2025 school year. The grants provided in this round include the following:

St. Alphonsus 4th Grade - $250 for Madison Field Trip (Capitol Building and Museum)
St. Alphonsus 4th–8th Grade - $250 for Pixel Prints to incorporate science and math into artmaking
Greendale High School 9th-12th Grade - $691.66 to send 10 students to this year’s Educators Rising State Conference in Stevens Point

We are so happy to support the great work of these educators and the important role they play in the development of our youth!!

Bag Lunches for The Gathering

On Saturday February 22, Whitnall Park Rotary Club along with assistance from some Greendale National Honor Society students made and packed 200 lunch bags to provide to The Gathering. The Gathering then distributed these lunches to the homeless. We truly enjoyed being able to provide assistance to the important work that The Gathering does in our community to serve those in need!

February Students of the Month

Last night, the Whitnall Park Rotary Club had the pleasure of our Rotary Students of the Month telling us about all the great activities they are involved in and their plans for the future. Ashley and Callie are both Seniors at Whitnall High School and just amazing students!!! We are excited to see all the great things they accomplish in the future.

Educational Grants - Round 2

We are happy to announce the 2nd round of the Whitnall Park Rotary Club Educational Grants for the 2024-2025 school year. The grants provided in this round include the following:

St. Alphonsus (Greendale) – $250 to be used for 3rd–8th Grade field trip to Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
St. Alphonsus (Greendale ) - $250 to be used for 4th Grade field trip to Madison to visit the Capitol and museum
St. Alphonsus (Greendale) - $250 to be used for books that will be utilized by the 6th–8th Grade classes
St. Mary’s (Hales Corners) - $250 to be used for 2nd Grade STEM Bins

We are so happy to support the great work of these educators and the important role they play in the development of our youth!!

Educational Grants

Each calendar year, the Whitnall Park Rotary Club provides four rounds of Educational Grants to area schools to assist teachers with the important work they do for our youth. For the first round of the 2024-2025 school year, we granted $2,000 in total to the following projects:

Greendale High School – $250 toward robotics competition hand tools
St. Alphonsus Greendale – $250 toward a laminator to be used for the kindergarten class
St. Alphonsus Greendale – $250 for Pixel Prints/Legos to incorporate science and math into artmaking
St. Alphonsus Greendale – $250 toward taking part in The Great History Challenge
St. Mary’s Hales Corners – $250 toward a chicken egg hatching project for the 4K science curriculum in one classroom
St. Mary’s Hales Corners – $250 toward a chicken egg hatching project for the 4K science curriculum in another classroom
Edgerton Elementary (Whitnall School District) – $250 toward MathFactLab subscription
Whitnall High School – $250 toward calculators in the classroom

We want to thank the dedicated educators at these schools and are happy to help with the funding of these great projects.

Salvation Army Red Kettle

Whitnall Park Rotary Club had the privilege of assisting the Salvation Army this past week by ringing the bell by the red kettle at Metro Market in Greenfield. The Salvation Army annually holds its Red Kettle Campaign to raise funds to provide food, shelter and hope to those in need during the holiday season and beyond! Please do your part to help the Salvation Army's annual campaign for this important work!!

Healing Hearts Christmas Party

Whitnall Park Rotary Club held its annual Christmas party for the families being supported by Healing Hearts of Southeast Wisconsin!!! Healing Hearts of Southeast Wisconsin is a non-profit, community-based organization whose mission is to serve and support grieving children and their families.

Our club was able to provide 67 gifts for the event which has Santa visit each group at their counseling session to provide them a gift. The looks on the children, and the adults, faces says how important this event is and how much of a difference it makes in the lives of these families!!

It is a great blessing to do a little something to help these families and its an even greater blessing what Healing Hearts of Southeast Wisconsin does for them!!

Students of the Month - November 2024

This past week, the Whitnall Park Rotary Club had the pleasure of our Rotary Students of the Month telling us about all the great activities they are involved in and their plans for the future. Ella R and Chelsea M are both Seniors at Whitnall High School and just amazing students!!! We are excited to see all the great things they accomplish in the future.

Lunch Bags for the Homeless

On Saturday November 2, Whitnall Park Rotary Club along with assistance from some Greendale National Honor Society students made and packed 250 lunch bags to provide to The Gathering. The Gathering then distributed these lunches to the homeless. We truly enjoyed being able to provide assistance to the important work that The Gathering does in our community to serve those in need!

Jim Helminski Paver Dedication

In November, the Whitnall Park Rotary Club remembered our friend and a great Rotarian, Jim Helminski. Jim’s family was able to join us at the Rotary Circle located at the Boerner Botanical Gardens to dedicate the paver our Club purchased in memory of Jim. Jim was one of the instrumental Rotarians that back in 2014, began the project of building the Rotary Circle pathway at the Gardens.

During Jim’s time with the Whitnall Park Rotary Club, besides the numerous community service projects he worked on, he was President of the club twice, President of the Club’s Foundation, and a Paul Harris Fellow recipient 3 times. Jim was famous for portraying the important role of Santa each year at the Whitnall Park Rotary Craft Fair as well as driving the convertible in the 4^th of July parades.

Jim was a blessing to all he met, and we were all better for knowing him!!!

Volunteer at Feeding America

Whitnall Park Rotary Club assisted at Feeding America last week by volunteering to sort and pack food donations for those in need. Feeding America does great work in our community!!!

International Literacy Day

September 8th marked International Literacy Day, highlighting the crucial role of literacy in fostering equity and sustainable development. Rotary members globally have been at the forefront of literacy initiatives, establishing libraries, donating books, and backing educational programs. Rotary dedication to literacy empowers individuals and communities, helping to break the cycle of poverty and drive progress.

This year, the Whitnall Park Rotary Club is working with the Greendale School District to fund $3,500 toward a Literacy Project to support students at College Park Elementary School. The project is being funded with the assistance of a Rotary District 6270 grant for $3,000, as well as funds from our club.

Let's honor the persistent efforts of Rotarians and renew our commitment to education for all. Together, we can create lasting change!

Literacy grant 2024-2025

Rotary District 6270 awarded the Whitnall Park Rotary Club a $3000 grant to improve literacy in a Greendale school. The funds will purchase a series of books to enhance and enrich the reading learning process. In addition, Rotarians will make regular visits to the classroom to read to the students and to listen to the students read from the purchased books.

Paul Harris winners

Whitnall Park Rotary Club had our annual Changing of the Guard event on July 10th. It's our annual event where we thank the outgoing officers and board and welcome in the new year's officers and board. For this coming year, the 2023-2024 president Dan Weber and the 2022-2023 president Rob Petri will act as Co-Presidents.

At this event, we also recognize Paul Harris Fellows for the year. The Paul Harris Fellow recognition acknowledges individuals who contribute, or who have contributions made in their name, of $1,000 to the Rotary Foundation. This year's recipients included Jim Thorsen, Dan Christianson, Rob Petri and Kevin Drury.

The event is a great way to celebrate all that was accomplished during the past year and begin looking forward to the new Rotary year!

2024 Scholarship Recipients

Whitnall Club Rotary Club held our annual scholarship awards banquet May 15th for some extremely deserving high school seniors. Whitnall Park Rotary Club provided five $2,000 scholarships this year. Pictured are Anna Berquist (Whitnall High School), Joelle Smith (Greenfield High School) and Miranda Cavett (Greenfield High School). Our other scholarship recipients that were not able to attend are Virginia Brooks (Martin Luther High School) and Genevieve Skibicki (Greendale High School). The accomplishments of these students already in this early part of their lives is amazing and they are great examples of a positive future!! We are so happy to be able to support these students as they move on to college!!

WPRC makes lunches for the Gathering

Whitnall Park Rotarians gathered to make 100 bag lunches for the Gathering. Four stations made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Two stations packed the lunch bags with a sandwich, a piece of fruit, chips and a sweet treat. Bpttles of water were also provided.

Holz gift

Whitnall Park Rotary Club was blessed today to have received a donation from Holz Motors for over $1,200! Annually Holz Motors holds a 50/50 raffle at their golf outing and they selected Whitnall Park Rotary Club to be the recipient of the funds this year. Our Rotary Club is able to use these funds toward our School Education Grants and College Scholarships. Holz Motors is such a great asset to our comunity and we feel honored to be the recipient of these funds!

Building in 2024

January 10, Whitnall Park Rotary Club was fortunate to have a presentation from Tom Hermann, Youth Apprenticeship Coordinator for the Southwest Milwaukee Consortium, and Dane and Tommy, two Whitnall High School students. Tom and the students were presenting possible building project ideas for providing learning opportunities to students in the areas of the trades. Whitnall Park Rotary is committed to providing assistance to students to enhance their knowledge of the trades. Our Club has committed $1,000 to fund a project this Spring Semester.

Dane and Tommy outlined for the Club two projects they'd like us to consider (one project will be selected for construction in 2024), the learning opportunities for the students from the projects and the benefits to the community that will be obtained after the project is completed. Whichever project is decided upon, it will be a joint effort between the Whitnall High School Tech Education and Science Departments and is expected to involve over 40 students in the Whitnall High School Building and Trades class, as well as other Whitnall students that are members of Skills USA

Whitnall Park Rotary Club is extremely excited to be part of this great project which reinforces the high need to expand students entering the trades after high school.

Scholarships available

WHITNALL PARK ROTARY CLUB

SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITY

THE WHITNALL PARK ROTARY CLUB WILL BE AWARDING A TOTAL OF FIVE (5) SCHOLARSHIPS, EACH IN THE AMOUNT OF $2,000, TO CHOSEN SENIORS IN A PURSUIT OF A POST SECONDARY DEGREE

PLEASE CONTACT THE GUIDANCE OFFICE FOR INFORMATION

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS TO BE SUBMITTED IS

FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 2024

APPLICATIONS ARE REVIEWED BASED UPON FINANCIAL NEED, ACADEMIC

QUALIFICATIONS, COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT/ VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES, EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES/LEADERSHIP AND CAREER GOALS/ESSAY

Education Grants - 2023-2024 Round 1

Posted by Rob Petri

Whitnall Park Rotary Club provides Education Grants to area schools four times a year to assist our educators with the important work they provide to our community! For the first round of our 2023-2024 Education Grants, we were so impressed with the submissions that we decided to issue 4 grants. We were thrilled to provide assistance to educators at Whitnall High School, St. Mary's School and St. Alphonsus School. It is so inspiring to see the great effort these educators put in daily to assist their students!

Healing Hearts Christmas Party

On December 11, the Whitnall Park Rotary Club had the pleasure of assisting Santa in giving over 70 Christmas gifts to the families being assisted by Healing Hearts of Southeast Wisconsin. This is the 2nd year our Rotary Club has been able to partner with Healing Hearts to make the holiday season a little brighter for the families they assist. Healing Hearts provides free peer group support for children, youth and families who grieve loss due to death, divorce, addiction, incarceration, deportation and military deployment. We are not showing the smiling faces of the recipients to respect their privacy, but words cannot describe how rewarding this evening is for all that take part!!

Charity auction

December 13, Whitnall Park Rotary Club held its annual Christmas Party. And as we always do, our members donate wrapped gifts which are then part of a Charity Auction held that evening.

All the funds raised from the auction this year will be split between Kathy’s House and Milwaukee Homeless Veterans Initiative. Both organizations are great examples of the community helping others!

· Kathy’s House is a hospital guest house committed to providing affordable lodging and caring support in a “home away from home” environment for families who need to travel to Milwaukee for medical care.

· The Milwaukee Homeless Veteran Initiative provides services that homeless and at-risk veterans need to reach and maintain their highest level of independence.

We were able to raise $941 for these great organizations. We hope others in our community consider a donation to these great organizations this holiday season!!!

Assisting Feeding America

Whitnall Park Rotary Club had the privilege of working for Feeding America this week. Club members packed meal boxes for specialty programs, labeled canned goods to be sent to food pantries, or sorted and checked in donated items.

Operation Warm - Providing Winter Wear to Whitnall School District

For the 3rd year in a row, the Whitnall Park Rotary Club has used a District 6270 grant to provide winter wear to area students in need of some warm clothes for the winter. This year, the Whitnall School District was selected to be the recipient of the winter clothes. The clothing consisted of winter coats, snow pants, boots, hats and gloves/mittens. The items were presented to each of the Whitnall schools where they will then be distributed to the students in need by the sch

ool staff.

Global Grant Scholarship 2024-2025

The amount of the scholarship is $30,000 and must be used for graduate school studies outside the United States. NOTE: Applicant cannot be a Rotarian nor be related to a Rotarian. To be eligible, applicant must be a resident in the geographical area of District 6270, or be a student at a college/university in the geographical area of District 6270, or have strong ties to Southeast Wisconsin. Experience (professional or volunteer) in the field of study is required. All fellowship/scholarship/stipend funding opportunities must relate to one of Rotary’s Seven Areas of Focus (Disease prevention & treatment; Water, sanitation, & hygiene; Maternal & child health; Basic education & literacy; Community economic development; Environment; Peacebuilding & conflict prevention)

Deadlines are:

September 1, 2023 – Application form available (online)

January 15, 2024 – Completed application submission deadline (submit via email only)

February 10, 2024 - In-person or Zoom interviews scheduled. An in-person interview is preferred.

February 19, 2024 – Successful scholar notified (for matriculation in 2024-2025 academic year.)

Access the “Scholarships” page on the RI D-6270 website (www.rotary6270.org) for detailed information, the application form, and other supporting documents. Address any inquiries to Larry Myers, Chair of the D-6270 Scholarships Subcommittee (scholarshipchair@rotary6270.org OR lwmyers2@att.net).

Meals for Ukraine

On Saturday, April 22, 2023, Whitnall Park Rotary Club was excited to help at the Muskego Feeds event sponsored by LakePoint Church. The event's goal was to pack nutritious, balanced meals of dried ingredients to be sent to Ukraine. All they will need to do is add water and heat. In the first hour of the event, over 30,000 meals were packed; over 100,000 meals by the end of the work sessions.!! Such a spectacular event and we want to thank LakePoint Church and the event's sponsors for organizing this great community event!!

Congratulations scholarship winners

On May 17, 2023, Whitnall Park Rotary recognized the achievements of 7 graduating seniors who won this year's scholarships to 4 year institutions and to technical school. Congratulations to Alejandro, Benjamin, Caroline, Charles, Elise, and Maja.

Congratulations to 2023-2024 club leaders

The results of the January 4 election:

President: Daniel Weber

President elect: Kristin Murphy

Treasurer: Robert Nolan

Secretary: Terri Delke

Past President Robert Petri

Club Service: Scott Schenke

Community Service: Judith Weiss

International Service: Daniel Christianson

Vocational Service: Robert Petri

Youth Service: Lisa Olson

Rotary shares Christmas

Dec. 19, 2022 Whitnall Park Rotary Club enjoyed partnering with Healing Hearts of Southeastern Wisconsin to provide a Christmas Party for the families Healing Hearts serves. We provided more than 100 wrapped gifts for the families. Santa even made an appearance! What a wonderful way to kickstart the holidays!

WPRC was represented by President Rob Petri, Michael Breitbach, Santa Jim Helminski, Scott Schenke, Dan Christianson

Rotary Christmas celebration

December 14, 2022, the Whitnall Park Rotary celebrated Christmas with an auction of beautifully wrapped presents. The $830 proceeds will be given to charities. $415 will be sent Variety -- the children's charity of Wisconsin, an organization which enriches the lives of children with physical or developmental needs. $415 will be sent to an organization benefiting homeless veterans. Variety of Wisconsin

Project Warmth Greendale

Whitnall Park Rotary Club won a $3000 District 6270 grant to provide winter coats for needy Greendale School District students. We'll be working with the School District to identify the students and to distribute the appropriately sized coats to the students. This grant follows last year's successful Operation Warmth for Greenfield School District students.

July 4, 2022

WHITNALL Park Rotary Club took in the Greendale 4th of July parade to celebrate our country’s independence and also to recognize two of our 2022 scholarship winners - Lema from Greendale High School and Taylor from Martin Luther High School. Lema and Taylor definitely represent great things ahead for our country!!

Paul Harris Awards 2022

Paul Harris Award is the highest award in Rotary. It is given to a Rotarian or a member of the community that has made an outstanding contribution to the community. Whitnall Park Rotary Club's 2022 honorees are Kristin Murphy, Michael Breitbach, and Scott Schenke.

Scholarships 2022

Whitnall Park Rotary Club had the pleasure of honoring our 2022 High School Senior Scholarship winners. These youth are great examples of all that is good in the world!!

·Academic scholarships

$2,000 Greendale High School recipient – Lema

· $2,000 Greenfield High School recipient – Mai

· $2,000 Martin Luther High School recipient – Taylor

· $2,000 Muskego High School recipient – Austin

· $2,000 Whitnall High School recipient – Skyler

Technical / Trades Scholarships and Grants

· $1,000 Technical College scholarship Whitnall High School recipient – Gavin

$1000 Tools, Safety Equipment grant Greenfield High School recipient -- Rafael

We are honored to be able to assist in covering a portion of their first year college expenses and are excited to see the great things these student achieve!!

Rydlewicz joins WPRC

Whitnall Park Rotary Club is excited to have inducted our newest member, James Rydlewicz, at our meeting May 18. We look forward to Jim's participating in our club and working with us in our community!

Honor flight

Jim Helminski was honored for his military service by being included on Saturday's Honor Flight. Photos capture Whitnall Park Rotary Club members welcoming Jim back to Mitchell Airport.

Students April-May 2022

We were blessed to have our Students of the Month present to the Whitnall Park Rotary Club today. We had a student from Greenfield High School and a student from Martin Luther High School. Always amazing to hear the great work these students are involved in and their plans for after high school!!

Thank you April craft fair

Whitnall Park Rotary would like to thank everyone that was able to join us for the Spring Craft Fair that was held at Whitnall High School. We had over 160 crafters onsite and over 1,000 visitors! And as you can see, we had a great sighting of the Easter Bunny!!

Whitnall Park Rotary uses the funds raised at the Craft Fairs to fund various community service activities with the majority going to fund the five $2,000 high school scholarships given to seniors at Greendale, Greenfield, Martin Luther, Muskego and Whitnall High Schools each year.

Thank you and we hope to see you all at the Christmas Craft Fair being held December 3rd at Whitnall High School!

Bench Restoration at Boerner Botanical Gardens

WHITNALL Park Rotary Club volunteered at Boerner Botanical Gardens Saturday, May 7, to help restore the wood benches in the Gardens and along the Rotary Pathway. We were able to stain 36 wood benches and get them ready for the summer season!

February - March students of the month

Today we had our February - March Students of the Month share information about themselves and their goals with the Rotary Club. Samantha and Matthew from Whitnall High School and Sophie and Jayden from Martin Luther High School have attended four morning Club meetings to learn about our organization.

Scholarship application available

WHITNALL PARK ROTARY CLUB SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITY

THE WHITNALL PARK ROTARY CLUB WILL BE AWARDING A TOTAL OF FIVE (5) SCHOLARSHIPS, EACH IN THE AMOUNT OF $2,000, TO CHOSEN SENIORS IN A PURSUIT OF ANY ASSOCIATE or BACHELOR’S DEGREE PROGRAM AFTER HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION

PLEASE CONTACT THE GUIDANCE OFFICE FOR INFORMATION

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS TO BE SUBMITTED IS

FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2022

APPLICATIONS ARE REVIEWED BASED UPON FINANCIAL NEED, ACADEMIC

QUALIFICATIONS, COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT/ VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES, EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES/LEADERSHIP AND CAREER GOALS/ESSAY

Application at whitnallparkrotary.org

Rotarians share Christmas

In December members of the Whitnall Park Rotary Club gathered 42 gifts for the women and children staying at the

Sojourner Truth House shelter.

$1404 raised for Salvation Army

Whitnall Park Rotary Club members rang the bell December 11 and December 18 at Metro Market in Greenfield. Total collected was $1404.07 to support the work of the Salvation Army.

209 Greenfield students receive winter coats

Whitnall Park Rotary Club, through a $3000 grant from Rotary District 6270, provided 209 warm winter coats for the students of 102 families of the Greenfield School District. In addition to providing the funds, the Rotarians bagged the appropriate size coats for each family. A few days later, the Rotarians were on hand to work with the Greenfield Fire Department members to give the coat packages to the parents on November 18

Students of the Month

Our Students of the Month for December 2021-January 2022 are Amirah Mirza and Janita Wagar, seniors from Whitnall High School.

Water & Sanitation in Tepeaque, El Salvador

The Rotary International Global Grant that Whitnall Park Rotary Club has been involved with in Tepeaqua, El Salvador has had 3 phases. The estimated total cost of the project is $280,000.

Phase 1 --- a water well was drilled. Phase 2 --- the necessary piping and equipment to supply 150 households with water including trenching to bury the pipes. Phase 3 --- piping, equipment and trenching for the rest of the community. Building 260 latrines. Some management projects.

We have partnered with the Rotary Club of South Salvador and with Atonement Lutheran Church of Muskego. The project has been very challenging due to a number of reasons including language, politics, and supply chain .

As of this date, the final Global Grant has been fully funded and has been sent to Rotary International for approval. Once RI approves the final application, the funds will be forwarded to RI and then sent on to El Salvador. It is hoped the medical and political situations will allow area funders to travel to El Salvador to participate in the project's completion.

Spring Craft Fair

Whitnall Park Rotary Club is accepting applications for the April 2, 2022 fair.

The application on the club website whitnallparkrotary.org is at https://clubrunner.blob.core.windows.net/00000007760/en-ca/files/sitepage/craft-fairs/application-form/Application-form-general.pdf

Mail the completed application and check to WPRC Craft Fair, P.O. Box 62, Hales Corners WI 53130

2022-2023 Officers and Directors elected

President --- Robert Petri

Vice President/ President elect --- Daniel Weber

Past President --- James Helminsk

Treasurer --- Robert Nolan

Secretary --- Terri Delke

Club Service Director --- Brandt Komas

Community Service Director --- Kristin Murphy

International Service Director --- Daniel Christianson

Vocational Service Director --- Thomas Weiss

Youth Service Director --- John Movroydis