Taking its community service motto to heart

Port-Saukville Rotary Club practices Service Above Self as members deliver Easter meals to homebound residents at a time when they are even more isolated

A CORPS OF volunteers from the Rotary Club of Port Washington-Saukville practiced social distancing at the lakefront Sunday as they prepared to deliver 68 Easter meals to the homebound. Photo by Sam Arendt
By 
KRISTYN HALBIG ZIEHM
Ozaukee Press staff

The Rotary Club of Port Washington-Saukville took its motto of Service Above Self to a new level Sunday as 15 of its members, accompanied by family members, donned masks and gloves to deliver Easter meals to 68 homebound residents in northern Ozaukee County — a gesture that resonated all the more now that the coronavirus has forced these individuals to be even more isolated.

“We wanted to do something meaningful,” Rotarian Joe Dean, who helped organize the effort, said.

“It was a very rewarding day,” added club member Ruth Henkle.

The meal program started as club members discussed what to do with the money they usually spend on lunch during their weekly meetings.

Henkle said she suggested using the funds, as well as a $750 grant from Rotary International intended for Covid-19 relief projects, to provide a hot holiday meal for homebound individuals in the area.

“These people have a lot of struggles already. Wouldn’t it be nice to provide them with something that’s a treat for the holiday?” she asked club members. “It’s a holiday and these individuals will be separated from their families.”

She and her family had recently started delivering Meals on Wheels, Henkle said.

“It was really rewarding and humbling,” she said. “Most of these people have physical disabilities, and the Meals on Wheels program really allows them to stay in their home longer.”

The club originally considered buying personal protective equipment for health care providers, Henkle said, “but that was an impossible task. Even if you have the money, you can’t get them.”

But the idea of delivering meals to homebound people resonated with club members, Henkle said.

“To pull 15 people together for a service project, much less a project on a holiday, is difficult,” she said. 

But there was no shortage of volunteers this time.  

The Ozaukee County Aging and Disabilities Resource Center supplied the list of homebound individuals, along with any special instructions for delivery that were needed.

Caregivers who were at the homes also received meals, Henkle said.

“We made sure everyone had a meal so they could enjoy them together,” she said.

Mardy McGarry sewed the distinctive masks for the corps of volunteers and they were embellished with an embroidered Rotary Club logo donated by Sara McCutcheon of Silk Screen Specialists.

McGarry said she’s been making masks for friends since the coronavirus pandemic began, using scraps of materials she has left over from quilting.

“It’s been fun,” she said. “I’ve got a lot of hours in (to making masks), but that’s OK. I’ve got a lot of hours now.”

John Weinrich, owner of NewPort Shores, supplied the holiday ham and mashed potato meals at cost, supplementing them with colored Easter eggs and cards with a message. 

The Greater Port Washington Kiwanis Club donated plastic eggs filled with candy to the cause — they were originally intended for its Hippity Hoppity Easter egg hunt that was canceled due to the virus — and Dean donated a stuffed Hope dog for each home.

“It was quite fun,” Rotary Past President Doug McManus said. “It was a good meal and hopefully a change of pace from the standard Meals on Wheels meal. 

“We chatted a bit with the people when we dropped off the meals. I even ran into a former patient of mine — one of my favorite patients,” added McManus, a retired physician.

Henkle said virtually every team of volunteers reported that “people came to the door smiling. They were very cheerful and appreciative.”

One gentleman insisted on donating $10 to the club in return for his dinner, even through he was assured that wasn’t necessary.

Henkle said the club is planning on repeating its efforts, especially as the pandemic keeps more people isolated.

“Maybe we can create something sustainable,” she said. “It was great to see so many people pull together on Easter Sunday. That would never have happened if we weren’t in the middle of this pandemic. It allowed us to do something good for someone else.”

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Ozaukee Press

Wisconsin’s largest paid circulation community weekly newspaper. Serving Port Washington, Saukville, Grafton, Fredonia, Belgium, as well as Ozaukee County government. Locally owned and printed in Port Washington, Wisconsin.

125 E. Main St.
Port Washington, WI 53074
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