Blog

Lawrence Central Rotary’s own Kristy Miller spoke about Big Brothers and Big Sisters. Kristy is the Development Coordinator for Franklin, Douglas and Jefferson Counties and she noted that all funds raised in Douglas County stay in the county. Bigs volunteer to work with a Little and become a supportive, encouraging friend in a mentoring relationship. Bigs are carefully vetted and matched up with a Little in need. The organization asks for a one year commitment of meeting with the Little three to four contacts a month. Bigs have access to a Life Skills Guide which has information on nutrition and exercise, financial literacy, goal setting, academic success, and emotional intelligence. Littles demonstrate measurable gains later in life, in academics, self esteem, graduation rates and holding an above living wage job.

Felice Lavergne is passionate about her job as Director of Transit for the City of Lawrence. She began working in the department in 2021 and became Director in 2025. Felice oversees the operation of a fixed route transit system that provides 7,000 rides a day. Buses are ADA accessible and have bicycle racks. She is also responsible for a door to door paratransit T-lift service, an on demand service, and the operation of a central station, and various support tasks. She has secured numerous grants, initiated a Transit Poet Laureate Program and a Fruit Tree Project. A downtown station has been funded and is in the works. An increase in the sales tax that funds these services is on the November 3rd ballot, increasing the tax from 0.2 percent to 0.3 percent. The increase is necessary due to rising prices, especially diesel fuel. Felice notes that fares can not support transit services.

Corps Officer Major Karen Holness and Community Engagement Director Emma Perez spoke about the work of the Salvation Army in the Lawrence area. The Salvation Army is an International evangelical movement and part of the Universal Christian Church. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus and meet human needs without discrimination. Both Emma and Major Karen were raised in the church. Each Salvation Army location is a local non-profit and all donations stay in the community. Services include disaster response, case work and counseling, utility assistance, food pantry, meals, thrift store, religious services and much more. The donation kettles at Christmas time are well known and the adopt a child Angel Tree is also a popular seasonal project.

Mattie Vandel and Brad Fisher spoke about their work at Kansas City based Unbound, a non-profit working to end global poverty. Mattie is Volunteer Coordinator and Brad is Directer of Church Engagement. Mattie is a 2023 Rotary Global Grant recipient and described her studies in Berlin, Pretoria, India and Bangkok. She also worked at an internship for a Tech Girl program involving international students, before joining Unbound. Brad described Unbound’s sponsorship model for fighting poverty, which involves churches and individuals sponsoring people in need, for forty-five dollars a month. Sponsors communicate with their chosen individuals by letters and enjoy a personal relationship with them. Unbound also provides scholarships, grants, a natural disaster fund, and a community development fund. Unbound spends ninety per cent of its budget on programs and has provided 113.2 million dollars in direct assistance.

K Misel, club member, and her husband Lee, have made four trips to Japan. Lee had an early grade school fascination with the country and now the couple have visited all of the big islands and most of the major cities. K presented an excellent slide show and commentary on their travels. The geography of Japan is beautiful and made up of many miles of rugged coast line, volcanic mountain peaks, rural vistas and modern city scapes. It is convenient to move around the country on a modern and efficient rail system, and yet there is plenty of walking involved in seeing the sights. Japan has an interesting history and a rich culture. They visited beautiful Shinto shrines, high mountain lakes and historic castles. The country is clean and has a friendly service culture. K spoke about Nagasaki as the historic entry port for early foreign travelers and has an impressive memorial for World War II bomb victims. Kyoto was her favorite city as it is the former imperial capital and is filled with thousands of shrines and temples. Yet another trip is planned, this time to the Japanese Alps Region.