The Jasper Rotary on Thursday announced that Kellie Speedy LeFevre was the 2021 recipient of the “Jasper Rotarian of the Year.”
Ms. Speedy LeFevre, of Jasper, was the coordinator for the Club’s District Grant provided by Rotary International to support small-scale, short-term humanitarian projects that support local communities. The Rotary Club of Jasper matched the District Grant dollar for dollar, which resulted in a $6,000 grant to help financially back a deserving, local cause.
Since October 2020, every baby born at Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center has been gifted with a 30-day supply of diapers and a baby book. The diapers will help to keep the baby clean, hygienic, and healthy, while the baby book will help the parents start the baby on a journey of lifelong learning. The diaper supply will be at least one less worry for the parents during the crucial start of baby’s life. There should be enough supplies to gift at least 1,000 babies born at Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center. The Rotary Club of Jasper sent $3,750 to the Memorial Hospital Foundation to purchase the diapers. Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center was able to source special pricing on diapers to make this gift possible. The rest of the $6,000 District Grant was split between the purchase of the baby books, the Rotary Wheel emblem stickers (to be placed on the baby books), and informational inserts about the Rotary Club of Jasper. The baby books and informational inserts also were provided in Spanish to meet the needs of Dubois and surrounding counties’ diverse population.
Nadina Paulin, librarian of Ferdinand Elementary, assisted the Rotary Club of Jasper with sourcing enough baby books to supply every baby with a high-quality book that will have the Rotary wheel emblem sticker. Todd Mehringer, Director of Materials Management for Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center, managed the logistics of the diapers on behalf of Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center. Todd will order more diapers as supplies are used until the entire gift was used.
The Rotary Club of Jasper is glad to have helped facilitate this great project to assist families during their exciting first month. Rotary’s mission is to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty. Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center’s mission to be for others through quality and excellence made a great partnership with Rotary to help local parents meet a critical need for their growing families.
