UPCOMING MEETINGS & EVENTS
February 27 Program: Beth Goetz, Director of Athletics – U of I & Other Big 10 Sports February 28 2026 Bingo Bash, 9am - 7pm at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.
March 6 Program: Ann Shimerdla, President & CEO of Blank Park Zoo
March 10 Eastside Community Night Volunteer Opportunity - details below.
March 13 Program: Andrew Batt, CEO Iowa Public Television – The Changing Path of Public Television
March 13 Next Chapter Retirement Group Meeting, 8am
March 17 St. Patrick's Day Parade - DMAM Rotary Float, details TBA!
March 20 Program: Speaker TBA
March 20 Connection Café sandwich making following Rotary.
March 20 DMAM Club Board Meeting 8am in Blue View.
March 27 Program: Connie Wimer, BPC Chairwoman & Founder – Reelections and Expectations
March 28 District Grant Management Seminar - details below.
April 1 Meals From The Heartland service event - details below.
**For more event details don’t forget to check our website!
It's time to start signing up to volunteer at the BingoBASH - there are lots of opportunities from game floor floaters, front door sales tables, exit research interviews with attendees, and more.
It's SO much fun while serving our community.
The three local non-profits who will be recipients from BingoBASH 5 are:
Food insecurity - St. Vincent de Paul food pantries
Human trafficking - Iowa Law Enforcement Academy and Iowa's 5th District Dept. of Corrections
Mental health - Harvest Academy
Volunteers - please sign up here! https://dash.pointapp.org/events/477380
Volunteers will receive a new complementary BingoBASH t-shirt ... and we will also be selling t-shirts at the event this year.
Sponsors - We're also seeking sponsors to meet our revenue goal of $100,000. If you haven't connected with John Bouslog yet and are interested in sponsoring BingoBASH 5, please email him at JBouslog@iowafirm.com.
View the Sponsorship Benefits sheet with different tiers, including game vouchers, in the download files list below.
THANK YOU for your support of Rotary DMAM's BingoBASH!
MEMBER SHOUT-OUT
Congratulations to Scott Raecker for being named as Business Record's 2026 Forty Under 40 Alum of the Year. Read the article, linked HERE.
MEALS FROM THE HEARTLAND Please join our volunteer crew to package meals for malnourished and food-insecure children and families across Iowa, the United States, and the world.
After the event, Rotarians are headed to Bix & Co. at 111 5th St, West Des Moines, for food, drink and fellowship. Non-packagers are welcome to join in.
Thank you,
Tom Hudson
URGENT: 5-10 VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR COMMUNITY NIGHT
We need your help! Des Moines Public School's Eastside Community Night is coming up on Tuesday, March 10th (5–7 PM) at East High School, 815 E. 13th St, Des Moines, IA 50316.
This is a huge event for the community, including our partner school Capitol View Elementary, and they are currently short on help. We need 5–10 more volunteers to ensure the night runs smoothly for the families and kids.
Quick Info:
The Fun: Inflatables, food trucks, and a resource fair.
The Jobs: Set-up, tear down, monitoring inflatables, and assisting vendors.
Whether you can help for the whole event or just an hour for set-up/tear down, we’d love to have you. Let’s show up strong for DMAM Rotary and Capitol View!
Our club is excited to sponsor an outbound Rotary Youth Exchange student to France for the 2026–2027 school year! As part of this program, we are also seeking host families in the Des Moines area to welcome an inbound exchange student during that same year.
Rotary typically partners with two to three host families over the course of the school year, and we are currently looking to identify our first host family for 2026–2027.
Hosting is a wonderful opportunity to build meaningful cultural connections, broaden global understanding, and create lifelong friendships. You do not need to be a Rotarian to be a host family.
If you or someone you know may be interested, please reach out to me to learn more and discuss this rewarding opportunity.
The Rotary Club of Des Moines AM has sponsorship openings available for high school students to attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Conference. The registration deadline is April 30th. Iowa RYLA is a week-long leadership conference open to Juniors and Seniors in High School (2025-2026 school year) held at Grinnell College from Sunday July 26 through Friday July 31st.
RYLA is designed to help young students learn and develop leadership skills and their leadership philosophy. The objectives of RYLA are:
To encourage and assist youth leaders and potential leaders in methods of responsible and effective leadership by providing them with training,
To encourage continued and stronger leadership of youth by youth,
To publicly recognize the outstanding qualities of many young people who are rendering service to their schools and communities as leaders.
If you know of any students who could benefit from attending Iowa RYLA, please contact Janet Witte at wittej_dsm@yahoo.com or 515-255-5678. You will also need to complete the application on the Iowa RYLA website: iowaryla.org.
Rotarian volunteers are also critical to the success of RYLA. The application to be a volunteer at RYLA can be made at iowaryla.org and has the same deadline application of April 30th. Please note that as a Rotarian volunteer at RYLA you are required to be present during the entire week of RYLA and you are required to attend a training session on June 27th, 2026.
DISTRICT GRANT SEMINAR SCHEDULE
For our club to qualify for a District Community Service Grant, or a Global Grant for the 2026-2027 Rotary year, at least 1 member of the club must attend a Grant Management Learning Seminar.
There is no cost to attend, but registration is required. This HYBRID seminar will be for Presidents-Elect, Presidents-Nominee, and whoever will be the main contact on any grant application. LINK HERE TO REGISTER
Grant Management Seminar - West Des Moines - HYBRID
Time: 8:30 AM is check-in with breakfast. The Seminar will be 9 AM - 12 PM.
**Please note this will be the only time Global Grants training will be offered if you want to participate.
For more information contact District 6000 Community Service Grant Chairs Gretchen Nollman and Todd Wheeler at d6000csg@gmail.com.
SAVE THESE DATES:
DMAM Rotary Member Relations Happy Hour
Always the 1st Thursday of each month from 4-6 pm.
Locations are to be announced closer to each event.
Questions reach out to Angie Weller @ 515-770-5812
Next Chapter Retirement Group Meetings
Always the second Friday of each month at 8am following the Rotary meeting.
Location: Wakonda Bar
COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
No Announcements
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES FOR COMMUNITY EVENTS ANNOUNCEMENTS
DMAM Rotarians are welcome to submit corporate and community event information for distribution to members as part of the Monday Memo.
Keep announcements brief!
The submission deadline is the close of business each Friday and must contain only text (no pictures or graphics).
