Category: Latest News

Providing Comfort and Care for Families in Crisis, the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Indiana

Join Rotary next week as we welcome Michelle Study-Campbell. She will give a brief history of the Ronald McDonald House and provide insight into the impact they have had locally and globally. She will also share how you can volunteer and how families in our community can access the House when they need a home away from home.

A native Hoosier, Michelle is a graduate of Marian University and has her Masters of Public Affairs from Indiana University. In addition to her executive leadership at the House, Michelle also serves as President of the Junior League of Indianapolis for the 2015-2017 term.

Indiana at 200: Celebrating the Hoosier State
Indiana’s Bicentennial Celebration kicked off on Statehood Day, December 11, 2015, and will continue to a grand finale weekend December 10 and 11, 2016. Indiana’s Bicentennial Commission aims to honor our state’s 200 years of history, and do so in a way that engages all 6.5 million Hoosiers and leaves lasting legacies for future generations. The Bicentennial Commission works with volunteer coordinators in every county to identify projects that are worthy of designation as “Official Bicentennial Legacy Projects.” All projects are categorized under four main themes set forth by the Commission:

• Youth and Education
• Historical Celebration
• Nature Conservation
• Community Involvement.

To date, 914 projects have been endorsed representing all 92 counties. Perry Hammock will talk about some of the wonderful projects underway, special dates and celebrations, and ways for all to be involved in this singular moment in Indiana history.

Hammock has served on statewide, national and international boards, including eight years on the board of directors of CFRE International, the global credentialing body for fund raising professionals.

Perry is a farm kid and Indiana native. He holds bachelors and masters degrees from Purdue University. He is married to Chris, a wonderful and talented middle school history teacher, and has an accomplished adult daughter, Emily. Son-in-Law Matt and Linus the WonderCat round out the family.

Cliff Chapman will highlight the natural wonders that surround us in Central Indiana and what CILTI is doing to protect them. As an organization, the Central Indiana Land Trust preserves the best of our natural areas protecting plants and animals so Hoosiers can experience the wonder of the state’s natural heritage.

Cliff Chapman is the Executive Director for the Central Indiana Land Trust and has worked in the field of land conservation since 1997.  Since graduating with a BA in Geography from Indiana University, Cliff has worked as an ecologist for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Nature Preserves and The Nature Conservancy in Olympia, Washington.

The New and Improved Holcomb Telescope

The Holcomb Observatory at Butler University is putting the finishing touches on a $450,000 refurbishment of Indiana’s largest telescope.  These improvements were funded by a generous donation from Butler physics graduate Dr. Frank Levinson (’74).  The Holcomb Telescope is now a vastly improved version of its old self and is remotely operable and used by Butler students and faculty for research from anywhere in the world.  In this presentation Brian Murphy will give a bit of history of the observatory, explain the improvements to the telescope, and describe the outreach at Butler University and the research programs at Holcomb Observatory. In addition to the Holcomb Telescope, Butler has also been part of the Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy (SARA) telescope consortium. Murphy will describe the mission of SARA consortium and explain how the Holcomb Telescope dovetails with this consortium that allows the remote operation of three other 1-meter class telescopes located on three continents.

Brian Murphy has served as chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy for nearly eight years and as director of Holcomb Observatory and Planetarium throughout his 20 years at Butler. In 2012, Murphy received the University Award for Distinguished Research, Scholarship, or Creative Work which is the highest accolade a faculty member can receive that honors her or his body of substantial scholarly achievement accomplished as a faculty member of Butler University.

The Chins are a minority ethnic population from North-Western Burma (Myanmar). Many Chin experienced forced labor, arbitrary arrest, rape, torture and sometimes even execution of family before fleeing their home country as refugees. In Indianapolis, the Chin community has been growing to almost 15,000, due to it becoming a “hub” for Chin refugees fleeing from this military dictatorship of their home country, Burma.

Life can be difficult for newly arriving Chin refugees. Many have limited English proficiency and skills that are not easily transferable to the American workplace.  Some are not accustomed to living in a technologically-driven culture. And still others are overcoming the memories and emotional scars of being persecuted.

Join us on Tuesday to learn more about the Chin community- the struggles they’ve experienced and their efforts to assimilate into Indianapolis and become valuable, educated, employed citizens.  It’s a program you won’t forget and will be an inspiration to all who attend.

Marianne Black, a staff member for United States Senator Joe Donnelly, will discuss the history of theVeterans History Project as well as the efforts Senator Donnelly makes to promote the VHP throughout Indiana.  She’ll also talk about the mutual benefits to veterans and volunteers of conducting a VHP interview, and how Rotarians can participate.

In an effort to collect, preserve and make available the personal stories of American veterans, Congress created the Veterans History Project (VHP).  The VHP is an archive of veterans’ oral histories, and they are housed in the permanent collections of the Library of Congress, one of the world’s most respected research and cultural institutions.