I got one of my wishes last Friday -- I got to tour the Home Depot Distribution Center with my fellow ESR members! Thanks to Steve Poland, we got a chance to see how the 300 employees of the center move hundreds of boxes from the intake side of the building, separate the items to fill store requests, and pack the trailers on the opposite side of the building. Thanks also to Todd McKinney and Roth's for filling our boxed lunch requests.
We also got a chance to catch up with an inbound student from 20 years ago, Carolina. She brought her husband and daughter to visit Patsy and Ed Davis and brought her handmade cookies to share. She is hoping to find a connection in the US to sell her wonderful cookies so they can move up here.
Our food drive is being held at the Hayesville Roth's on Saturday, March 26 between 9:00 and 2:00. Unfortunately, only two people have signed up to help. If we can't get more people to sign up, we will have to cancel the event. Please contact me or John King if you can help.
If you haven't already done so, please complete the survey about our club. Our Club Service/Membership committees will be reviewing the responses on Wednesday, March 16. We'll have our quarterly club assembly this coming Friday to talk about the results as a group.
March is food drive month. Please participate so we can reach our goals! If you are already a sustaining member, or participated in the February food drive with the state, you must still fill out a form stating that you have so it can also be counted for our food drive. Maps Community Foundation will match your first three donations when you join the monthly sustainer circle or increase your monthly gift. There are also two different volunteer opportunities: one is a repack shift at the food share on Wednesday, March 23 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. and the other one is on Saturday, March 26 from 9:00 - noon at various community gardens around town.
Good news -- Iven Findley is feeling much better and responding well to his treatments. I'm sure he would like a call or card from fellow Rotarians.
The District Training Assembly is April 23 and registration is now open. There are over 60 sessions to choose from! These sessions are not just for club officers. You can check out the sessions and register online from DACdb.
Sunset Rotary is holding their 11th Annual Community Baby Shower on Saturday, April 30 between 2:00 and 5:30 p.m. They are looking for new or handmade items for babies in low-income families in Marion and Polk Counties. They are also accepting monetary donations on that day.
We hope you are starting to gather your items to donate. We will begin collecting the items at club meetings beginning in April. We are in need of a couple of people with pickups who can help us transport items from the Red Lion to Dave Leonard's barn after the club meetings in April. If you are able to help, please let Pat or Karin know. We will be sending around sign ups for other garage sale help at our meetings in March. 
