One of the things I’ve always enjoyed about living in Chaska is the many service organizations we have that are committed to making this such a great community to live in. Using the simple concept of “neighbor helping neighbor,” these organizations and their members have demonstrated that a community is strongest when its residents are concerned about the needs of others and focus energy on helping to “lift up” all within our community.
For nearly 60 years, one of the service organizations that has continued to meet this calling has been the Chaska Rotary Club. Founded in 1966, the Chaska Rotary Club has not only taken on addressing some of the many needs of people within our own community but has also been committed to addressing needs around the world with its commitment to international service.
Within Chaska, many residents may be surprised to hear about some of the initiatives that were started by Chaska Rotarians that have continued to thrive over the years. This has included starting the “Christmas in May” program in 1996 which each year brings together 250-300 volunteers for one Saturday in May to help rehabilitate and repair the homes of residents whose financial or physical challenges have made it difficult to address basic maintenance needs.
The Chaska Rotary has also worked together with the schools in our community to address the needs of our students and fill gaps that are not always able to be addressed by the schools themselves due to limited funding. This has included starting the Strive Program within Chaska High School. This program has our Rotarians directly mentoring students that have shown promise but have struggled to keep their grades up due to multiple circumstances in their lives. Chaska Rotary has been instrumental in working with Love INC in their “Backpack” program making sure that all kids have the supplies they need at the beginning of each academic year to be successful in school. Chaska Rotary annually provides close to $10,000 in scholarships to Chaska High School students to help them continue in their post-secondary education aspirations.
Chaska Rotarians also were instrumental in helping to relocate and rehabilitate the One-Room School House located along Highway 41 to provide our elementary students the opportunity to connect to the history of our community by having class taught within this building each year as part of their curriculum.
As part of Rotary International, Chaska Rotarians have also been able to get involved in projects that help make our world a better place. One of the major initiatives we have been involved with is the Polio Plus Program. Since 1979 Rotarians have been collecting money and directly vaccinating millions of children around the world. Chaska Rotary has been raising money each year in support of this international effort and has had several of our own local Rotarians travel to India to help vaccinate children in that country.
Another international service effort involving Chaska Rotarians are projects that bring clean water and medical services to areas in the world that are without these basic needs being met. Our Chaska Rotarians have been actively raising money, planning project strategies, and traveling to targeted areas to help build the necessary infrastructure. Finally, Chaska Rotary regularly sponsors both incoming and outgoing exchange students through the Rotary Youth Exchange which helps expose our high school students to people, thoughts, and ideas that help broaden their world view.
The Chaska Rotary is currently in the process of raising money to help support the construction of a Miracle League Baseball Field and Universally Designed Playground within Chaska’s newest community park, which is slated to be constructed in southwest Chaska in the summer of 2024. This facility will be designed to help serve local children with both physical and cognitive disabilities by providing the opportunity to participate in a team activity through baseball and other sports that can be played on this specialized surface. The playground is being specially designed to make it possible for children of all abilities to play alongside each other while helping to break down the barriers that often exist between children with special needs and other children. We want to make sure that all children in our community can have fun and just be kids. With a goal of $1 million to raise to make this a reality, this is a prime example of the types of projects Chaska Rotarians can work on and complete to make this community a better place for all to live.
So, if Chaska Rotary seems like the type of organization that would be of interest to you, we would highly encourage you to come to one of our weekly meetings to check us out. Rotarians meet every Thursday morning from 7:15-8:30 a.m. in the Chaska Event Center. Come and hear from one of the weekly inspirational guest speakers and connect with other people just like you who care about serving and making Chaska a great pla ce to live for all of us!
Matt Podhradsky is the current President of the Chaska Rotary Club. He is the City Administrator for the City of Chaska, and President of the “Christmas in May, Chaska” program.
