Welcome to the Rotary Club of Minnesota Veterans

 
October Club Program
You are invited to our next club meeting: 13 October 2022 7:00 PM
 
Presenter: Brian Smith
Believet Canine Service Partners
 
 
Mission:  Freedom for Veterans, Dogs with a Mission.
 
Trained service dogs can provide an essential source of security, affection, and connection for our veterans.  Believet dogs are custom-trained for mobility and psychiatric tasks.  They can wake a veteran from a nightmare, ease their anxiety in a crowded public place, and provide comfort through companionship and physical contact.  Believet dogs also help keep veterans on a schedule because the dog need care and attention on a regular basis. 
 
Believet provides highly trained service dogs, free of charge, to disabled vets, helping them to lead more productive, independent lives. A service dog provides a sense of security, greater independence, non-judgmental acceptance, affection, physical assistance, and peace of mind.
 
Sam Daly, founder of Believet Canine Service Partners served two deployments in Afghanistan as a military contractor for the Marine Corps. His work supported and provided unit training for the battlefield detections of IEDs using off-leash Labrador retriever military working dogs. Training dogs and their handlers is the central focus of Sam's life.  Sam and his wife, Debra, have operated a kennel and training center in Northfield since 1993.
 
Attend the meeting to learn more and check out their website:  believet.org
 
Attend the meeting in person in the Rotary Room at St. Peter's - Edina, 5421 France Avenue South, Edina.
You may also participate in the meeting remotely:  Zoom Link
All are invited. There is no cost to attend a meeting.  Refreshments will be served.
 
Upcoming Speakers
View a listing of upcoming speakers.  Guests are always welcome.  Come check out one of Rotary Club of Minnesota Veterans meetings. While most of our members are veterans, we also have members who didn't serve in the military but are just passionate about serving veterans.  We also have couples who have joined the club together.
 
 
Club meetings with program are held on the 2nd Thursday of the month
Service events or socials take place on the 4th Thursdays of the month
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
VETS BLOOD DRIVE - Thursday, October 27
American Red Cross
See the source image

It is time to do it again!
Participate in our Rotary Club of MN Veterans / Red Cross Blood Drive
 
Hosting blood drives began after a presentation from the Red Cross at a club meeting. Our first drive was the initial week of the MN pandemic executive order in March 2020. While other drives cancelled due to fear, our vets showed up to serve others.  We have held blood drives every quarter since then.
 
To set up an appointment, go to redcrossblood.org and enter sponsor code: RotaryMNVets
 
We will also be collecting, food & household products, electronic recycling, and clothing for organizations that serve veterans.    
 
Will you volunteer to provide a smooth running drive to provide blood products for veterans and their families?  Help set up at 11:00am, greet donors any length of time between 1-7pm, or break down at 7:00pm.  Let Mark Shockey know if you are able to serve.
 
Upcoming opportunity to give blood hosted by the Rotary Club of MN Veterans:
 
St. Peter's - Edina
5421 France Ave S
Edina, MN 55410
Thursday, October 27, 1pm-7pm
 
 
 
 
 
 
Meet our Club President
preview-full-John-Meyer
On 1 July, the start of the new Rotary year, John Meyer began a one-year term as Club President, succeeding Jeff Staads. 
 
John is an Army veteran and currently serves as an officer in the Minnesota Army National Guard.  He is an extensive traveler, homebrewer, and spends free time at home in Woodbury with his wife and young family.
 
He found his passion while deployed with the Minnesota Army National Guard in 2011.  Working with unemployed soldiers before returning home, John worked hard to help those who wished to start their own businesses chart a path toward success.  He carried that passion and focus from the sands of Kuwait and Iraq, through law school, into practice as an Attorney.  John is a graduate of Hamline University and Mitchell Hamline School of Law (formerly William Mitchell College of Law).  John focuses primarily on business and commercial real estate law using his expertise in private practice, part of the Morris Law Group in Edina, and now with Guaranty Commercial Title in Minneapolis. John jokes that this is his “fifth career,” having spent time working as a federal employee, full-time with the Minnesota National Guard, business owner, and in professional politics. 
 
John brings his experiences into his role as club president along with a family history of Rotary involvement that dates back to when he was a boy participating in service events with the Rotary club when John's father was club president!
 
If you are interested in being part of John's leadership team or just have a question for him, reach out to him at john.thomas.meyer@gmail.com
 
 
 
About Rotary Veterans
 
We are a group of Veterans and other service minded men and women living in Minnesota who were chartered as a service club within Rotary International in October, 2019.  Our sense of service derives from military core values of "Service before Self"  that parallels those of Rotary International "Service above Self." 
 
Service includes: actively caring for one another and our extended families - especially during times of hurt; serving in our communities - youth, civic organizations, schools and the elderly; duly honoring other veterans & their families - especially during times of grief; and serving those in area/regions where we have served, such as projects in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, etc.  

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