For more than a century, Rotary Clubs have served their fellow man, addressing challenges in their communities and around the world.
This week, the Jefferson City Evening Rotary Club saw a challenge here in town and found an innovative solution.
As we reported Wednesday, the club generously gave 32 Amazon Fire tablets to eight local nursing facilities to help residents stay in contact with their families and doctors during the pandemic.
The club sought and received a matching grant of $2,500 from Rotary District 6080 to help with the purchases.
Club President Joe Meysrik's father died in July, as the pandemic was peaking. His father's nurses were kind enough to let his father use their personal devices to make FaceTime calls to stay connected with his family. But many people in nursing homes don't have the needed technology to do that, and nursing homes themselves have a limited number of devices.
Heisinger Bluffs, for example, had a few devices, but not nearly enough, said Sarah March, Heisinger's administrator of independent living. "This will allow multiple people to talk to their loved ones at the same time," she said.
So the club saw a need and found a solution. It realized the devices that would allow people to connect virtually with family members, physicians and others - and "make the world a better place," Meysrik said in Wednesday's News Tribune.
Fortunately, local nursing home residents are getting vaccinated. At Heisinger Bluffs, most of its residents have had one or both doses of COVID-19 vaccination.
Some nursing homes are allowing limited visitors now, but the need continues for residents to connect with their families, physicians and others.
We commend the Jefferson City Evening Rotary Club for seeing a need in our community and delivering, literally, a wonderful solution.
News Tribune