The Rotary Club of West Liberty launched a “Stop the Spread” campaign during July, a special initiative of the civic organization under new President Bill Koellner and chairman Deepak Giri.
The goal of the project is to help inform and implement the local and federal guidelines to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Officials said the club has taken two step so far to aid the campaign. First, the club has ordered 500 Masterbrand face masks that will have the Rotary International logo on it up for distribution locally for those in need of a mask.
As of last week, the club had handed out 292 of 500 masks so far to local police and fire/paramedic/EMT first responders in the area as well as elderly and disadvantaged within the community. Officials said the club looks forward to being able to hand out the remaining masks within the next week starting July 20 until they run out, when they plan to order more.
Anyone in need of getting a mask should contact Giri at 319-331-9921.
The second step of the project is the distribution of four-foot by eight-foot signs being put up the week of July 20 around the community so that when someone comes into West Liberty they see “Stop the Spread, Wear a Mask, Rotary Club of West Liberty thanks you.”
Officials of the organization said residents need to step up to help to lead the way in Rotary’s local fight against COVID-19.
The organization said there has been $2,200 in donations and pledges toward the project to date and is hoping to collect as much as $3,000 to create the signs and buy more masks. Anyone in the community interested in making a donation toward the project can do so by contacting Rotary treasurer Jodi Kelly at (319-331-9699 or JodiKelly4372@gmail.com).
Helping those in need
Giri said the third goal in the program is to provide help to anyone in the community who might have to shelter in place because of COVID-19, unable to get out into the community for groceries, phamacuticals or other services.
“Whatever they need, we’ll do our best to help,” said Giri, noting there’s no measure of how many victims of the virus there may be in the community. He said anyone interested in getting assistance should call Giri BP in West Liberty at 627-4121 or his cell phone at 319-331-9921. “We’ll be happy to help them out,” he said.
In other business, the organization’s board approved the application of Rustin Lippincott, the new director of WeLead, the economic development arm of the city. He is a past Rotary member in Fairfield.
The organization meets every Tuesday, now virtually, at 6 p.m. On Aug. 4, the Rotarians will host Joyce Wahba as a speaker, talking about the Iowa Mobile Clinic, which visits West Liberty.