February | 2016 | A Noble Purpose

Monthly Archives: February 2016

February 15, 2016 · 9:09 pm

How Rotary Clubs Saved A Piece of History

Beginning back in 1924 when first chartered, the Mechanicville Rotary Club took an active leadership role to save the land and work with NYS to create an historic preserve at the site of the Battles of Saratoga, . Through the leadership of men like Mechanicville Mayor George Slingerlands, also Mechanicville Rotary Club president, and Adolph Ochs, publisher of the New York Times and others recognizing the significance of preserving the lands of the crucial Battles of Saratoga, the site was made part of the National Park System in 1938 when authorized by the United States Congress.

The Club archives include letters from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, friend of Slingerlands and Ochs, letters from other dignitaries of the time as well as the Sesquicentennial Dedication and Historical Pageant held on October 8, 1927 – there are many stories of the thousands that visited the Battlefield that day, bumper to bumper traffic on the highways and byways; cars parked all the way down Route 4 to Mechanicville; Governor Alfred E. Smith, Governors from NH, VT and CT attended as well as representatives of Great Britain, France and Poland; hundreds of re-enactors and other performers, with the Club center to all the activity.

The dedication of the George O. Slingerlands Memorial in 1938, another area-wide celebration, was a tribute, not only to Slingerlands but to all the Rotary Clubs in the area who supported the project – financially tens of thousands of dollars were raised to buy the land.

Ably assisted by the Rotary Clubs of Ballston Spa, Granville, Saratoga, Albany and other Rotary Club’s in the area, the story to save these historic lands is a gem in the history of the United States and in Rotary International as well.

For more about the Saratoga Battlefield please click here to read more.

Changing Lives

This is an inspiring video – where someone’s passion became a way of life and changed the lives of many others. I would love to meet Veronika Scott, CEO of the Empowerment Plan, a young woman with great compassion and the understanding that empowerment and sustainability are the foundation to solving humankind needs.

The Empowerment Plan’s mission is to educate, employee and empower homeless people so they can provide for their families while producing a product for those in need. From GED and post HS education, to employee training, daycare scholarships, tools like computers, sewing toolboxes and sewing machines, employees can gain back independence, secure housing and, once again, take care of their families.

By now you must be wondering what do The Empowerment Plan employees produce. It’s called the EMPWR Coat, a coat that transforms into a sleeping bag. Click here to read more about this amazing coat, how it is made and the Empowerment Plan’s mission to produce 6.500 of these coats this year for the United States and Canada. To date twenty-nine states and three provinces have benefitted.