From Rum to Sanitizer, Rotary Club Lends a Hand, April 27

Local Rotarians team with Stillwagon Distillery to keep frontline workers safe from COVID. Coos Bay, OR – Rotary is where neighbors, friends, and problem-solvers share ideas, join leaders, and take action to create lasting change. The Coos Bay-North Bend Rotary Club is putting their money where their mouth is during this time of COVID-19. When word quickly reached some local health care professionals in that Rotary club, that area businessman Rick Stillwagon had partnered with the Southern Oregon Workforce Investment Board to shift from producing Rum to churning out hand sanitizer, the first thought was, ‘how can we help?’. Soon, a major effort to get more hand sanitizer from the recently certified maker of the safety product to local Coos County first responders and frontline health care workers was conceived and kicked into gear. The Coos Bay-North Bend Rotary Club has now contributed at least $10,000 in funds and goods, including labels that are being contributed by Rotarian Alan Ledesma. “Rotarians are people of action,” said Coos Bay-North Bend Rotary Club board member Steve Schneiderman. “When we see a need, we have a lot of talented leaders among our members who can quickly assess a situation and inform the rest of the club of what needs to be done.” He adds that this is a perfect example of a club living the Rotary motto – “Service Above Self.” This time doing it to support those medical and emergency responders that do so much to keep their local community safe. If anyone has any questions, please contact Steve Schneiderman at Scneiderman@live.com.