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The Rotary Club of Austin-Southwest is currently meeting virtually and We Welcome You to our meetings! We meet Thursdays at noon except the last Thursday of the month which is a fun 5:30pm zoom social hour. To tune in to our meetings and find out more about our club and service events, please contact Stan Barnes, President for a zoom link.

Planting Trees in Whose Shade We Will Never Sit, But Someone Will

Austin Southwest Rotary held a workday at the Will Hampton Library in Southwest Austin in March. In the past, the Club put in a trailhead, prepared a Learning Tree area for outdoor classes and maintains a gazebo at the Library built by a club member, Ross Baldwin. These projects were initiated as the Club’s Centennial project when Rotary International celebrated its 100^th anniversary sixteen years ago.

The current hands-on project involved planting 20 small trees, preparing flower beds and planting plants, assisting the City of Austin crew who maintains the library grounds. The project culminated with lunch in the gazebo after the planting was finished.

The Will Hampton Library is named after a member of the Austin Southwest Rotary Club who was tragically murdered in a home invasion in South Austin several years ago. The Austin SW Rotary Club and many friends lobbied the Austin City Council to name this library after Will Hampton who was an outstanding South Austin citizen.

“Snow-vid 2021” Food Needs Met with Help of Austin Southwest Rotary

The line of cars usually starts to wind around the block about 30 minutes before the food pantry at El Buen Samaritano opens. The first day the pantry was open after Austin thawed out from the historic storm and the city was again semi-functional, the line of cars carrying families in need of food and water started two hours before opening. It swung around the block and down the street so far that security had to keep a major intersection clear for other traffic.

Austin Southwest Rotary was so happy to have scheduled their workday at El Buen Samaritano food pantry that day. Rotary volunteers did not stop for 3 hours as the carrots, apples, onions, cheese, prepared frozen meals, eggs and dry goods were loaded into bags for the drive through clients. By the end of the morning, nearly twice as many families received food as generally do. The pantry was empty except for a few bags of onions after nearly 300 families were provided with desperately needed food. A weary group of Rotarians and pantry employees high fived each other with smiles as they all left the pantry to get into their cars.