Waterloo Rotary Club

03/16/2026

Good chilly morning, Rotarians! We WILL MEET TODAY at noon at the Waterloo Convention Center.

Please join us if you feel safe doing so - our speaker from the Salvation Army (and fellow Rotarian) Zac Zumwalt has confirmed he will brave the winds to be with us.

Travel safe!

  Capt. Zac Zumwalt serves as the Corps Officer for The Salvation Army in Waterloo, Iowa, alongside his wife, Capt. Karissa Zumwalt. Originally from Kansas City,  Zac has worked with The Salvation Army throughout the Midwest since 2014 in Chicago, Kansas City, Watertown SD, and Sioux City, IA. W...

03/03/2026

Rotary District 5970 Governor Ward Budweg joined us for lunch March 2nd and encouraged our members to "find their replacement"...in other words, bring new members into our club and transfer our shared wisdom and love for service. Two of our longest-serving Rotarians, Gene Leonhardt (51 years) and Frank Seng (52 years) were honored alongside our newest member Kristi Brown (32 days). Each was given the choice of a lottery ticket or a one dollar bill; Frank chose the sure-thing, while Gene and Kristi chose the potential for instant riches. Gene's ticket was a dud, while Kristi won DOUBLE what Frank walked away with!

Governor Budweg shared stories from his trip to Nicaragua alongside our past presidents Steve Thorpe and Dave Buck as part of our Shoebox Project, as well as circumnavigating the globe on bikes with his wife. Ward donated a copy of their book to the Waterloo Public Library - The World at 10 MPH (available from Amazon -or- free with a $20 autograph directly from Ward).

02/25/2026

WATERLOO ROTARY CLUB FEATURED ON THE NEWS...
Waterloo's Ward 2 special election: Polls open until 8 p.m.

Link:
https://www.kwwl.com/news/waterloos-ward-2-special-election-polls-open

Voters in Waterloo are heading to the polls today for a special election to fill a vacancy on the City Council.

11/10/2025

Congratulations to Allyson Landers from West High - she is our 2025 Most Valuable Volleyball Player!

Since 1936 the Waterloo Rotary Club has enjoyed the honor each year to celebrate outstanding performance by high school athletes in the city of Waterloo and surrounding areas. Area volleyball coaches choose their MVP's and then by ballot of all the coaches award the trophy for overall Most Valuable volleyball player. The winner is entitled to display the trophy at her school for the next twelve months.

https://waterloorotary.org/sitepage/high-school-volleyball-honors

08/29/2025

The Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa is offering a $1,000 matching grant for Operation Warm and we need YOUR HELP spreading the word! Download the flyer and post it at your office or business to encourage the community to support this amazing and much-needed program to keep kids warm this winter!

https://waterloorotary.org/

The Waterloo Rotary Club’s Operation Warm program brings warmth and comfort to children in our community by providing brand-new winter coats to those who need them most. This program, in partnership with the Waterloo Community School District, not only provides students with the necessary gear for Iowa winters, but helps instill a sense of confidence and belonging — and puts on a smile on a child’s face. Every $20 gift provides a coat for a child who needs it in the Waterloo Community School District. Thanks to the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa, we are able to match gifts, up to $1,000, doubling your impact. Together, we can keep kids warm and help them face winter weather with the essentials they deserve.

Gifts to the Waterloo Rotary: Operation Warm Fund are tax deductible as allowed by law and you will receive an acknowledgment of your gift from CFNEIA, an accredited local nonprofit community foundation. Learn more about this fund by contacting the Community Foundation at 319-287-9106

https://waterloorotary.org/
https://www.cfneia.org/donations/waterloo-rotary-operation-warm/

03/10/2025

We had a great time today connecting with each other as we practiced the Rotary motto - Service Above Self. We encourage all organizations in our community to set up an hour or more to meet at the Northeast Iowa Food Bank and help get food where it's needed most!

We Champion Volunteers: In Fiscal Year 2024, 13,338 volunteers dedicated 30,907 hours to support NEIFB’s mission of fighting hunger. Thank you to the Waterloo Rotary Club members who joined us today to help assemble meals for those we serve. We are incredibly grateful. Our work wouldn’t be possible without our dedicated volunteers! THANK YOU!

11/11/2024

JUST $400 LEFT TO RAISE - Our club is so close to raising all the funds needed to provide warm coats for kids in 6 Waterloo elementary schools - can you help us over the finish line? If you haven’t already donated please consider donating now to our Operation Warm project. Or if you have donated please consider making an additional donation. Donations can be brought to the club meeting today (November 11), or made through the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa’s website.

https://www.cfneia.org/giving/find-a-fund/17-k

First-grader Tyshon Harris has help from David Buck Nov 21 2011 MATTHEW PUTNEY Courier Photo Editor

09/21/2024

We are pleased to invite local, county and state candidates from all parties to our Club this fall! State Senator Eric Giddens joined us last week!

07/30/2024

Great to have Katy Susong - CEO of Grow Cedar Valley - speak today to our club on economic development and more! Katy Susong

07/03/2024

As we celebrate our country's independence this week, remember our veterans played a major role across the globe securing freedoms for OTHER countries. Check out this great article by Pat Kinney about our longest-serving member Hovey Brom!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/rK7BiK3SBZEg2QFY/

Today on the blog, Czech historian interviews Iowa WWII vets at the Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum.

"Hovey Brom has never returned to Pilsen since helping to liberate it in World War II. But he left a key to his heart in that city in the Czech Republic.

A young Czech historian brought that “key” back to Brom this week - and unlocked a flood of emotion for the retired Waterloo architect.

”There’s no way to adequately describe getting into Pilsen,” Brom, who’ll turn 99 Nov. 5, told Kluc. “That remains in my head. And I…” He paused, his voice breaking.

”It’s hard to talk about it, because it’s, such joy,” Brom said.

Kluc, a doctoral candidate at Charles University in Prague who has family in Pilsen, said. “Thank you for liberating my country.”

Read the blog in its entirety: https://www.groutmuseumdistrict.org/about/news/czech-historian-interviews-iowa-wwii-vets.aspx

04/23/2024

News Coverage of March 25 Rotary

Click here to view this video from kwwl.com.