Rotary Club of Westfield Indiana

06/13/2026

This past week, we had Oforka Anslem, University of Buea, Cameroon – Founder & CEO of NGO school initiative in West Africa joined us via Zoom from Cameroon, a coastal West African nation experiencing civil conflict since 2019 between English-speaking and French-speaking regions. The crisis has severely disrupted education, with schools frequently impacted and communities displaced.

He is an IT professional who founded the Center for Youth and Sustainable Development in 2019 in response to the crisis. His organization supports over 300 displaced children through one established school and two temporary learning spaces.

He described children being forced to flee their homes and, at times, relocate learning into forested areas for safety. Communities face extreme hardship including energy poverty, lack of resources, limited access to technology, and disrupted healthcare.

Key challenges highlighted:

Over 1.5 million people requiring humanitarian assistance
Children displaced and living in unsafe conditions
Risk of recruitment into armed groups and forced early marriage
Widespread illiteracy and school dropout rates
Severe lack of access to basic services and digital tools
Program focus areas:

Education access & equity – temporary learning spaces, teacher support, learning materials
Digital livelihood & future skills – preparing youth for employment opportunities
Community resilience – health, hygiene, and sustainable development support
He shared details of the “Back to School” program, which provides school supplies such as bags, books, and shoes each July, helping families unable to safely sell goods or afford materials due to instability. Literacy programming is also in place to rebuild foundational skills and support progression into secondary school.

A strong emphasis is placed on women’s empowerment and hygiene initiatives, which he noted significantly improve attendance and learning outcomes.

Security remains highly unstable. He shared children cannot safely wear uniforms, as they may be targeted. When violence escalates, classes relocate to temporary forest learning spaces. These relocations have occurred multiple times in the past six months and may last up to a week.

He noted that many children served are orphans or from single-parent households. More than 5,000 people have lost their lives in the conflict, with the majority of casualties being men, leaving women and children to carry survival responsibilities.

05/28/2026

05/21/2026

This week, Rotary welcomed George Matta, author of Prisoner of War: North Korea 1951–1953, who shared the extraordinary story of his father, George Matta Sr., and his experiences as a prisoner of war during the Korean War.

George presented a deeply personal and emotional account honoring his father’s service and sacrifice. George Sr. served our country in World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam, earning numerous honors including the Bronze Star, Combat Infantry Badge, and three Purple Hearts.

During World War II, George Sr. fought in the Pacific Theater, including battles in the Philippines and Okinawa. At just 22 years old, he led machine gun crews through brutal combat conditions, clearing minefields and surviving multiple injuries. George also shared artifacts from his father’s service, including a captured Japanese flag and sword.

The presentation focused heavily on George Sr.’s capture during the Korean War in 1951. While traveling north with a convoy through mountainous terrain, his unit was surrounded by Chinese forces. Captured soldiers were forced to march more than 120 miles into North Korea with little food or water. Those unable to continue were executed. Of the 760 men in his unit, only 150 survived the march.

George Sr. was held in POW Camp #5, enduring freezing temperatures, starvation, overcrowded huts, and the daily loss of fellow prisoners. Despite the horrific conditions, prisoners secretly documented the names of fallen soldiers so families could eventually be informed back home.

George shared moving pieces of family history throughout the presentation, including telegrams notifying his mother that her husband was first missing in action and later confirmed as a POW. He also displayed letters exchanged between his parents, many of which were delayed for months and censored by communist officials. His mother wrote nearly every day during his captivity, though only a handful of her more than 800 letters reached him.
One especially meaningful item was the rosary George Sr. carried throughout his imprisonment — the single personal item he was allowed to keep in the camp. George also shared letters from General Mark Clark, senators, and even President John F. Kennedy recognizing his father’s courage and leadership after returning home.

Following his release during Operation Little Switch, George Sr. helped other military families learn the fate of missing loved ones and later testified before the Senate regarding wartime atrocities and the military Code of Conduct established after the war.

George closed the presentation with a powerful reflection from his father:

“I like to think of a man’s uniform as his resume in cloth.”
It was a moving and unforgettable speech honoring the courage, resilience, and sacrifice of America’s veterans.

05/08/2026

Robbie’s Hope Club- Westfield High School

Robbie’s Hope is an international organization dedicated to removing the stigma around mental health in teenagers and cutting teen su***de rates by half by 2028.
For the last three years, Westfield High School’s Robbie’s Hope has brought awareness to teen mental health and raised over $10,000 each year at our annual gala. In addition, we have worked to put on many community-wide events targeted towards mental health and even received a visit from the former First Lady of the United States, Dr. Jill Biden, and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. At the Gala this year, we are excited to have the founders of Robbie’s Hope, Kari
and Jason Eckert, flying in from Colorado to speak at the event. In addition, we will also have two student guest speakers, performers, catering, and a silent auction. All proceeds go to both the international organization and our local club.

Please join the Rotary Club of Westfield and other members of the Westfield Community in supporting this upcoming event on May 16th

05/01/2026

Last week, Ashley Knott, Executive Director of the Westfield Educational Foundation, addressed the Westfield Rotary Club to highlight the Foundation’s important work in the community.
The Foundation’s mission is to empower and invest in students, teachers, and staff by providing scholarships, teacher grants, student support programs, and innovative initiatives that supplement standard district funding.

Knott shared updates on the upcoming school year, noting that new school buildings will open, along with enrollment rebalancing and facility adjustments to accommodate the needs of the district’s rapid growth.

She also announced that the Westfield Educational Foundation is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Over the past four decades, the Foundation has made a significant impact, awarding more than 1,200 scholarships totaling over $1.4 million and providing more than $1 million in teacher grants. The organization supports all nine schools in the Westfield Washington Schools (WWS) district.

Teacher grants help fund essential classroom supplies as well as enriching experiences such as field trips.
For the 2025 graduating class at Westfield High School (WHS), the Foundation awarded $107,400 in scholarships to 69 students—approximately 10% of the class. The 2026 scholarship application period has now closed, and Knott expects 82 scholarships to be awarded this coming May. Primary funding for these scholarships comes from private donors and community-based sources.

04/22/2026

Fred Glass, President and CEO of Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana, shared powerful insights on the growing challenge of food insecurity and the significant impact Gleaners is making across 21 counties in the state with the Rotary Club of Westfield this week..
A former Indianapolis attorney and former Athletic Director at Indiana University, Fred now leads Indiana’s largest food bank. Under his leadership, Gleaners supports more than 300 partner pantries, including 90 school-based sites.

Last year, Gleaners provided 54.3 million meals to families in need. Despite this impressive effort, demand continues to rise. Fred noted that 1 in 7 Americans currently faces food insecurity—the highest rate in more than a decade. Importantly, more than two-thirds of these households include at least one working adult. Hamilton County has experienced one of the fastest increases in food insecurity in the region since the pandemic.

To keep up with growing need, Gleaners now purchases approximately 50% of the food it distributes. The organization also places a strong emphasis on nutrition, with 68% of all distributed items meeting FDA healthy standards. This includes fresh, nutritious foods such as milk, eggs, and produce.

Beyond providing meals, Gleaners helps connect individuals and families with additional critical resources, including healthcare, legal aid, and other essential services. As Fred explained, the goal is not just to “feed the line,” but to “shorten the line” by addressing the root causes of hunger.

Fred pointed to rising housing and grocery costs, stagnant wages, and reduced government support as key drivers of food insecurity. He also highlighted the broader consequences, including poorer health outcomes and academic challenges for children. “This is not a ‘them’ problem—it’s an ‘us’ problem,” he emphasized.
Fred closed by expressing strong support for the Rotary Club’s potential partnership with Westfield High School to establish a new school-based food pantry.

04/19/2026

We meet every Tuesday morning at 7:30am at the Bridgewater Club