On Friday, Sep 17th, United Way held its annual Norman “Day of Caring”. This special day sends hundreds of volunteers into the Norman community to perform much-needed projects at nonprofit organizations. One of the many participating organizations was Norman Sooner Rotary, which was assigned to work at the Thunderbird Clubhouse.
 
The Thunderbird Clubhouse is a community of individuals in recovery from mental illness. The Clubhouse supports its members by helping them to rediscover their talents, abilities, and
interests. The participants are called “members” since thy take an active role in the operations and policy-making decision for the Clubhouse. With the support of the Clubhouse and its 
members, as the members find jobs, it helps them to improve family relationships, make new friends, find employment, and a place to live.
 
The “Day of Caring” tasks needed at the Clubhouse was extensive. This included major trimming of trees and bushes, due to so much vegetation either being heavily damaged or dying 
from the severe cold this past February.  Another task was to clean and organize a large outside shed. Some individuals stained a gate that was located in the front of a large outside 
trash bin. And lastly, the Clubhouse kitchen was reorganized and put through a deep clean. 
 
Besides 14 participating members from Sooner Rotary, several members from the Thunderbird Clubhouse also joined in and helped with the various jobs. The two organizations 
accomplished an amazing amount of work, and it was fun day for all.  Rotary’s motto is “Service Above Self”. There are 5 Rotary clubs in Norman that meet at different days and times,  
locations, so contact David Imy (dmy1979@gmail.com) if you are interested in joining a Rotary club in Norman or where other clubs exist in Oklahoma.