For the City Times

Saturday March 5th Rotary of Greater Portage County and Wisconsin Nicaragua Partners will be holding a fundraiser at Mikey’s Neighborhood Bar and Grill 3018 Village Park Drive, in Plover from 11:00 a.m. until midnight.

Mike Masgay, owner of Mikey’s Bar and Grill has been a supporter of the Morning Rotary Group for several years and has annually held a fundraiser day to support Rotary of Greater Portage County(RGPC).

This year RGPC and the Wisconsin Nicaragua Partners (WNP) are joining together to raise funds for a Fire Tanker Truck that will be sent to the Stevens Point Partner City of Estelí, Nicaragua.

Christmas of 2015 a fire broke out at a local factory in Estelí that destroyed the building and put dozens of people out of work. The lack of a source of water to fight the fire was cited as a major reason why the fire burned out of control. WNP has identified the purchase of a fire tanker truck as a necessary improvement to the fire department of Estelí.

Masgay is donating 15 percent of all profits from everything purchased at the restaurant to RGPC. Rotary of Greater Portage County is then supplementing the proceeds with a matching grant for $2500.

A fire tanker truck from the Pine Grove Fire Department will be on display at the restaurant for the day. This is the type of truck that the fire department of Estelí has stated would have helped them to the save the factory from burning down. The truck on display is available for purchase and is on loan for the day from the Pine Grove Fire Department.

One of the missions of Rotary International, is to work with Rotary clubs around the world to provide service to others, to promote high ethical standards, and to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace. Most recently The Morning Rotary Group has worked several clubs in this region to elevate living standards in Kenya by bringing cisterns and fast growing hardwood trees to an arid part of the country. The Rotary Club of Esteli will be involved in receiving the vehicle from the WNP when one is purchased.

Among its many activities to benefit the Stevens Point/Plover area, the RGPC has operated the Toys for Tots drive for the last eight years, regularly serves meals at Place of Peace, and supports the UWSP food pantry with food drives. Last year RGPC joined with the Children’s Playhouse Theater at the annual Mikey’s fundraiser and raised nearly $5000 to help the Children’s Theater group purchase portable microphone packs currently used in their productions.

For further information, contact Trish Baker, President of Rotary of Greater Portage County, at 715-342-6986.

Amy Wiza is the Executive Director for Wisconsin Nicaragua Partners and will be available on Saturday, March 5th at Mikey’s.