Maria has been a Rotarian since 1997. She is a Past-President of Topeka South Rotary, and has actively participated in many service projects including making "How to apply for housing" videos for a Rotary program that helps women coming out of incarceration, traveling to Guatemala to install water filtration systems and cook stoves, and helping with the D5710 cleanup day following the Joplin tornado. Maria is now the D5710 PolioPlus Chair.
Maria's first career was in not-for-profit management, working to help elders stay safely in the home of their choosing. Maria now works in Real Estate Investment and Property Management, primarily in the Topeka housing market.
Maria and her husband, Mike, who is also a Topeka South Rotarian, live in Topeka. Their three adult children and their spouses and four grandsons all live close by. Maria and Mike spend their time enjoying the grandsons, scuba diving, and traveling.
We have several volunteer opportunities coming up! If you need more details about each one, please check out past issues of the E-Spoke.
Festival of Trees - November 19–23 at the Kansas City Holiday Boutique in the Overland Park Convention Center. Sign up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/fot25#/
Holiday Shopping with KidsTLC (Walmart at 15700 Metcalf)December 1, 2025, 4:30-8:30 pm SIGN UP TODAY! Questions? Contact Mark Parman 913.827.7143 or Bill Morton (913.706.2582)
Instrument Cleaning Day on Saturday, November 22nd at Meyer Music Blue Springs (1512 SW Hwy 40, Blue Springs, MO 64015). Volunteers can sign up for one or both shifts here: Instrument Cleaning Day Volunteer Form
STAY TUNED FOR MORE! We are working on a date for volunteers at the Johnson County Christmas Bureau Holiday Shop. We'll need 10 volunteers and will send out a sign up as soon as the date is confirmed.
The Rotary Cares program of the Rotary Club of Overland Park responded to a critical need of the troops and their families stationed at Ft. Leavenworth with a delivery of food and personal hygiene supplies on Friday, November 14. OP Rotarian Mike Meyer had received a call for assistance from his contacts at Ft. Leavenworth since the food pantry supporting the Fort was critically low on inventory at a time when the troops had not been paid for over a month during the government shutdown. Mike worked with the Feed the Children organization to secure a truckload of donated food and supplies to be delivered to a Leavenworth warehouse. The OP Rotary Foundation provided a grant to pay the transportation expense. This delivery will serve about 900 families at Ft. Leavenworth.
Shown below are Rod Cox and Judy Bower with the Association of the US Army organization and Mike Meyer with the Rotary Club of Overland Park.
Save the date: OP Rotary Club will host a Holiday Social on Wednesday, December 3rd from 5:30 to 7:30 PM at the DoubleTree Hotel. Spouses or significant other guests are welcome. Guest charge is $25.00. The Holiday Social will replace our normal breakfast meeting.
