Stories

• If you have season tickets to any of the following for a date that you will not be able to use, they would make great auction items!
  • Game Tickets (Rockies, Broncos, WY Cowboys)
  • Civic Center Show tickets
  • Candlelight Dinner Theater tickets
• Trips – do you have airline miles that you are not going to be able to use?  Sometimes you can purchase tickets for other people using your miles and we could turn them into a vacation package.
  • Time Shares have been auctioned off in the past
• Fishing Trip?  Do you know of an outfitter that would be willing to donate a trip OR provide one to us for a reduced cost?  We could auction it off with the idea that if it does not reach a specific $ amount, we won’t sell it.
• Frontier Day Tickets?  Do you know someone on the committee who may be willing to give us tickets to auction off?
• Spa Basket (anyone know a masseuse?)
• Booze Basket
• Tools

Texas is marked with 121 markers, Oklahoma - 60, Kansas - 14, Nebraska - 30, South Dakota - 6, etc., etc.

 

This isn't a matter of just raising funds for the marker(s). If you can believe the map, the trail passes just north of Cheyenne. Once "exact" location(s) are established and permission(s) granted, the project would entail sourcing the marker mold(s), pouring the concrete into the mold, let it cure a month, paint it, install the marker(s) and work the logistics of hosting either a formal dedication or a quieter ceremony."

 

Maybe a good project to partner with the Cheyenne noon club or another Wyoming or Nebraska Rotary Club?

 

Another project is probably the last thing your presidency needs Roxanne but I couldn't help but bring this to your attention and included Jerry in this email as I thought he might find this interesting as well. At the very least, the article itself is a good read! The article includes lots of contact resources, that, if there is any interest, I'd be willing to research, make some contacts, etc. 

 

Happy Holidays to each of you and Sunrise Rotary members.

Established on September 11, 2003, this club of about 29 members is a powerhouse of humanitarian service to the City of Cheyenne. President Roxanne Ostlund is an enthusiastic and positive leader who gets things done. During our visit, we learned the club raises funds with an annual auction and raffle. Some of the club activities and projects include Thankful Thursday, a program for high school students that do not have a place to live, reading to children, a Chile Bingo night, an Adaptive Dance for disabled adults and special needs children, a golf tournament and Giving from the Heart program that benefits those in need. 

In keeping with Rotary’s goal to in- crease humanitarian service, this club has adopted an elementary school in Cheyenne and will provide a multitude of help and support to the students and staff. As a contribution to our Polio Plus goal, the club not only gave generously from each member present, but acted during the meeting to donate proceeds from its weekly “pineapple fund” to the Polio Plus effort. 

Following the meeting, I met with board members President Roxanne Ostlund, Past President Brenda Laird, Foundation Chair Kevin Guille, Service Chair Larry Catalano, Past President & Club News Chair Phil Noble, Past President & Club Foundation Chair Earl King and Secretary Kathy Alexander. I was impressed with the range of service and giving this club makes to its community. Thank you, Rotary Club of Cheyenne, Sunrise, President Roxanne Ostlund, and all your members for helping to make Rotary a highly respected presence in your community.

Sunrise Rotary Club wrapped up their "Keep Cheyenne Healthy" campaign and fundraiser Oct. 20 by giving one last flu shot to an employee at Halladay Motors.  A big thank you to Doc Gondalia and his team of nurses who went around to local businesses and gave flu shots.  Over 200 flu shots were given and we are pleased to report there were no tears.  Proceeds from the campaign will go to our Polio Plus commitment and the Sunrise Rotary Foundation for continued help as needed locally and internationally.  We would also like to thank our local businesses that participated and provided their staff with an opportunity to have a flu shot and stay healthy.

We are a mighty club that is healthy and well!

By Fely R De Leon, past president Rotary Club of Hundred Islands, Pangasinan, Philippines

When I became president of my club, I shared a dream with some of the officers that the club could have a hundred members. But how? We had only 31 as of 1 July, 2016.

I faced challenges on two fronts. I had to make every meeting lively and enjoyable. And I had to make ours the club of choice for those who were looking for a worthy organization to join.

On the first front, I had to restructure our meetings from the usual drab, formal discussions to a fellowship where a member could really feel “at home.” Even new members could, in a relaxed manner, contribute to the free flow of ideas. Everyone was encouraged to present opinions on every issue. I gave responsibilities to every member, and even assigned project chairmanships to new ones. I tapped the expertise of the past presidents who gladly became advisers and confidantes.

Fellowship parties
Soon, the members started to feel the camaraderie and enjoyment of being a Rotarian. The last meeting of the month became our fellowship parties, hosted by the birthday celebrators for that particular month. Themes were selected and food and drinks were abundant. These fellowship parties became much-anticipated affairs, boosting morale for everyone.

As a result, it became easy for us to embark on big projects. We even partnered with the local government and other organizations on a lot of projects. Even Lions International became an ally.

I made sure that this change of strategy and the renewed vigor that followed were communicated to the public and even among clubs and Rotarians in District 3790 by way of social media and the local paper, as well as banners and streamers announcing our projects. I also made sure that public image was given much emphasis.

Recruitment
Attacking the second front had now become easier with the favourable image we had created from the first. It became a  natural task of each Rotarian to attract other members. More than twenty of our members brought in friends who also became motivated members.

We may not have achieved our goal of a hundred members. But we ended up with 80, making our club the biggest in our district.

One of the proudest moments in my life was becoming a Rotarian. I have been one since 2004. The lives our small club has touched which includes local, regional and international is amazing. Sunrise Rotary Club makes a difference.....daily.

We are lucky to have been chosen as one of the participants in the Thankful Thursday's fundraising evenings. It will be on September 21, 2017 at AmVets. We will have fun, drinks and lots of baskets to start your Christmas shopping early. Mark your calendars and join us.

Wyoming Health Department Director Tom Forslund says the central question about health care in the U.S. is whether it is a “right of citizenship or a privilege of wealth. He told the Cheyenne Sunrise Rotary Club June 13 systems “across the world” have determined it is basic right of citizenship.

    Of his department’s over one billion dollar budget, the largest in state government, the biggest chunk is for the Medicaid program, which he said people often think of as being for the poor. Actually, he said, “the number one cost of Medicaid services is support for the developmentally disabled, and next is nursing homes. The perception is out there that it’s just for a bunch of bums who just need to go out and get a job, but that’s not true,” Forslund said.

Outgoing Cheyenne Sunrise Rotary Club President Brenda Laird, who served one year then stepped back in when Milward Simpson unexpectedly took a job in Lander, says outgoing Assistant District Governor Billie Addleman, PP of the Rotary Club of Cheyenne, “rocked our world” with his assistance to our club, in donating to various causes our club supported, and by just being present a lot of the time at club meetings. Billie, in fact, had a better attendance at our club meetings than some of our members.

   Billie, though, says the credit belongs to Brenda Laird. Our outgoing president, he says, is one of 15 club presidents he oversaw in his job for the Rotary District, and is the best of them all. “She’s held in high regard all across the district, and has been asked to speak several times on ‘How to Run A Rotary Club’,” Billie said.

   Billie’s comments drew applause from all the members present, acknowledging the incredible job done by our outgoing president.

Just-retired Lt. Mark Munari of the Cheyenne Police Department has overseen the construction of the new Cheyenne Public Safety Center, a three-story, almost 100-thousand square foot facility in downtown Cheyenne, for several years now, from the planning phase over 7 years ago to its eventual completion last year.

Now retired, he was re-hired by the Police Chief to keep overseeing the building, which houses all Cheyenne Police Department and county dispatch operations, Cheyenne Fire and Rescue administration and the city’s Emergency Operations Center. He gave several CSR members an incredibly-informative tour on May 23.

The building, which once housed a succession of Cheyenne auto dealers, features exposed metal beams and brick pillars from the original 1920s structure, walls decorated with reclaimed wood, state-of-the-art technology and ergonomic workspaces.

The building also has a lot of unfinished space set aside for future growth.

Munari emphasized they are excited about the efficient layout of the new building compared to the old location on Capitol Avenue.

Many people would be extremely nervous that hundreds of thousands of visitors are about to show up on your doorstep in a couple of months, but Wyoming State Parks Administrator Domenic Bravo seems to be taking it in stride. The once-in-a-lifetime eclipse August 17th will sweep across our state on a path from the west just north of Jackson, exiting the state just east of Guernsey. 

   Bravo told the Cheyenne Sunrise Rotary Club May 9th several state parks are in the path of the eclipse including Guernsey state park about an hour and a half north of Cheyenne. Campsites in the park have been reserved for some time, he said, but they will try to accommodate "day visitors" as there is space.

   Bravo also outlined other events his agency is working on, including an outdoor recreation team that is working on many ideas relating to recreation in Wyoming that they are to present soon to Governor Mead. You can take a survey to give input at www.wyoparks.org. He also outlined plans for a bike race later this month at Curt Gowdy State Park west of Cheyenne.

   Bravo has headed Wyoming’s state parks for about ten years, and said the budget challenges keep increasing each year. He encouraged people to talk to their representatives about the importance of our parks and creative ways to fund them.

(SHORTGO): Hoops (basketball) squads from Laramie County Community College (LCCC) will be on the court Wednesday, Feb. 22 battling Northeastern Junior College in Cheyenne, but a bigger battle will be fought off the court using proceeds from the contest.

The LCCC women begin the night's festivities with a 5 p.m. tip-off against Northeastern. LCCC's women are currently 8-16 this season, while Northeastern comes into the contest with a 7-17 mark. At 7 p.m. the LCCC men's basketball team (18-9 this season) hosts the 14-12 Northeastern Plainsmen.

Feb. 22 is End Polio Night at LCCC with ticket sales from the game being donated to Rotary International's End Polio Now campaign. Tickets for the game are just $5 for adults, and $3 for seniors. At halftime of the game LCCC’s Athletic Director, Scott Noble, will present a check from the evening's gate to the three Cheyenne Rotary Club Presidents.

Rotary, along with its partners, has reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent worldwide since our first project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in 1979. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has agreed to match 2 dollars for every new dollar Rotary commits to polio eradication up to $35 million per year through 2018.

Rotary is a global humanitarian organization with more than 1.2 million members in 34,000 Rotary clubs in over 200 countries and geographical areas. Rotary members are men and women who are business, professional and community leaders with a shared commitment to make the world a better place through humanitarian service. Rotary’s top priority is the global eradication of polio.

To learn more about polio eradication, including how to participate in this historic effort, visit www.rotary.org/endpolio.

"I have done alternating menus through August!  Alternating between scrambled eggs and ham, biscuits and gravy, and two eggs, bacon, hash browns," says Kellie Moser, 

Executive Meetings Manager, Little America

We have a new member...Jaime Davis, Executive Director at College America, Cheyenne Campus. Brenda will ask her for a bio tomorrow and will take a few minutes at Breakfast at Brenda's to do a formal hello.

Our new District Governor for 2018/19 will be Chris Woodward from the Greeley Club.

We will join the noon club for lunch on the 15th of February for a Valentine Lunch.  Spouses invited.  The club will pay member but the spouse is $12.50.

Brenda is attending the Rotary Membership Conference at LCCC and will report back to the club.

Next week will be Breakfast at Brenda's and the focus will be survey results and speaker/service conversation.

• Began weekly president's message - connected more members with what's going on in the club...
• Began diverse projects like "blankets for holly" (foster children) - had beer and Chinese food...a social and giving project.
• Friday Food Bag stuffing - several members participated and enjoyed drinks and dinner at Uncle Charlie's afterwards for a social.
• VA Hospital visit - took cookies - encouraged members to bring kids/spouses
• Pink Pig Project: all club members took one and filled with change (one member had giant pig from earlier w/$300+) -money going to homeless high school students.
• Flu Shot Project - Dr. Gondalia and his staff give shots and donate - have raised $48,000 over the last ten years. No commitment from club members - Doc and his staff do it all.
• Breakfast at Brenda's: drew names and had winner designate where $100 should go (one of the club's designated charities)
• Giving from the Heart - "Pay It Forward" project - members doubled $20 given by club and went out and gave something to others - engaged members in personal giving - Doc gave a client $40 to quit smoking (and she did) ... Kevin Guille was at a gas station and paid for a woman's gas...Kathy bought a homeless person a meal...Brenda gave to a family who had just suffered a great personal loss.
• Social Media - boosted our golf tournament last year by doing an ad that cost $130 and attracted four new teams (worth $1300 or so to club's projects) 
• Celebrations: Announcing birthdays, anniversaries, news of members. Engages new members by telling them more about older members.
• Guest President: brought in presidents of Noon Club and Evening Club to our club, which exposes members to the other clubs so they can do make ups or just socialize. Brenda went to the Noon Club and sang a new song she'd just heard, creating much laughter.
• Thanking Speakers: Brenda writes a hand written thank you note, plus we give a children's book to one of our school libraries in their name.
• Have fun at meetings! -Rotary is business and should be fun, like putting on white hats at Doc's honoring meeting.
• Produce For Vets - delivering excess produce from the Farmer's Market to the Veteran's Administration Hospital for veterans who need it.
• Don't Sweat The Small Stuff: Some people in your club will complain about various things and though you have to pay attention to concerns, you have to take responsibility for your own actions. We lost a member over Little America not serving quickly enough, so Brenda addressed that.
• Don't be afraid to share! We should all share what's going on in our lives, and that's what keeps us coming back to Rotary meetings. "Where Everyone Knows Your Name"
• Corporate Memberships: sharing of memberships. 
• And, she ended with this old maxim: "You need to thank people three times before they feel like they've been properly thanked."

Membership development

Recruitment strategies

Sunrise Rotary member Jason Johnson, an attorney, was recently profiled in the "Wyoming Lawyer" magazine. In the article, he said, "I volunteer at the Cheyenne Sunrise Rotary Club. I believe in the causes the club promotes, and I enjoy being around the club members who are wonderful and caring people." Here's a condensed version of the article;

What a great day to be a Cheyenne Sunrise Rotarian.

We had a wonderful fun filled meeting this a.m.  Lynn Birleffi was in the house giving a presentation on the past and present history of Wyoming tourism.  We are so blessed to have such great presenters that live right here in Cheyenne.  Lynn is married to our very own Phil Noble. Thank you Lynn.

Additionally we had Kacee Hansen from Rotaract talk about their shelter project event this week-end.  I encourage you to stop down at the Depot Plaza on Friday night after 5 p.m. or before 5 p.m. Saturday to cheer their sleep out on for a worthy cause.  Go down and support them...donations are also welcome and appreciated.  I remember the story of George McIlvaine and Assistant District Governor Billie Addleman doing this with Rotaract, sleeping out on a chilly night right on the sidewalk.  There may have been a call to Brandi for a care package delivery.  Ask Billie to tell you the story.  It is a smile and giggle waiting to happen.

Several members brought books for the Challenge Program in Guernsey.  Thank you, we had about 30 books. They have been dropped off at Jim's office for delivery.

The golf committee met yesterday.  Excitement is building for the tournament coming up on June 24.  Get involved in helping.  It  is our second fund raiser of the year.  We NEED everyone's help to make it a success.  The proceeds go to help fund our scholarship at LCCC for a male and female student, help with funding Foster Grandparent's, support Rotaract and help build a strong Sunrise Rotary Foundation.  Ask a business to sponsor a hole or gather a team to golf.  HELP is needed.  

No meeting May 17th.  Rotarian's are urged to attend the Back a Kid's Breakfast to support the local Boys and Girls Club right down the hall from our regular meeting room at the same time.

Finally - remember to go out and support the community this week through giving.  Many opportunities exist - May 13th - Day of Giving at the Kiwanis Community House, May 14th - Post Office food drive for local shelters and pantries.  May 13th - May 14th - Rotaract Shelter in Place Sleep Out - Depot Plaza Center.  Wear your Rotary pin and show that we support all organizations and make a difference together.

Have a great week.  

Our goal this year was to immerse our club into the Cheyenne community and offer our hands through service.  We have collected blankets and pillows for the homeless, stuffed food bags, awarded two scholarships to local students, honored our veterans, administered flu shots, raised money to aid homeless high school students and "paid it forward" with random acts of kindness throughout the community.  

The club business meeting Feb. 8 was one of the best we have had this year!  We accomplished something that has been weighing on our minds for a long time and that would be WE VOTED ON AND PASSED OUR BY-LAWS - CLUB AND FOUNDATION!!!   I want to personally thank each member that had a part in getting this accomplished.  Between the club and foundation - many hours were spent on research, discussion, reading, rewriting and reading one last time.  It was truly and entire club effort.  Thank you!  We move forward on solid ground with a bright future.  This President cheers and applauds each of you.

This year Sunrise Rotary Club will be sponsoring 4 Junior RYLA participants.  I was blessed to go with our friend, George McIlvaine, several years ago to witness for myself the change that happens when our youth get together and become leaders against issues like bullying.  They are stepping out of RYLA with the sense that the future is theirs to capture and make strong.  Financially for a small club, 4 sponsorship is hard to cover but we have a goal and we will make it happen.  Again, entire club effort on this one.  Donations every week in the giving basket is what is making this goal obtainable.

We kicked off our "Giving from the Heart" month by handing out giving envelopes.  We encourage all club members to do a random act of kindness during the month of February.  If you missed the meeting this a.m. be sure to come next week and get your envelope.  We look forward to the stories in coming weeks of how you, as a Rotarian, you became a "Gift to the World!"

We have received information on the District Conference in Jackson, May 19-21 at the Jackson Lake Lodge.  It looks like it will be a wonderful time and filled with great break out sessions.  If you can, please plan to attend you won't be sorry.

The Noon Club is having the 2nd Annual Ice Melt challenge.  Our club will get a portion back of all tickets. The link is on our home page of our website.

This President is in her 8 month of leading this amazing club.  I look back from the beginning to now and I see many things I would have done different but I also see a club that has engaged and is working as a team to make this the best club yet.  I thank you and I appreciate all that each of you do to make a difference.  

Quote for the week - "The purpose of life is not to be happy.  It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well."  Ralph Waldo Emerson

CSR member Tom Muhlbach says he “does it for the kids,” and has traveled to Nicaragua six different times on well-drilling projects. He described the most recent of those trips to his fellow members at a meeting Nov. 3.

The heat was perhaps the most challenging aspect of the trip, he said, with temperatures often 100 or above with high humidity, something quite foreign to Wyomingites. But, when the well is finished and pumping clean water for a village full of kids, that’s when you know it’s worth it, he said.

Muhlbach’s church, First Presbyterian of Cheyenne, puts up the money for the trip, which can run about $27,000 total. 11 people went on the latest trip and stay for about a week while the project is conducted. They use an international water project group to find out where the need for such wells is greatest.

Before the well was drilled, children and adults in the area often drank from contaminated wells which had been polluted by animal waste, creating health problems for the local populace.

Muhlbach says he’d like to see CSR become involved in a similar water project, something President Brenda Laird said she would work toward making a reality, perhaps partnering with a club like Laramie Sunrise and getting grants from Rotary District 5440.

Our newest member is retired after working for 34 years as a Meteorologist for the National Weather Service. Mike Weiland says he has “two great kids” and enjoys traveling to visit them. 

Like most Rotarians, he is involved in the Cheyenne community, serving on the board of the Cheyenne Greenway Foundation and volunteering for Cheyenne Frontier Days. In the past he was active with youth sports, mentoring for Special Friends and Parent-Teacher organizations, among others.

Mike says he likes to play tennis, travel and bike. Please help us welcome Mike to Sunrise Rotary!

NPR--After the Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage, much was made of how quickly the gay rights movement gained recognition. But maybe not quickly enough for some.

I thought back to just 25 years ago, when the response to the AIDS epidemic was so slow – largely because it primarily affected gay men – and how a Rotary Club stepped up to fill the vacuum.

It’s a story that unfolded in the town of Los Altos, California, in the documentary “The Los Altos Story.” (more at): https://hereandnow.wbur.org/2015/07/09/los-altos-rotary-aids-project 

   Roxanne received her B.S. and MBA from the University of Wyoming with additional tax studies at the University of California-Berkeley. She is completing doctoral studies at Northcentral University. She is Past President of the Cheyenne Sunrise Rotary Club."

d

• $7.1 Million from the business community
• $2.1 Million from City and County Government
• $5.9 Million from private donations (P&P - Progress and Prosperity)

• Athletic Shoes
• Work Shoes/Boots

"Organizations, individuals, and clubs around the city sponsor holes and this year we had 70 golfers!" - Brenda Laird

(from the Wyoming Tribune=Eagle, Sept. 6, 2014--by W.M. Stalcup)--Five members of Cheyenne Sunrise Rotary recently presented a $3,300 check to Paula Egan-Wright for the Kay Leslie Orphanage and School in Haiti.

Egan-Wright, who teaches French at Cheyenne's East High, founded the orphanage and school after an earthquake in january 2010. It was named after her mother, Leslie Egan, a music teacher and lover of children, who died in 2011 and whose bequest made it possible for the school to start.

Today, Egan-Wright sends funds to support Kay Leslie monthly and raises this money by selling original watercolors, participating in silent auctions and dinners, and delivering Wyoming Tribune-Eagle newspapers via a delivery route.

The Sunrise Rotary Club originally focused on the need for a consistent quality water source at the orphanage, but because of its location not being permanent, turned to other needs. The club later decided to fund beds for the children after learning half did not have quality beds, thus the gift of mattresses, materials and labor to construct 20 beds.

Pictured are club members Tim Joannides, Jerry Crader, Brian Ellers, Andy Miller and W.M. Stalcup with Egan-Wright holding the check in the middle.

Local Doctor receives new award from Sunrise Rotary

(Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, Saturday, May 10, 2014)

The honor is meant to recognize locals who make exceptional contributions to the community and will be given out each quarter.

by James Chilton, jchilton@wyomingnews.com

CHEYENNE--On Friday, local allergist Dr. Lakhman Gondalia was named the first recipient of a new award being given by the Cheyenne Sunrise Rotary Club.

Gondalia was presented with the Outstanding Community Member Award at his clinic on Yellowstone Road by Sunrise Rotary President Andy Miller.

Miller said the award was in recognition of Gondalia’s work in organizing local flu clinics over the past decade, as well as for raising more than $33,500 to help in Rotary’s mission to battle polio.

“A lot of money for the (flu shot) vials has been either raised through the club or donated through the clinic,” Miller said. “And then he will go out and do vaccinations on site at different businesses in town. The money raised through those vaccinations is then put toward our polio effort.”

Gondalia also raised money to build a school in India, and was able to obtain a matching grant through Rotary to fund a library at the school.

Miller noted that while the Outstanding Community Member Award isn’t meant for just Rotarians. Gondalia has been a member since 1991 and joined the Sunrise Rotary Club when it was formed in 2002.

Miller said the Sunrise Rotary board came up with the award this year as a means of recognizing locals who make exceptional contributions to the community. He said the club plans to give the award out each quarter.

Gondalia himself had only a short time to appreciate the award Friday, busy as he was with his patients.

When asked what the award meant to him, the doctor joked, “More work.”

==========================

"My rotary moment involves my wife and me going to Florida earlier this year with our little dog. We were in our first day in our rented condo when the manager knocked on the door, telling us we couldn't keep our dog there. They later relented, but I thought I’d look around for another place. Where better than Rotary. The Destin rotary club meets the same time and day as our club, just a little later in the morning--7:15. I met a lady  realtor who invited us to one of their fundraisers, a crawfish boil, much like our milk can dinners, and later found us a much better condo, which we will begin renting at the end of this week.
--My wife has a quick rotary moment as well. When she was traveling after college--she spent a year as a Fulbright scholar in India--she was seated on a plane next to a man who was wearing a rotary pin. She told him her father was a Rotarian, which eventually led to Lynn and her traveling companion, another female student, visiting the man's home and even going water skiing with his family. It's a small rotary world, but one which connects you to every country on this globe.

The hot new thing in higher education is online, open to everyone — and free, Club Member Dr. Jim Rose, Director of Wyoming's Community College Commission, told the club Oct. 8.

They’re called MOOCs, which is short for “massive open online course.” (It’s pronounced “mook” and rhymes with “Duke.”) According to an article in an online newspaper; "These online courses are taught by top professors at some of the world’s best-known universities. Millions of people with the desire to learn have logged into a MOOC.

A MOOC is a lot like a college class, and there’s a MOOC in just about every subject.

An instructor — usually a college professor but sometimes not — lectures and gives tests and class assignments. The difference here is that the lectures are on video, all class work is done online, and students discuss class topics on online forums. Some MOOCs use students to grade other students’ work; other MOOCs grade quizzes automatically or don’t give grades at all.

MOOCs usually run between four and 12 weeks. Some start and stop on a fixed schedule, while others are self-paced.

Students who pass a MOOC might get a certificate that says they completed the course.

Students don’t need to apply to take a MOOC. All they need is a computer, an Internet connection, some free time and a desire to learn.

The players

Two computer science professors at Stanford University founded Coursera(www.coursera.org) in 2012. In just over a year, the catalog of the for-profit company has grown to more than 450 courses, 91 U.S. and international university partners, and 4 million students worldwide.

Udacity (www.udacity.com) grew out of a course that two Stanford University professors put online in 2011. (“Introduction to Artificial Intelligence” attracted 160,000 students from more than 190 countries.) This for-profit company offers 28 courses, mostly in computer science and mathematics.

Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology launched EdX(www.edx.org) in 2012. This not-for-profit venture offers 75 courses from 29 high-profile American and international universities.

Hedge fund manager (and MIT graduate) Salman Khan launched Khan Academy(www.khanacademy.org) in 2008 after posting YouTube math tutorials online to help his niece and other family members. The not-for-profit now has more than 4,800 short instructional videos online, most of them narrated by Khan. The company claims 6 million unique users per month and said it has delivered more than 300 million lessons.

The cost

Most MOOCs are free. A few charge for selected courses. Coursera students can pay up to $90 to get a certificate saying they completed a course.

Because they don’t charge tuition, most MOOC providers are surviving on venture capital or university support.

• Proposals should not exceed ONE page typed.
• Each proposal should include the following: mission, project description, amount of funding requested and timeline of project.
• Preference will be given to organizations or projects based in Laramie County.