The Lima Police Department is making a renewed effort at crime prevention.
The Lima Police Department has hired Liz Casey to be its Crime Prevention Specialist and she filled us in on her efforts at Monday's meeting. Liz told us that the position has been vacant for a few years so she is working hard to get out in the community, meet people and develop crime prevention programs. LPD's Crime Prevention Unit's mission is to work in partnership with the community to improve quality of life by creatively solving problems related to crime, the fear of crime, and neighborhood decay. Liz has a number of programs targeted to both children and adults covering a variety of topics including home security, personal safety, older people safety, neighborhood safety, scams, theft prevention, robbery prevention, gun safety, child safety, bicycle safety, stranger danger and much more. She is also looking for input from people to find out what their unique needs are so she can work one-on-one with them to solve their problems. One of the new programs she's working on is a Special Needs Camp at Safety City which will take place August 8-12. She hopes to reach 100 special needs children through this camp. Liz is also hoping to start an Allen County Crime Prevention Association with input from emergency responders from throughout the county as well as from the general public. The Crime Prevention Unit has begun publishing a monthly newsletter to keep the community updated on what they've been up to.
Also at Monday's meeting, Rita joined us following a long leave of absence to help award twelve non-traditional students with Lima Rotary Club Scholarships in the amount of $1,000 each for summer 2022. Six of the twelve winners were able to attend the Lima Rotary Club luncheon acknowledging the group. Students are pursuing higher education in Biology, Psychology, LPN and RN, Finance, Business Management, Middle and Early Childhood Education, Licensed Social Work, Medical Office Management and Welding. These students plan to attend Apollo Career Center, Bluffton University, The Ohio State University – Lima, and Rhodes State College and the University of Northern OH. Congratulations to each of them! 
Currently, the program has awarded scholarships for a total of $865,250.
Derek Stemen took a Plunge For Polio, sitting in a cold dunk tank while members had fun dunking him at $10 a throw to raise money for polio. His and Keith Horner's efforts raised a total of $867, with quite a bit of the money coming from members who bought $20 immunity tickets to keep themselves out of the tank.
We also heard from Marc Wright who encouraged us to attend the Juneteenth celebration scheduled for June 18th from noon to 6:00 pm on Town Square. Juneteenth is a celebration of the ending of slavery in the United States in 1865. There will be food trucks, entertainment, fun for the kids, a small business popup, a health and opportunities tent, and much more.
And Todd Benz exchanged his red badge for his blue badge. Congratulations!