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www.driftlessjournal.com | news@driftlessjournal.com | 563-382-4221 | Tuesday, July 11, 2023 | Vol. 5 Issue 28
Recognizing those who help take the bite out of hunger
New sauna and wellness spa opens doors in Decorah
Salú Sauna + Wellness Spa offers next-level health and healing
By Jennifer Bissel A group of volunteers is making a big difference for the lives of many in Allamakee County. Every week, several volunteers arrive at the Allamakee County Food Shelf to hand out food to those in need. Recently, that group was honored by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, receiving the Governor’s Volunteer Service Award as a group. They were recognized during a ceremony held June 6 in Cedar Falls. Stepping up Allamakee County Food Shelf Coordinator Julie Rotach has been donating her time for at least 15 years. She said she knew it was something she wanted to be involved with. “I knew that it was helping people in need, helping families, especially for children,” she said. “People that couldn’t make ends meet, maybe with retirement or income that they had.” Every Thursday, Rotach and other volunteers gather at the food shelf, located at 1125 Main Street in Waukon. Together, they assemble boxes of food. Rotach said clients are allowed to utilize the food shelf in Waukon once a month. She said they try to encourage just those in Allamakee County to come to the food shelf, since most communities have their own resources. Each client gets a pre-made box of food items, including proteins/meat, vegetables, soups, pastas and grains. In
LEFT- Allamakee County Food Shelf Coordinator Julie Rotach displays the Goveror’s Volunteer Award given to the volunteers at the food shelf. ABOVERotach and volunteers assemble boxes of food at the food shelf, located in Waukon. (Driftless Multimedia photos by Jennifer Bissel) addition to the box, each client is given a list of other items they are allowed to choose, ala carte. Rotach explains the food shelf receives some of their products from Northeast Iowa Food Bank in Waterloo. They also receive a lot of help locally. Rotach said local stores donate items like fresh produce, milk and canned items. “A lot of this wouldn’t be possible without the support of the local businesses. Especially the things that they pull from the shelves that they don’t want to sell as they’re out of date but are still good so they give them to us. That helps so we don’t have to purchase the items with our donations. We can make our donations go farther.” In addition, Rotach said they use monetary donations to purchase items they can’t get other ways, such as canned fruit.
since Rotach said many clients come from two-person households. In December of 2022, they served 56 families with over 4,000 pounds of food. Each week, Rotach keeps detailed notes on how many people are served and how much food is donated. She reports those numbers to the Northeast Iowa Food Bank, as well as the Northeast Iowa RSVP in Decorah. Rotach stressed that confidentiality is respected at the food shelf. Rotach said they also try to do extra things at holiday times. She said at Easter this year, they bought turkeys from Fareway and gave people who came through a coupon to claim them. For June dairy month, they gave clients a carton of ice cream. In the past, they have given coupons for dairy products. One year at Christmas, they gave coupons to use at the meat department in various grocery stores in the county.
Helping friends and neighbors Rotach said the number of families they support varies throughout the year. They average about 50 families a month, with roughly 3,000 pounds of food donated per month. That serves roughly 100 people,
About the volunteers Rotach estimates there are 15 volunteers who consistently donate their time. The bulk of
Volunteers honored continued on page 3
Seed Savers ‘Grow Something Good’ virtual conference July 21-22
Cody and Katie Schweinefus, co-owners of Salú Sauna + Spa in downtown Decorah, are pictured with their boys, Duke, 4, and Tripp, 2. (Driftless Multimedia photos by Roz Weis)
By Roz Weis
Salú Sauna + Wellness Spa is now open at 110 Washington Street in downtown Decorah. The health spa, operated by Cody and Katie Schweinefus of Decorah, provides the Driftless community with holistic health and healing options previously not available locally. Services include infrared sauna, red light therapy, cold plunge therapy and halotherapy, otherwise known as dry salt therapy. “We are so excited to bring these services to Decorah,” said Katie Schweinefus, co-owner and manager. “Infrared saunas are a powerful tool for health and longevity. From improved heart health to lowered inflammation, calorie burn and stress reduction, everyone could benefit from sauna use! In each of our sauna rooms is an ‘addon’ so our guests can experience red light therapy, halotherapy, or a cold plunge, during their sauna session for optimal health benefits.” Schweinefus said Salú’s mission is making holistic health and healing services available and accessible to rejuvenate the mind, body, and spirit. Salú is committed to compassion and understanding that each person has individualized health needs and goals.
Infrared Sauna Schweinefus said Salú’s Clearlight® saunas are the safest and most effective in the industry. They utilize near-, mid- and far-infrared wavelengths, offering maximum sauna therapy benefits. Infrared saunas are cooler than traditional saunas because infrared lamps warm the body directly and penetrate deeper without the use of steam. Because they aren’t as hot as traditional saunas, users can withstand longer sessions and reap the benefits which include improved heart health, reduced stress, better sleep, calorie burn, reduced blood pressure, healthy skin appearance, detoxification, muscle recovery, improved mood, chronic pain relief, boosted immunity and lowered inflammation ®
sEED THE FUTURE:
Grow Something Good VIRTUAL CONFERENCE JULY 21 & 22 : Featuring Open house July 13 Salú is hosting an open house on Thursday, July 13, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. The public is welcome to take a look at the newly-renovated space in the back of the 110 Washington Street building and learn more about the services. Those attending will be able to enter to win an “Experience Salù” package which includes everything Salù has to offer.
Salù
Featuring:
continued on page 5
Keynoters include activist Vandana Shiva, author Diane Wilson, Chef Sean Brock Five renowned keynoters and more than 20 sessions on a variety of timely gardening and seed-saving topics are planned for the 2023 Seed Savers Exchange Virtual Conference “Seed the Future: Grow Something Good.” Scheduled July 2122 and available virtually from any location, the conference offers opportunities to connect with other gardeners and seed
savers of all levels of experience. Two days of sessions In addition to the five expert keynoters – Dr. Vandana Shiva, Diane Wilson, Rafael Mier, Sean Brock and Sam Jett – the 2023 Seed Savers Exchange Virtual Conference features more than 20 presentations to learn and discover. Explore one
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urban community’s innovative plan to help fight food insecurity. Discover how to make gardening and cooking fun for kids of all ages. Learn how to make beautiful cut-flower arrangements. Take a deep dive into how seeds can bolster recovery and overall wellness. Find out how one community seed bank is embarking on a project to find heat-tolerant seeds. Learn
RAFAEL MIER
VANDANA SHIVA
world-renowned founder and
DIANE WILSON
SEAN BROCK
SAM JETT
Author, The Seed
chef, of our times.Operations how the extra produce fromof vironmental Two years later, environmental director Keeper thinker, activist, restaurateur, director, activist Fundación author she foundedAudrey and June your backyard garden can help science philosopher and writer. Navdanya (nine Tortilla restaurants relieve hunger in your commu- In 1982, she founded the Re- seeds), the movement in denity. search Foundation for Science, fense of biodiversity and the Technology and Ecology, an Keynotes independent research institute Dr. Vandana Shiva of Delhi, that addresses the most sigcontinued on page 3 India, is a world-renowned en- nificant problems of ecology
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