On Sunday December 8th, The Rotary Club of Forked River held its Annual Christmas Brunch at the Captains Inn. It was a lot of fun and a great time to be filled with the holiday spirit for all members and their families. We started the day off with a few reindeer games to build up our appetites, then feasted on a great brunch buffet. We also had a Christmas carol sing-a-long, followed by a visit by Santa Clause himself. It was a wonderful way to celebrate the Christmas season.
It’s a wrap! The Annual Club ELF Gift Distribution Project was held on Saturday December 7th. It started on Friday at 7:00 AM, with club members and members of the LTHS Interact Club purchasing gifts at the local Walmart. Gifts purchased at the local Walmart and other stores were then transported to our store for those less fortunate to shop for gifts for their children for Christmas. Each shopper was matched up with a personal shopper to fill their sacks with gifts from gift categories including hats, scarves and glove sets, reading books, activity toys, arts and crafts, sporting equipment and a large toy for each child to put under under their trees this Christmas. Thank you to everyone in our community who supported our club throughout the year to bring smiles to kids faces on Christmas morning. Without your support and generous donations this annual event wouldn’t be possible. Here’s a quote we’d like to share from Winston Churchill this holiday season- “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”
Wishing everyone and your families a Merry Christmas!
It is always an exciting day when we welcome a new member into the Rotary Club. On December 3rd, Vanessa Clark was made a member of the club. Vanessa Clark is an exciting addition to the club as she has a big heart for the local community. She serves at the Superintendent of the Lacey School System. In addition to her dedication to education, she is bilingual as she speaks English and Portuguese. She likes soccer and spending time with her family. Her Rotarian Sponsor is Dave DiEugeni. We are so happy to welcome Lacey School's Superintendent Vanessa Clark to the Rotary Club of Forked River and Rotary International.
On November 26th, the Rotary Club of Forked River celebrated Lacey High Schools Senior's of the Month for October. This month we had three special students whose hard work and dedication to their school and community was recognized by their school and the Rotary Club. The senior students are Daniel McClung, Samantha Swain, and Michael Spina. The Rotary Club is very proud of our youth who are a proven example of dedication and leadership among their classmates.
Rotary is an international organization that believes deeply in service. Our motto is “Service Above Self”. It is a motto that we live, breath, and teach. On November 22nd2019 the Rotary and the Interact Club worked alongside the community partnership of the Lacey Food Bank to distribute Thanksgiving turkeys and food to families in need. This event was also supported by Walmart and Shoprite. The Rotary Club has been supporting Lacey Food Bank families for over 30 years. In addition to handing out turkeys, the Interact Club also raised more than $500 dollars to help with the cost of providing fresh baked good as well. On Saturday November 23rd, also sponsored a “Day of Giving” to fill the Lacey Food Bank with donated goods. The Rotary Club and Interact Club collected a lot of food and really lived out our motto of “service above self”
At our Rotary Club meeting on October 29th, Lieutenant Paul Sullivan came to talk about emergency preparedness and safety during active shooter situations. He shared how communities are moving towards training schools, churches, and the local organizations in A.L.I.C.E training. A.L.I.C.E is an intense training program that teaching people how to actively respond to threatening situations. He encourages the community to be a support for this type of training.
Only Halloween brings characters like Buzz Lightyear, Spiderman, Elsa, and unicorns together as they patrol the community seeking candies. This year, Rotary was delighted to join in the festivities by hosting the annual Halloween Trick or Treat Trail. On, Friday October 25th, the lines at Gille Park were packed by enthusiastic kids ready to fill their bags with goodies. Community organizations decorated canopies that added to the excitement of the event. We were blessed by the presence of the Sanderson Sisters preforming their known hits such as "I Put a Spell on You", "Come Little Children" and their own parody of the "Adam's Family" song. At the end of the trail there was a DJ and snacks offered by the Rotary Club of Forked River. We are grateful for the outpouring of support from the Rotary Club and Community Organizations that made this event a success!
Hard work and a community mindset among our youth is something to be celebrated. On October 8th, The Rotary Club of Forked River was blessed with the opportunity to honor two youth recognized for these wonderful qualities. Lacey High School's September Seniors of the Month, Dylan Danko and Jenna Stiffler, visited the evening Rotary meeting where they were honored for their achievements and encouraged to continue towards their leadership potential. We are indeed grateful for the chance to be an encouraging support for the youth in our community.
Rotary is an organization that has over 35,000 clubs meeting all over the world. That's what made it special when we have fellow Rotarians visiting from the Rotary Club of Vijayawada of Rotary District 3020 of India. Our special guest were Naveen Dasari and V. Hema Chandu visiting to tell us about a special project called "Rotarians Against Leprosy". They are seeking to establish a "Clinical Leprosy and Awareness Program" that will treat and help individuals diagnosed with leprosy. Leprosy is a big concern as more 130,000 are diagnosed every year, mostly being children. As a Rotary Club we celebrate the work that Rotary International has done around the world. It was a blessing for our special guests to visit us and to bring awareness to this growing concern. As we exchanged Rotary Club banners, we also were able to begin new international friendships.
As fall kicks off, so also the local community gets ready for the annual Lacey Day and Apple Festival. On September 28th the festivities were held at Gille Park. Many local businesses and non profit organizations gathered around to make this day a big success. Rotary Club had the pleasure of being an active presence at Lacey Day. We had a booth where we could share about Rotary's passion of "Service Above Self". We also had the opportunity to become a living example of our motto by working with the LTHS Interact Club in handing out sub sandwiches along with other food to those that attended Lacey Day. Thank you to the local businesses Anthony’s Pizzeria, Conca D’Oro Restaurant and Fusciello’s Deli for providing submarine sandwiches for the event.
On Tuesday September 24th, a couple of students were recognized at the Rotary Club Evening Meeting for attending RYLA. RYLA is the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards that seeks to train youth in qualities of leadership. The students who were recognized at the Rotary Club meeting were Jacob Serrano and Kimberly Martinez. They are both Lacey High School Students. We are very proud on the young youth leaders in our community that attended RYLA.
On September 17th, the Rotary Club of Forked River was blessed to have Pam Capaci the CEO with Heather Price the Volunteer Coordinator of Hope Sheds Light. Pam and Heather shared with the club how Hope Sheds Light exist to support individuals struggling with addiction along with their families. Hope Sheds Light provides education, resources, and support to those impacted by addiction and the growing opioid crisis. The Rotary Club was pleased to give Pam and Heather a donation of $500 to support the programs and mission of Hope Sheds Light. To learn more about this wonderful organization check out their website at www.hopeshedslight.org
The Rotary Club of Forked River has started selling tickets for the Annual Autumn Windfall Reverse Raffle Fundraiser. To purchase a ticket the donation is a $100- Entry. This ticket includes entry in the 50/50 raffle along with an invitation to attend The Autumn Windfall event at Captains Inn on October 27, 2019 where there will be an open bar and hors d'oeuvres.
This is a Reverse Raffle, you want to be the last ticket drawn to win $8000 Grand Prize - Only 250 Tickets being sold! There will be 10 winning tickets selected!
On September 3rd, at the Rotary Club of Forked River's lunch meeting, we were blessed with a visit from Joanne Ventura, the District Governor for District 7505. Gov. Ventura talked about the theme for Rotary International of "Rotary Connects the World". She also shared how she met Rotary International's President Mark Maloney at the Strike Out Hunger event at the Phillies game in August.
As part of Gov. Ventura's visit, she presented to us the Rotary International Vision Statement. The Vision Statement is "Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change across the globe in our communities and in ourselves." Along with this vision are four priorities.
INCREASE OUR IMPACT
EXPAND OUR REACH
ENHANCE PARTICIPANT ENGAGEMENT
INCREASE OUR ABILITY TO ADAPT
Gov. Ventura also shared her personal goals of starting two new clubs or satellite groups, assessing groups, partnering with other clubs, and developing strategies of continued leadership. She announced that on Oct 5th, there will be a Rotary Leadership Institute at the Indian Cultural Center in Marlton, NJ.
Lastly, Gov. Ventura presented our Club's President, Donna Volz with a flag of this years logo, "Rotary Connects the World". We were grateful to have Gov. Ventura at our lunch meeting and learning more about the direction of Rotary International along with our Rotary District.