Community Service 2021-22

Community Service Opportunities

Sedona Village Rotary's Veterans Raffle Raises Record-breaking $12,133 for Prescott Veterans Hospital

Rotarian Rob Schaefer, spearheading the Veteran’s project for the Rotary Club of Sedona Village, proudly announced the tremendous success of the Veteran’s Raffle held during four US holidays in 2023 at Clark’s Market. The fundraising initiative yielded a remarkable $12,133, all dedicated to supporting veterans at Prescott’s Veterans Hospital.

Rob Schaefer expressed his gratitude towards the community and recognized the outstanding contribution of P.J.’Village Pub. A generous donation of $1,010 was made possible by server Bobby Jurgensen, who selflessly contributed his tips. This amount was then matched by PJ’s owner John Ehalt, showcasing the community's united effort of support.

The history of the Veterans Raffle traces back to First Lieutenant John Cornelius, a distinguished member of the US Army. Lt. Cornelius, who served in WWII in North Africa, Italy, and the Middle East, initiated this fundraising raffle approximately 19 years ago. Having earned 2 bronze stars in combat, Lt. Cornelius dedicated himself to the cause of supporting Veterans Hospital patients by providing daily incidentals not covered by the US Government.

Following Lt. Cornelius's passing in 2017, John’s friends continued the raffle tradition. In 2020, Cathleen, John's daughter, approached the Sedona Village Rotary Club with the opportunity to expand the raffle under the Rotary umbrella. Club member Phong Vu, who served as a Major in the US Marine Corps, assumed leadership of the raffle in 2020. Upon Major Vu's death in 2022, Club member Col. Rob Schaefer, US Air Force, Ret, assumed responsibility for the raffle, along with the Club's other veterans activities. The Club presented the Veterans Hospital $10,000 for the funds raised in 2022.

Cathleen and her husband, John, continue to play an integral role in the success of the raffle, actively working to secure prizes and support the initiative. The Sedona Village Rotary Club expresses its gratitude to all contributors and pledges to continue its commitment to supporting veterans through impactful projects like the Veterans Raffle.

Prescott Sunup club provides 100 party packs to local food bank

Prescott Sunup Rotary Club members celebrated the 100th anniversary of Rotary in Prescott by donating 100 "Kids Birthday Party in a Pan" kits to representatives of the Prescott Community Cupboard Food Bank during a presentation at the Hassayampa Hotel on November 15.

The kits include cake mix, frosting, candles, a happy birthday card, banner and balloons, all packaged in a foil cake pan, and were an idea proposed by Sunup Rotarian Lisa Doherty, in response to President Laura Vanderberg's call for service projects that meet a need and give back to the Prescott community.

President Laura and Lisa Dougherty, the Project Chair, officially presented the Kids Birthday Party in a Pan packs to Prescott Community Cupboard Board Chair Lee Danaher. The project enables struggling families being served by the food bank, to still celebrate their child's birthday with a card, a cake and balloons.

Rotary Club of Sun Lakes hosts annual electronics recycle event

ASU Rotaract hosts Trunk or Treat to support Amanda's Hope

Southeast Valley Rotary clubs support veterans with $5,800 check

Submitted By: Dr. Honora Norton, RCSL Public Image Director

At a recent Rotary Club of Sun Lakes (RCSL) meeting the ASU Rotaract Rotary Club announced that $5,800 was collected from several Southeast Valley Rotary Clubs that submitted bids/donations to win the 'Gizmo' award.

RCSL was the club that raised the most monies resulting in the ASU Rotaract 2022-23 "Gizmo" Award being presented to RCSL Club President Victoria Flatley. All $5,800 proceeds were presented via a check to Arizona Veterans Fly Fishing Organization (AVFF) representatives at the same meeting. AVFF is a non-profit organization that is designed to help facilitate the physical and emotional well-being of disabled veterans through fly fishing and related activities.

RCSL and its members have been long-time AVFF supporters.

For more information about RCSL Programs and membership, visit http://www.sunlakesrotary.com.

Peoria North Rotary Club begins distribution of dictionaries

The Rotary Club of Peoria North has begun distribution of dictionaries to every third-grade student in the Peoria Unified School District.

Distributing dictionaries to PUSD students has been a community service project hosted by the club for more than 10 years. The project has been a joint community service project with The Rotary Club of Peoria, but the Peoria club recently closed, and its members transitioned to the Peoria North club.

The club used a District Designated Fund grant to pay for the project.

Members recently met on a Saturday morning for its annual "stickering" party, whereby each dictionary received a sticker on the inside front cover. The stickers contain the Rotary 4-Way Test and a place for the student to sign their name.

Members of The Rotaract Club of the West Valley joined members of Peoria North to prepare for delivery of the dictionaries.

Rotary Club of Sun Lakes holds raffle for book gifting project

Submitted by: Dr. Honora Norton, RCSL Public Image Director

The Rotary Club of Sun Lakes supports many educational opportunities within the East Valley. One is the Dolly Parton Imagination Library (DPIL).

Since launching in 1995, DPIL has become the premier early childhood book gifting program in the world and has mailed over 200 million free books in all 50 states as well as Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland.

Currently, the program mails over two million specially selected, age-appropriate books monthly to registered children from birth to age five. Recent studies suggest participation in the DPIL is positively and significantly associated with higher measures of early language and math development and gives preschool children a big boost toward a successful education.

Dolly Parton's vision was to create a lifelong love of reading, prepare children for school and inspire them to dream, as well as support her desire to improve each child's educational opportunities.

The Rotary Club of Sun Lakes partnered with the Dolly Parton Foundation in 2019 to provide books to children in four East Valley zip codes, at no cost to the family.

RCSL currently has over 1,100 children registered in its program, and it is rapidly growing. These books are available at no cost for children from birth until their fifth birthday.

RCSL's first Reverse Draw Raffle to raise funds for the program will be held on Jan. 20, 2024, from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at the Sunset Grill at Sun Lakes HOA1, 25601 S. Sun Lakes, Blvd., Sun Lakes, AZ 85248.

Four hundred reverse draw tickets will be sold at $100 each, and all the net proceeds will be used to enable RCSL to expand its current registrations to purchase books for more children under the age of 5. How does the reverse draw raffle work? All names are posted on a screen and as names are drawn, they are eliminated; the last name on the board is the winner of the $10,000 grand prize!

To support this amazing program and to purchase a ticket: Go to RCSL website or use attached QR Code.

Additionally, RCSL is looking for corporate sponsors and any individual donations. For only $150, one child would receive one book a month, from birth until their fifth birthday, that's 60 books!

Click here to donate online.

For more information you can contact Val Crump at mcrump9544@hotmail.com

Rotarians' impact grows seven-fold in the fight against malaria

The following story appeared in a recent issue of the Phoenix 100 Club Rotararizonian.

Phoenix Rotary 100 member, Jim Mulry, Head of Diagnostics at the Merck Global Health Institute (MGHI), created Rotarians Against Malaria-Global to purchase and distribute clinical microscopes to diagnose malaria and the root causes of other fevers.

A grant from the Phoenix 100 Club’s International Outreach Committee and the Rotary Foundation - through a District Grant - supported Jim’s project. The project raised a total of $40,000 through grants from other Rotary clubs, along with individual and corporate donations to buy microscopes. MGHI provided training to lab technicians to detect the specific type of malaria, along with other fevers, so that the correct treatment could be identified and administered, greatly improving the odds of survival.

Upon returning to Ghana in 2023 to visit students who were trained in microscopy and evaluate the impact of the project, Jim learned that the need for testing in some areas far exceeded capacity; each technician could only diagnose three samples an hour, leaving hundreds untested and a growing backlog that delayed treatment for many patients or worse. Something had to be done.

Jim jumped into action, reaching out to several sources for grants. The Merck Family Foundation came through quickly with $250,000 Euros, which will pay for automated hematology systems. These systems can rapidly test and diagnose 100 samples each day for malaria and other fevers.

Jim’s microscope project, which he brought to Phoenix Rotary 100, helped pave the way for the larger donation to buy equipment that more than quadrupled the impact of the fight against malaria, saving thousands of lives.

Incredible, but a contribution from the Phoenix 100 Club of $1,000 -- plus a District Grant of $2,000 -- on a $40,000 project (of which Rotarians contributed $12,000 and Merck $28,000) to reduce malaria led to an additional gift of 250k euros ($266,000). Thus that $40k project obtained leverage of over 7 times! Good things happen when good people work together.

East Valley Rotary clubs join in an Adopt-A-Street Project

By Dr. Honora Norton
Public Image Chair, Rotary Club of Sun Lakes

Three Rotary Clubs partnered and volunteered at an Adopt a Street cleanup project supported by the City of Tempe. Led by the Rotary Club of Camelback Crossroads Rotary Club (CXR) with the support Rotary Club of Sun Lakes (RCSL) and Arizona State University Rotary International Rotaract Club, members/volunteers started at Jaycee Park in Tempe on 5th Street and

collected 52 pounds of trash.

The volunteers enjoyed breakfast at Snooze after the project. Per RCSL member/volunteer, Stephen Phair the cleanup project is done on a regular basis-with the next cleanup scheduled the day after Thanksgiving.

The Rotaract Club at Arizona State University is a Rotary International sponsored service organization for young adults, focused on community service, international relations, and leadership - see http://www.asurotaract.weebly.com.

For more information about RCSL and CXR service projects and membership - see

http://www.sunlakesrotary.com or http://www.crxrotaryclub.org.

Sun Lakes members provide children's items to local organizations