One of the Rotary Club of Frederick’s hallmarks is the selection and execution of a multi-year “signature project” with the potential to address one of our community’s most pressing needs.
Past projects have included financial donation and volunteer commitments, including a five-year, $100,000 contribution to the Frederick Health Dental Clinic for uninsured and underinsured adults.
The 2024-25 Board of Directors will be considering proposals that align with our community’s areas of greatest need to present to the general club membership for discussion.
For more than 70 years, our club members have signed up to ring the bells on Saturdays in November and December at some of the busiest retail locations in town to help fill the Salvation Army’s red kettles.
Members sign up to ring with a fellow Rotarian, or bring a family member or two to ring with them. Our efforts help fund programs that provide food, shelter, clothing, and financial assistance, including casework, counseling, residential assistance and abuse counseling, for those in need, and music, athletics, arts and crafts, camping and family counseling for local youth and their families.
This year, Rotary Club of Frederick members Mark Lancaster and Thomas Clagett rallied a collaborative effort to renovate the home of a beloved and well-known community member and the adjoining unit.
Thanks to SOAR (add link), we were able to relocate the resident during the project, during which we replaced all the mechanical systems, reinstalled the bathroom floor, replaced every door, window, and most of the ceiling and wall insulation, hung new kitchen cabinets, and replaced the appliances—most of which were no longer working—at an estimated cost of more than $200,000 in work and materials.
RCF member Dr. P. Gregory Rausch and his dynamic committee review and award grant applications from community non-profits whose missions align with Rotary’s areas of focus.
Funded through a combination of dividends from our $1.2 million in grants under management at the Community Foundation and proceeds from our annual Leprechaun Luau (link to leplu.org), these grants support organizations that already have effect outreach projects in place—putting one of our core values into action: there’s power in collaboration!
Since 2017, our club has awarded more than $700,000 in grants to dozens of local non-profits.
Funded with the proceeds from scholarship funds at the Community Foundation established by members of our club, we have awarded more than $200,000 in post-secondary scholarships to deserving local high school students.
To introduce the next generation of public servants to Rotary, we also host two students and an administrator from Frederick high schools for lunch, fellowship and informal mentoring each month during the school year. We have also provided a forum for District 7620’s Four-Way Test contest annually, giving local students an opportunity to practice public speaking and compete for cash prizes.
Recently, in partnership with Frederick County Public Schools, we kicked off a new project called Read to Succeed. As part of the FCPS observation of Read Across America, a group of our club members went to Twin Ridge Elementary School to read to classes of primary-aged students.
The project has gained momentum through a relationship we have built with Monocacy Elementary. Each Thursday, individual members sign up for 45-minute session, during which they either read to a primary-aged student and enjoy the book together, or listen to an early reader practice reading and encourage them as needed.
For the past two years, we have helped Sleep in Heavenly Peace make their mission (to make sure no kid sleeps on the floor in our town!) a reality. To ensure that every kid who needs a bed has one, we have donated a total of $20,000 to purchase lumber and supplies, and showed up by the score on Saturdays in December to help build 80 beds using the organization’s efficient, “no-skill-required” method. This has become a family affair, with many members bringing children, grandchildren, husbands, wives and friends.
We are constantly looking for service projects that address the needs of our community and provide opportunities for all of our members to serve. Some of these projects have included a 3-year commitment to Blessings in a Backpack, cleaning and maintaining Frederick’s Memorial Park in honor of our veterans, supporting youth education at the Great Frederick Fair, collecting Books for International Goodwill, Stuffing the Bus® and holding food drives for Beyond Shelter.
Read about more opportunities that are members have to get involved in our club as well as our local and global communities here.
