Service Above Self is Our Mantra!
Under the leadership of Community Service Directors, Vicki Megginson (2021-2022) and Megan Reynolds (2022-2024) and our Springfield Rotary Foundation, club volunteers have been actively serving our community. Continuing issues with Covid have not changed the Rotary Club of Springfield's commitment to improving literacy, eradicating hunger, and helping meet other needs in our community and across the World. A few highlights for our service over the past few years are provided below. If you enjoy working with People of Action, we hope that you will consider joining our club. Links to Membership information and applications are provided on this Home Page!
Following three years of Covid Pandemic issues, we have re-established regular work events with the Central Illinois Foodbank that include packing food boxes for distribution, sorting and bagging donated foods, and labeling canned goods (images below).
We have stocked our micro-pantry and little library at our adopted school Ridgely Elementary in Springfield (images below). We also provided supplies and donated monies needed to purchase supplies for the school, and gave them a community grant for a literacy project.
We continued our work to assist homeless individuals in Springfield by teaming up with three other Rotary Clubs, local high school students who participated in the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Assembly, and the Salvation Army to pack Bags of Hope full of essential items (image below) and providing meals. This project was supported through a Rotary District 6460 District Grant that we helped write along with the 3 three other Springfield Rotary Clubs. As noted in the article above, we also provided ready-to-eat meals to central Illinois nonprofits that help feed the hungry.
We also secured a 2021-2022 Rotary District 6460 literacy grant that supported a partnership with Delta Sigma Theta Sorority to pack backpacks (images below) to deliver to Springfield agencies who work with preschool children who are experiencing homelessness. Our current Rotary District 6460 literacy grant purchased books for Black Hawk School so the Reading is Fundamental Program could be expanded to include younger students and Rotarians will participate by reading books to students.
We continued our popular Flag Service Project, which installs flags throughout our community (image below) to commemorate patriotic holidays, for a subscription fee. This project helps make our community red-white-and blue, and the proceeds support grants for nonprofits that support community needs.
Our annual Citrus Sale (image below from the 2021 sale) is a major fundraiser supporting charitable grants made by our Springfield Rotary Foundation. Our 2023 Citrus Campaign is again dedicated to the memory of John Montgomery, a member of our club for over 53 years who passed away in 2009. Over $1.4 million in grants have been provided to local charities through this annual event. Customers also purchase oranges for the donation to the Central Illinois Foodbank through this program so it's a win-win situation.
Our member volunteers annually purchase Angel Tree gifts for the Rutledge Youth Foundation, work with Home Alone to provide holiday cards and gifts cards for at-home seniors, ring the bells for Salvation Army (image below), and a whole lot more!
We also volunteer and donate to assist with disaster relief efforts in the United States and abroad and a wide variety of disaster relief, clean water, and other projects across the world. In August of 2022, our club partnered with Rotary District 6490, Midwest Mission in Pawnee, Illinois, to deliver 28,266 pounds of hand sanitizer and sanitizer wipes to Pikesville, Kentucky for distribution to Kentucky flood victims. Our club also donated funds to the assist in the delivery expenses for the products.
At the international level, we participate in fundraisers for the eradication of polio for the Rotary International PolioPlus Initiative. The funds raised from ticket sales for the 2022 annual Rotary Chicken Dinner were allocated to the PolioPlus Fund. Rotarians enjoyed serving up the delicious meals for customers (image below). Our club also contributes funds from our annual March Madness Fundraiser to Polio Plus.
At the International level, we are also contributing to Rotary International disaster relief in Ukraine, a Rotary International Grant project for increasing agricultural productivity in Zambia, and are participating in a Rotary International Grant project to bring clean water to a mountain village in Nepal. As noted in the article above, in 2023 we are assisting with disaster relief in Turkey and Ukraine.
We hope that you will consider joining our club. Service at the local and international level is rewarding.