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Service Above Self since 1915

Southeastern North Carolina's oldest, largest and finest       civic organization

What's new

Member contributions double club foundation's gift for    Hurricane Helene relief, totalling more than $10,000

Since Oct. 1, members of the club have given more than $5,000 toward help for victims of Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina. Those gifts are on top of a $5,000 contribution the club made from its non-profit charitable foundation. A wide swath of western North Carolina was devastated by flooding caused by Hurricane Helene. The individual gifts were made through this donation form by which members and friends can add individual contributions.

President Paul Lawler announced on Oct. 1 that the club's initial contribution would be directed either to the Rotary district that covers western North Carolina or to the Red Cross, depending on which agency is best able to use the money immediately. Individual donations will go to the international Rotary Foundation, which will redirect those funds to storm relief.

Since then, two other Wilmington-area Rotary Clubs have pitched in another $7,500. Rotary District 7730 has provided a $15,000 match, Lawler reported Oct. 8.

In 2018, in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, which caused widespread flooding in and around Wilmington, Rotarians from all parts of the country sent aid here, some of it directly to this club. We remember that generosity in helping disaster victims elsewhere, such as to the Hawaiian island of Maui after wildfires there destroyed much of the city of Lahaina.

Club seeks nominations for Leaders in Service awards

The Wilmington Rotary Club is seeking nominations for its fourth annual Leaders in Service awards, which will honor top leaders in three categories of local enterprise: business, non-profit and government. The three honorees will be recognized at a banquet on May 13, 2025.

The awards program and banquet are a fund-raiser for the club, which since 1915 has been undertaking projects to improve our community, the nation, and the world. Corporate sponsorships and individual ticket sales will benefit the Rotary Club’s local, non-profit charitable arm, the RCDW Foundation. This year, the foundation will disburse $70,000 or more in grants to non-profit organizations and in support for the club’s own projects, primarily focused on basic education and literacy.

The club is asking for nominations from the public. Nominees should be leaders of organizations that have contributed to improving our community. Specifically, those proposed for the Leaders in Service award should 1) hold a responsible leadership position in their organization, or its local branch; 2) have made outstanding contributions to the community in one or more of Rotary’s seven Areas of Focus; 3) have led a life and managed their organization in accordance with the Rotary Four-Way Test; 4) have demonstrated a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion; and 5) have demonstrated leadership skills in personnel development and done collaborative work with others in the community.

More details and a nomination form can be found online at www.leadersinservice.org. Nominations are open until Jan. 17, 2025.

The Wilmington Rotary Club’s RCDW Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable institution. That means sponsorships will be largely tax-deductible for donors. In return for their support, sponsors will be recognized at the awards banquet and in public media advertising and will receive multiple tickets to the May 13, 2025 awards banquet.

Rotarians and families help Miracle League athletes

The first in a series of "family friendly" service projects put Rotarians, spouses and children on the Miracle Field Sept. 21, acting as "buddies" for athletes with disabilities. The volunteers helped players with batting, base-running and fielding.

The Miracle Field and the Miracle League are projects of Access Wilmington, providing athletic opportunities on a wheelchair-friendly surface. The Wilmington Rotary Club has been one of the league's supporters since its beginning.

While the club has been doing service projects throughout its 109-year history, they are not always convenient for members with young families. That's why this and similar projects are scheduled for weekends and other times that Rotarians with nine-to-five jobs and/or young children can easily participate in. These projects also include tasks that children can safely perform under supervision.

Rotarians place Peace Pole in Rotary Garden at Greenfield

A Peace Pole, with the message "May peace prevail on earth" in four languages, was unveiled at the Rotary Wheel Garden in Wilmington's Greenfield Park on Sept. 21. The event marked World Peace Day.

A project of Wilmington's six Rotary Clubs, this is one of hundreds of similar monuments worldwide. Rotary Clubs have sponsored many of them; one of the world-wide Rotary movement's seven area of focus is "Peace and Conflict Prevention/Resolution." The languages used depend on location. The Wilmington Peace Pole's message is in English, Spanish, Ukrainian, and Cherokee. Spanish is the second most widely spoken language in the Wilmington area; Ukrainian represents the war-refugee families that area Rotarians have helped to relocate here; and Cherokee represents the Native American tribes, past and present, of North Carolina.

The Rotary Wheel Garden, in the shape of a giant Rotary gear wheel, was the Wilmington Rotary Club's gift to the City of Wilmington on the club's 50th anniversary in 1965.

Club awards six grants to non-profits

The Wilmington Rotary Club has made six grants totaling $14,500 to local non-profits, providing services in the health, nutrition, housing, literacy, and community development areas. Those grants include a 50 percent match from the international Rotary Foundation, distributed by Rotary’s District 7730.

The funds were formally disbursed at the club’s Sept. 10 meeting. The six grants are to:

• A dental screening clinic for low-income children, operated in cooperation with the St. Mary Clinic, Cape Fear Community College’s dental hygienist program, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern North Carolina: $3,000.
• First Fruit Ministries, to buy equipment and supplies for its food pantry: $2,000.
• The Good Shepherd Center, to support feeding 3,000 people through its Soup Kitchen and Second Helpings programs: $2,000.
• The Good Shepherd Center, for rental fees and deposits and household goods to help around 60 people make the transition from homelessness to permanent housing: $3,000.
• Wilmington’s Parks and Recreation Department, funds for repairs to Greenfield Park’s Rotary Wheel Garden, whose 58-year-old brick walls need repairs: $2,000.
• St. Mary Catholic School, funds to rebuild the school library, which suffered major damage during Hurricane Florence in 2018: $2,500.

The grants were approved by the club’s Grants Committee and Board of Directors. The matching funds were allocated by District 7730, which includes 50 Rotary Clubs across Southeastern North Carolina. The Wilmington club’s grants were among a total of 65 District Grants, totaling almost $146,000, awarded this year. The District funds come from the world-wide Rotary Foundation. The club’s funds, raised largely through the annual Leaders in Service Awards, come from its local non-profit foundation.

Guest speakers to address challenges of our region's growth

Among 2024-25 President Paul Lawler’s initiatives is a monthly series of programs examining issues that will affect Wilmington and the region as its explosive growth continues. He wants both the club and our region's "thought leaders" to consider: “What will this growth mean for all of us? Will we still find what we love about the area in another ten, twenty, or more years? Or will this be a very different Wilmington?” The first two of those programs, in July and August, looked back at the region’s history, and at its current and future water supply. Future topics include demographic growth projections; economic outlook; education, transportation, recreation and health care; region-wide cooperation; and strategies for leaders to use in preparing for growth and change.

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For Rotarians

October 30: The next in the club's Fifth Wednesday series of after-hours socials will take place at Smoke on the Water, 3704 Watercraft Ferry Ave. in the River Lights development off River Road. A river-view deck with bar and fire pit has been reserved for our party, which is open to members of any of Wilmington's six Rotary Clubs, as well as their guests. The host venue will provide snacks and hors d'ouevres; attendees can buy their beverages from the bar. Hours are 5 to 7 p.m.

October 22: The annual Vocational Fellowship Day has been scheduled for late October. Instead of everybody meeting at our regular time and place, members will be assigned to one of half a dozen or more venues, where we will be hosted by fellow Rotarians and given tours of their businesses or non-profit agencies. Box lunches will be provided. Links to an online sign-up form have been emailed to all members. Members can also sign up manually at  the club's weekly meetings. See Committee Chair Ramona Farrell.

October: Members are asked to nominate Rotarians to fill a vacant seat on the club's Board of Directors as well as to be president-nominee. Our former president-elect, Debby Gomulka, resigned from the club because of a serious illness in her family. Her position, to be president for 2025-26, was filled by David Grandey, who had been president-nominee. His replacement will take the gavel for 2026-27. The vacant Board seat runs through June 30, 2025. Proposals for either or both positions should go to President Paul Lawler, who chairs the club's Nominating Committee.

Ongoing: See video recordings of past meetings (since June 2020), accessible only to logged-in members of the club. To find a meeting video, follow this link. You will be prompted to enter your Rotary username (normally your email) and your password (the member number found in the address block on your Rotary magazine). The meetings index is a PDF file that contains clickable links to the meetings on our private Youtube channel.

Ongoing: Anyone participating in a service project is urged to get photographs of Rotarians at work for use in both public outreach and internal communication. Email  high-resolution photos to the club's PR Committee. (Contact info is in the club handbook.) Also helpful: Please follow, like, and share the club's social-media pages and posts. See links above.

Our club's background

The club was founded in 1915. For details, go to Club History page.

Projects

What we believe

Our club has endorsed Rotary International's diversity, equity and inclusion statements. For details, go to our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion page and to Rotary International's DEI page.

Membership: a choice for fellowship and service

For details about how to become a member, go to the Membership page.

Rotary's seven areas of focus

The club's service priorities are based on part on Rotary International's seven areas of focus. (The seventh, the environment, is new in 2021.) The areas of focus are:

• Peace and conflict prevention/resolution.

• Disease prevention and treatment.

• Water and sanitation.

• Maternal and child health.

• Basic education and literacy.

• Economic and community development.

• The environment.