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Service Above Self since 1915

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

What's new

2025 Leaders in Service honorees announced

From left: honorees Betsy Graham, Katrina Knight, and Wilbur Jones

March 9: The club announced the recipients of its fifth annual Leaders in Service Awards. They are Betsy Graham, veterans service officer for New Hanover Conty, in the government category; Katrina Knight, executive director of the Good Shepherd Center, in the non-profit category; and Wilbur Jones Jr., a historian specializing in World War II, in the private-sector category. The three honorees will received their awards at the club's banquet on May 12. Leaders in Service recognizes executives and other leaders who have made outstanding contributions to their community. Through sponsorships and ticket sales, it is the Wilmington Rotary Club's chief fund-raiser.

Tickets on sale for Leaders in Service awards banquet

March 9: Individual tickets are available for the 2026 Leaders in Service Awards banquet on May 12. Along with sponsorships, ticket sales are an important part of this event, which is the club's chief fundraiser. Tickets are $150 each and partly tax-deductible. They may be purchased online at leadersinservice.org.

Proceeds from sponsorships and ticket sales go to the club's non-profit foundation. This year, the foundation will disburse $80,000 or more from our foundation in grants to non-profit organizations and in support for the club’s own projects, primarily focused on basic education and literacy.

Some of the Rotarian volunteers who helped sort and pack food for NourishNC.

Backpack program feeds kids on weekends, school breaks

For many years, this club has supported NourishNC in its mission of ensuring that low-income children don’t go hungry during weekends or school breaks.

This year, we secured a District Grant to buy a new pallet racking system. This will enhance NourishNC’s ability to efficiently prepare and distribute weekend meals to food-insecure children.

As required with all Rotary grants, hands-on service by Rotarians is part of the project. A large group of volunteers turned out on Jan. 26 to pack meal bags.
In keeping with the club’s emphasis on family-friendly projects, several members brought along children, spouses, or co-workers.

Our grant bought tools and other gardening equipment for Willowdale farms.

Club invests money and our labor in community garden

Willowdale Farms grows fresh produce and flowers in its community garden to help people living nearby with food insecurity. We are helping upgrade and rehabilitate that garden through a District Grant that paid for new tools and other equipment. As part of that project, we held a work day on Dec. 13. A dozen Rotarians and family members joined in to get dirt under their fingernails, mulch, weed, and transplant vegetable plants.

Rotarian discussion leaders guided RYLA participants through round-table talks.

Mentoring teens at Rotary Youth Leadership Awards session

Fourteen members of our club joined 56 juniors from area high schools Dec. 6 for a session of the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards sponsored by Wilmington’s six Rotary Clubs. Most of the morning’s program consisted of round-table discussions led by Rotarians. The session was held at the UNCW library’s Discovery Hall.

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For Rotarians

March 28: Rotary Day at N.C. Boys and Girls Homes in Lake Waccamaw, 9 a.m. to noon. All Rotarians are invited to attend this open house, which will include a visit to the Rotary Cottage. For details, members should contact Allan Lusk.

April 10 and 11: Rotary District 7730 annual conference at the DoubleTree by Hilton Riverfront hotel in New Bern. Conference fee is $150 and includes Friday and Saturday dinners, Saturday breakfast, and lunch. A Saturday-dinner-only option is also available. Follow this link to register and pay. (Login to district database required.)

May 12: Leaders in Service awards banquet, 6 p.m., Burney Center, UNCW. Sponsors will receive blocks of tickets; individual tickets on sale for $150.00 at LeadersInService.org.

Ongoing: The Literacy Committee needs volunteers for our Together We Read program in partnership with the D.C. Virgo Preparatory Academy, UNCW, and now Alderman Elementary School.  This brings volunteer mentors together with children who need additional support in reading. The objective is to build confidence in reading through the relationship with the mentor, as well as to begin building the child's personal library. Our sign-up form has two time slots for each day of the week, for volunteers who are able to commit to be mentors for a full 10-week semester. Substitute volunteers may also volunteer as the need arises without committing to a full semester. After a standard school background check, all volunteers will have an orientation. To sign up, follow this link.

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: Members can download a digital copy of the club's current Handbook, which includes a membership roster and other important information. This requires a login to the district and club database, as outlined in the item above.

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 Public Image 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.