Did you enjoy the Christmas lights in downtown Brattleboro? Rotarians strung many of them. Or, have you and your kids played on the disc golf course at Living Memorial Park? Rotarians built it.
Rotary International, along with its various clubs throughout the world, has established January as Rotary Awareness Month.
"A lot of people don't know what Rotary International does. We want to get the word out," said Carla Lineback, Brattleboro Rotary Club president.
"We developed a monthly cable show called Rotary Cares," Lineback said, "The monthly format allows us to inform viewers, as well as listeners to our podcast, about the many aspects of Rotary by featuring different members participation."
Brattleboro Community Television presented the Rotary Clubs of Brattleboro its 2018 Non-Profit Member of the Year Award for the show.
One of the biggest focuses of the organization is working to eliminate polio. The club has worked closely with the World Health Organization and the Gates Foundation in
this effort.
"We pretty much have polio eliminated, except for three countries, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Afghanistan," Lineback said.
Rotary International and the Gates Foundation have provided close to $600 million to combat polio worldwide. This includes the approximate $10,000 contributed by the Brattleboro Rotary Club and the Sunrise Rotary Club over the last five years.
Still, polio isn't the only focus of Rotary International.
The international organization has also focused on literacy and clean water. Club members have gone to various areas of the world to help map out well locations and to help provide water filters.
In fact, the roots of the program Pure Water for the World are in Brattleboro. In 1994, Peter Abell, a member of the Brattleboro Rotary Club, volunteered to go to a small Salvadoran village to provide medical services.
Abell was moved by the poor living conditions and vowed to make a difference and do something. With the support of the Brattleboro Rotary Club, Abell decided to help the people by providing rural villages with potable water. The success and interest of the club's activities soon outgrew the capacity of the Rotary Club. As a result, Pure Water for the World, Inc. was set up as a 501(c)(3) organization to carry out this humanitarian effort.
Pure Water for the World works in remote regions of developing countries that lack sustainable clean, safe drinking water. PWW works with local governments and community partners to select, analyze the appropriate technology for the community, and implement cost-effective projects.
For the past eight years, the Brattleboro Rotary Club has been raising awareness and funds for Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The club has helped rebuild KILI Radio, a radio station committed to improving the lives of residents, gathered more than 250 old and broken laptops and refurbished 150 of them for students on the reservation, and helped collect more than 8,000 pounds of new material for traditional Native American quilts.
The Brattleboro Rotary Club uses funds raised from its annual Christmas tree sales and other efforts primarily for area high school scholarships. More than $500,000 in scholarships has been awarded over the past 25 years. This year, the club will be offering $18,000 to graduating seniors from area high schools, as well as a $2,500 scholarship to a Community College of Vermont student completing a degree in medical assisting. The CCV scholarship is in memory of the late Jesse Corum, a longtime member. The Sunrise Club conducts an annual 3X3 basketball tournament to raise scholarship funds, as well.
The two Brattleboro clubs support a number of projects in the community, both large and small, with cash and in-kind contributions. Rotarians take a monthly turn at supplying and serving meals for the Seasonal Overflow Shelter, pack food at Vermont Foodbank that is delivered to folks throughout Windham County, and support Winston Prouty's Early Learning Express, which brings a mobile lending library and literacy enrichment activities to rural and/or low-income areas.
Brattleboro Rotary Club also raises funds by way of its annual Golf Tournament held the first Thursday in June. Over the past seven years, the club's total donation to the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital is close to $150,000. At the local level, members help charitable ventures when they arise.
The Brattleboro Rotary Club has over 60 members and the Sunrise Rotary Club has over 40 members. Rotarian members throughout the world follow the same four-way test. The questions addressed by the test include: Is it the truth, fair to all concerned, will it build goodwill and better friendships, and will it be beneficial to all concerned?
Lineback said people have to be invited into the club, and someone must vouch for them.
The Brattleboro Rotary Club, founded in 1950, has weekly meetings on Thursdays at 12:15 p.m. The Sunrise Rotary Club, founded in 1995, has weekly meetings on Wednesdays at 7:15 a.m. Both clubs meet at American Legion Post 5, 32 Linden St. If you are interested in learning more about Rotary or attending a meeting, visit the Sunrise Rotary Club website at brattleborosunriserotary.org, or the Brattleboro Rotary Club website at brattlebororotaryclub.org.
Martin Cohn is a past president of Brattleboro Rotary Club and serves as host of the monthly BCTV show, Rotary Cares.
