A Collaboration for Community Good
By: Tracy Hardekopf, Rochester RC and Gregg Dowty, Dover RC
Rotary Clubs from Dover, Rochester, South Berwick-Eliot, and Durham-Great Bay have come together to bring Rotary Bingo to The Lilac Mall in Rochester, NH. For over 30 years Dover Rotary has hosted a Bingo game in the Seacoast New Hampshire area. Recently, the need for more volunteers led Dover to reach out to area clubs to ask for their assistance in fundraising efforts. First Durham-Great Bay and then South Berwick-Eliot joined in and shared in the profits from the games. This past July, due to changes at the hosting venue, Dover Rotary, holder of the gaming license, voted to enter into a new agreement with G2 Gaming in Rochester and move the game to the Rochester site. It was logical to reach out to the Rochester Club and ask them to join in the new initiative.
A committee with representation from each of the clubs will oversee the Bingo operation, which runs every Thursday from 3:30-9:30 PM at the Lilac Mall Site. Each club provides the volunteer workers needed each week and shares the resulting profits. The four clubs came together and formed an alliance which will benefit all communities served by the clubs.
Tom Harmon, South Berwick-Eliot RC and Ann Schieber, Durham-Great Bay RC.
So much good has resulted from the proceeds that Rotary Bingo has provided over the years from minimizing food insecurity, promoting literacy programs in the schools, providing aid to the homeless, funding numerous scholarships, supporting programming aimed at reducing the stigma of substance use, to promoting community awareness of mental illness. All four clubs will now have the benefit of this fundraiser, and can continue to provide service above self in their respective communities.
We are thrilled to have come together in a fellowship that not only demonstrates a true spirit of cooperation, but also expands the potential impact Rotarians can have in their communities.Cheryl, Tom Harmon's spouse