Sarah MacGillivrayDistrict 7780 Foundation Committee Secretary and Public Image Coordinator
Member, Bath Sunrise Rotary Club
Congratulations to the eleven Clubs in our District who applied for this year’s round of District Grants. As always, we need to give a huge thank you to the members of our District Grant Review Committee, under the direction of Michele Varuolo Cole. The Committee members work very hard to ensure that all applications are complete, meet all the criteria, and determine whether or not each of the programs suggested will make an impact in the community they serve.
This year the committee found that each of the eleven applications submitted to be very well done, and it was clear that all of the Clubs who submitted had done the training provided by our District Foundation Committee. The projects will have a beneficial impact on the populations they will serve.
The projects range from planting a simple pollinator garden in a community to installing solar panels in Habitat for Humanity homes. Another project plans to provide enhanced literacy opportunities and access to books for four primary school programs in Guatemala, while another plans to provide mentoring to women leaving incarceration and to provide them with essential skills needed. Many of the projects could be easily replicated in other communities, so take the time to visit our District website and learn more about each project.
This year’s applications were submitted by the Clubs from Brunswick, Brunswick Coastal, Damariscotta Newcastle, Kennebunk Portside, Portland, Rochester, Saco Bay, Saco Bay Sunset, Scarborough, Westbrook Gorham, and Yarmouth. Congratulations again to these clubs! We all wish you great success with your projects and hope that you will share your successes with us through social media and other news media as well. We all need to spread the good news of Rotary and really "Connect the Dots" to the good work all Rotarians are doing.
These grants, for a total award of $40,766, are made possible by the generous donations of our own District Rotarians through donations made to OUR Rotary Foundation’s Annual Fund each year. A portion of the money comes back into our District so our Clubs can do good in the world, so thank YOU for helping to support these eleven projects that will be doing good in the world!