Rotary Club welcomes requests
PRESQUE ISLE — The Presque Isle Rotary Club is in the planning phase for the 64th annual Rotary Auction to raise funds for local charities and non-profit organizations. This year’s auction will be: Nov. 29-30 and Dec. 1.
Photo courtesy of Larry Plant
FOOD DONATION — The Fort Fairfield Rotary Club recently donated $341 and a basket full of canned vegetables and boxes of cereal to Dixie Shaw to benefit Catholic Charities of Maine. Shaw served as guest speaker for the Rotary’s regular meeting, sharing details about the thrift store and food bank. A total of 24 food pantries, from Wytopitlock to St. Francis, are served by the nonprofit agency. The thrift store helps generate revenue to operate the food bank. Pictured from left are: Effie Murchie, FFRC host; and Shaw, director of Catholic Charities’ Caribou-based facility.
Area non-profit organizations are invited to submit a request for donations. There are two types of requests — regular auction projects are funded through auction proceeds and typically do not exceed $4,000, while special projects are funded through direct community member donations made during the auction and raise funds for larger community projects. The deadline for submitting an application is April 22.
Applications can be downloaded from the Rotary Club’s website, www.PresqueIsleRotary.org. Interested parties can also receive an application from any Presque Isle Rotarian or this year’s auction co-chairs Joy Barresi Saucier and Ralph McPherson.
Auction proceed recipients will be selected based on the benefit to the community, total cost of the project, amount of funding requested, and availability of other funding mechanisms; sustainability of the organization’s funding model, and the nature of the request (auction proceeds have typically been used for capital spending projects rather than ongoing operating funds).
The Presque Isle Rotary Club maintains the right to accept or reject any and all requests.
With a membership of approximately 100 individuals, the Club is part of a worldwide organization of community volunteers. The slogan of Rotary is “Service Above Self” and the club seeks to live up to this ideal to support a variety of causes for the betterment of the community.
For over 60 years, the Rotary Club has held an annual auction to raise funds to support various charities and non-profit organizations. Last year the club raised over $60,000 for various organizations and charitable causes including Catholic Charities of Maine, Northern Maine Veterans Cemetery, Easton School Department, C-A-N-C-E-R, Northern Maine Museum of Science, Francis Malcolm Science Center, Aroostook Football, and the Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library.
The auction co-chairs, along with the Presque Isle Rotary Club as a whole, are in full planning mode and looking forward to another exciting auction. The club could not successfully complete this enormous task without the support of donors, viewers, listeners and bidders. Anyone interested in learning more about Rotary and its ideals can visit www.PresqueIsleRotary.org or contact any Rotary member.
