New Albany Rotary Club

Celebrating 15 Years of New Albany Rotary Club

Past, present and future club presidents share the impact of Rotary club

By Helen Widman

Rotary International is a servicebased organization that encourages members to partake in service projects and leadership roles throughout the community, both providing a social and businesslike aspect to the club. The Rotary Club of New Albany is a chapter of Rotary International.

The Rotary Club of New Albany celebrated its 15th anniversary on April 5, 2021. According to the NA Rotary website, it took some time before the club began to gain traction within the community back in the day because many members were unsure of what a rotary club entailed.

“Our purpose is to bring the community together to promote peace and to promote fellowship, to promote high ethical standards in business and in personal relationships,” Dawn Justen, president-elect, club service chair and youth exchange organizer says.

According to Justen, some of the club’s most notable acts of service include raising funds for LifePump, which helps underserved communities around the world access clean water, the Dictionary Project, which gives dictionaries to all third-graders at New Albany Primary School as well as the annual golf event the club hosts in July.

Michelle Davis, former president and active club member, says that the Dictionary Project has been one of her favorite memories of the NA Rotary. In her first year as president, Davis spoke to an assembly of New Albany Primary School third-graders after distributing the dictionaries.

“I got to tell them about Rotary, why we were giving them these books and just seeing, you know, the looks on their

Cary Hager, left, Steve Cox, Michelle Davis and other District Rotarian at the New Albany Rotary service project event at Design Outreach.

Paula Leachman, left, Josh Neudecker, Aaron Westbrook, Jacqueline MacLaren, Michelle Davis and Bryce Leachman at the Taste of New Albany.

faces because this was their very own book. This was something they could take home, it was something that the teachers use within their curriculum,” Davis says. “This was their book, and they were so excited to learn that, it just made me realize that even in this day and age of technology, having a physical book for even learning still is really impactful to the students.”

Davis says the NA Rotary working with LifePump, which is a global project overseen by Design Outreach, has also been a positive experience.

“We, along with some other rotary clubs in the central Ohio area, worked on fundraising to be able to send, I think, in the last couple of years we have sent about six LifePumps to Haiti and Africa. … And the pumps cost about $10,000 each,” Davis says.

In addition to raising funds to pay for these LifePumps, the NA Rotary also sends members to the facility where the pumps are manufactured. During a recent trip to the LifePump facility, NA Rotary members assisted in cleaning the rods in the units, ensuring that each LifePump is sanitary and prepared for its new home.

“I remember walking out of the facility and looking at this big truck that had these pallets of rods on them, and I don’t know why, but all of a sudden it just made me realize that a couple of hours of having some fun fellowship, and a little bit of work, is going to save thousands of lives,” Davis says. “Thousands of women and children, and fathers and men. That little bit that we just did, it’s going to have a huge impact.”

Michelle Davis, left, Cary Hager, Jon Price, Traci Bouchard, other District Rotarian and Jacquelin MacLaren at the Design Outreach event.

Food Drive Competition

One of Justen’s favorite memories of the NA Rotary is the food drive it held in partnership with the Tri-Village Rotary Club. The two clubs competed to see who could raise the most amount of food donations among their members and communities.

“We just finished up a food drive for the New Albany Food Pantry, and we did the competition against Tri-Village Rotary Club,” Justen says, “and it was just a lot of fun and getting our members to collect food to engage outside organizations that aren’t currently Rotary members but to also include them in our food drive, and just see the community come together and donate a lot of food for the food pantry.”

The clubs collected items from mid-February to midMarch. According to Justen, the NA Rotary collected 1,100 pounds of food and the Tri-Village Rotary Club collected 1,600 pounds of food. NA Rotary had 2,200 items total while Tri-Village Rotary Club had 1,700 items, which means that New Albany collected lighter items such as noodles.

“We had, I think from the New Albany club, we had about 14 people participate, and then from the Tri-Village club I think they had about 20 people participate,” Justen says. “That doesn’t count outside businesses, those are just specific Rotary members that participated.”

Rotary club members purchased items to donate themselves in addition to inviting friends and family members to donate. The club also put a donation box at the Innovate New Albany building. Next year, Justen says they plan to advertise that donation box more so the community is aware of its location.

Aaron Westbrook, NA Rotary member and upcoming 2022 club president, says that one of the top reasons to join Rotary is to connect with likeminded people.

“Rotary really does connect the world in the sense of, you know, there are so many clubs and different chapters that you may get involved in Rotary and think, ‘Oh, I’m just going to meet people locally in my town,’” Westbrook says. “But you never know that you may be working on a service project and there could be someone from Gahanna or Clintonville and they’re also in Rotary, and they often have the same values that you do, otherwise they wouldn’t have joined Rotary, so really it’s connecting with like-minded people.”

One unique aspect about the NA Rotary is that although it may be smaller than most other rotary clubs, it is very tight-knit.

“One of the biggest aspects of our club is, even though we’re a little smaller than many other clubs, we’re growing, but we have a family feel that I think gets lost in larger clubs,” Davis says. “So, you know, we all know what’s going on with each others’ lives, we’re close friends. We’re close friends, family, and I think that has provided a big difference that some other clubs don’t have.”

As one of the chapter’s youngest members, Westbrook is glad to have found the NA Rotary.

“I would say my greatest memory in my limited time there is just the way that the club has welcomed me,” Westbrook says. “I’m one of the youngest members in the club, if not our entire Rotary district, and the club was very welcoming, and I think that speaks a lot to Rotary and the way that it connects the world.”