BROADBAND:
HELPING YOU THRIVE
Blessing
THE COMMUNITY Local Rotary clubs connect through service Story by JEN CALHOUN Photography by MATT LEDGER
W
hen one of the members of the Rotary Club of Lafayette first came up with the idea for the club’s new Blessing Box, the group immediately embraced the idea.
After all, the box — a 3-by-3-foot outdoor container that holds nonperishable foods, toiletries and other items — could help members of the community in times of need without them having to ask for it. “We felt like it would really be utilized,” says Cindy Gammons, a longtime member of the club and an upcoming regional Rotary governor. But the Blessing Box is just one of the ways Rotary clubs in this region help to make a difference. “Service over self is what Rotarians do,” says Ernie Stafford, president of the Scottsville Rotary Club. “We want to serve our communities any way we can.”
WHAT IS ROTARY? Both the Scottsville and Lafayette Rotary clubs are part of Rotary International, a group of more than 1.2 million members worldwide who apply their expe12 | January/February 2020
Lafayette Rotary members teamed up with Dunkin’ Donuts for the Purple Pinkie Donut fundraiser for Polio.
Members of the Lafayette Rotary Club have built a Blessing Box at the Macon County Chamber of Commerce, which will have resources for people in need.
rience and commitment to help improve their communities and the world. A Chicago lawyer formed the organization in 1905, and it got its name from the way early members would rotate meetings between their offices. As a whole, the organization has invested more than $200 million and 16 million volunteer hours to promote peace, fight disease, provide clean water, save mothers and children, support education and grow local economies, Rotary International says. Special Rotary projects include helping provide polio vaccinations to children all over the world and promoting literacy.
ROTARY CLUB OF LAFAYETTE Local chapters do good works for their own communities, too. Lafayette’s club plans a project each month in addition to
its ongoing efforts. In September, the club collaborated with local health organizations and other entities to put on the 23rd Annual Makin’ Macon Fit event, which takes place on the Saturday of the first full week of September. Activities include a 5K run, a 3-mile walk, a bike rodeo, an obstacle course and a bouncy house for children. “We offer all kinds of different activities for different age groups as a way to encourage people to be more active and healthy,” Gammons says. The club also donates dictionaries to every third grader in the county each fall. “And they’re more than just dictionaries,” Gammons says. “They have maps of the world, sign language, a list of the presidents and the states, and other reference tools. A lot of kids will tell us that this is their very first book they’ve ever had.” North Central
