Sequim Sunrise Rotary - New Leadership Plan

"Special Projects" refers to the activities that Rotarians undertake to improve the quality of life in their community and in the world. Particular emphasis is given to helping children, needy families, the aged, the handicapped, and those most in need of assistance. Rotarians strive to promote the ideal of service in their personal, business, and community lives. Rotary's motto is "SERVICE ABOVE SELF."

This committee was formerly known as the "Community Service Committee" under the "Four Avenues of Service."

The Director has overall responsibility for planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting, and budgeting all aspects of the Special Projects Committee and its sub-committees. Also included is verbal and written information-sharing with fellow club members, updating “their” pages and the Calendar on the Sequim Sunrise website, providing quality and timely input for the club bulletin, making arrangements with one of the club photographers for photo coverage of events and projects, and regularly attending the monthly Board of Directors meeting. This Rotary Year's Special Projects Director is listed on the "Officers & Directors" page of the web site.

RY08-09

SPECIAL PROJECTS

Proposed projects for 2009

Environmental

Rotary at Work Day - April

International

Mike VanProyen

Baharona Dominican Republic

Human Development

Partners in Service

Paint the Town

Paul Gookins

Community Development

Painting Boys and Girls Club

Rebuilding Ramp at Dungeness Railroad Bridge Park

Crime Prevention

Lisa Wright

Sequim Schools

Community Service

Salvation Army Bell Ringing

Fred Mitchell/Jim Pickett

Adopt a Family

Kathy Strozyk

Seniors Christmas Party

Virginia O'Neil

Foster Children

Meals on Wheels

Sequim Food Bank

CV Tondreau

Boys and Girls Club

Bryce Fish

Celebrity Bagging

Russ Bonham

DreamCenter

Rotary Volunteers

Vocational Service

World Community Service

The following is a description of some of the Community Service projects originally prepared at the end of Rotary Year 03-04 for that Rotary year and modified slightly for the web site. Some of the projects occur every year, while new projects are added and a few are dropped. The description will be updated from time to time as this Rotary year's new projects occur:

Sequim Community School Playground at 3rd & Fir

This project was a total reconstruction of an old dirt playground into a landscaped community all-purpose park. The finished project included new concrete basketball courts, volleyball courts, pickleball and other game areas. The landscaping includes underground sprinklers, winding concrete sidewalks, and new benches. The completed park is available to the community for recreation. Various businesses helped with supplies and labor, so it was a successful community effort. Some additional work on the park has occurred since RY03-04.

Olympic Theater of the Arts 2003-2004

We pledged $75,000 in conjunction with the Sequim Noon Rotary Club to help with the remodeling of the old Boys and Girls Club into a new facility for the Olympic Theater. This was our Centennial Project and included financial donations and labor for a combined contribution of $75,000 for a naming opportunity for Rotary. This was a million dollar project that involved the entire community to complete. Sequim Sunrise Rotary members helped with various stages of the construction work.

Adopt a Family

We have adopted 3 needy families during RY03-04 to help with their Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter holidays. We gave $1,200 of gifts to help with their financial problems. The families told us their needs and we provided them with coats, mittens, food and various other supplies for the holidays. The project has been ongoing in subsequent Rotary years.

Seniors Christmas Party

We gave a Christmas Dinner for seniors who have no families for the holidays. We transported the seniors, fed them a complete turkey dinner, photos with Santa Claus, sang carols and returned them to their homes.

Foster Children

We provided backpacks filled with supplies for our Foster Children. Often foster children have not any money for school supplies, so we gave $1000.00 for backpacks for 25 children. Wall-mart matched our money with an additional $200.00.

Senior House Painting

We purchased the paint and spent a week painting an elderly couple's house for them. They were unable to keep up the repair on their home. After completion of the painting, the family was happy and the house looked great.

Carrie Blake Park

With the help of Friends of the Park, Sunrise Rotary painted all the structures in the park with preservative to protect the wood from the weather. We are committed to help with the weeding and upkeep of the Park on a continuing basis, typically semi-annually.

Meals on Wheels

We help deliver meals on wheels on a weekly basis. At Christmas time, we bake and package homemade cookies to be added to the meals for the holidays.

Sequim Food Bank

We completed some remodeling at The Sequim Food Bank to help keep the supplies out of the weather. We have a monthly collection for the food bank. During RY05-06 we also helped unload and store grocery products that had been collected by Post Office employees on Postal Donation Day.

Boys and Girls Club

We give a cash donation and help with occasional janitorial services and the weekly aluminum can pickup and crushing fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Club.

Robin Hill Park

We helped build miles of new trails and bridges in the new addition of Robin Hill Park and have donated money for supplies. New trails were constructed at Dungeness State Park.

Highway 101 By-Pass Landscaping

We volunteered to help the Washington State Department of Transportation to transplant 800 shrubs for landscaping along the new Discovery recreation trail.

Sequim Museum and Art Center

We are continuing volunteer work with the remodeling and landscaping of the old and new Sequim Museum and Art Center.

Salvation Army Bell Ringing

We gave many hours of volunteer bell ringing at various businesses on Saturdays in November and December. This saves the Salvation Army approximately $1,500.00 in wages per year.

Girl Scouts

$200.00 was donated to beginning Girl Scout troops to fund the troop supplies for the year. The Girl Scouts do not have any funds until they are able to sell cookies in the spring. This is a problem for new troops who need funds for supplies and badges all year long.

Sequim Beautification

We helped "Andrew" hang the Christmas lights at the Bank of America Plaza.

Carrie Blake Fishing Event

We helped organize and volunteered to help The Puget Sound Anglers provide a fishing event at Carrie Blake Park for over 600 children. $400.00 was donated to help with the cost of the fish.

School Reading Program

We donated $1,670.00 to the Special Education Department to help encourage better reading skills among the students. Three copies of The Ultimate Phonics Reading Program and a computer were purchased for use in the special ed classes. These programs are individualized computer programs that allow the students to progress at their own level of reading and speed. Without good reading skills these students are at risk for failure in school and life. As a special request we also purchased a supply of books on tape for the students who need to hear the written word.

Rotary Certificates of Appreciation

Five Hundred Certificates of Appreciation were given to the Sequim Sunrise Rotary members to hand out in the community to foster good will and to help promote Rotary's motto "Service above Self."

Parade Float RY03-04

An Irrigation Parade Float was entered in the annual parade to help promote Rotary in the Sequim Community. The Rotary Symbol and a banner saying "Thanks Sequim" was placed in a truck donated by Thomas Lumber.