Rotary Club of Johns Creek - North Fulton with one of the coveted Service Oscars

The Saturday night celebration at this year's Rotary District Conference recognized the District's top service projects … as voted on by you, our District Rotarians. All the nominated clubs deserve our applause - for service performed to make a difference in our communities and around the world.

Best Service Project Awards (based on voting by the Rotarians in our District) …

• Cairo - Power Lunch
• Emory Clifton - Philippines Shoe Distribution
• Johns Creek North Fulton - Shine the Light
• North Atlanta - FODAC
• Vinings Cumberland - Planting for Health
• Dougherty County - Education Van
• Alpharetta - MedReturn
• LaGrange - Jungle Adventure

The Service Project winners were determined based on the votes of the Rotarians in our District. Every Rotarian had the opportunity to vote. A total of 186 people from 47 clubs voted. You could not vote in any Flight/Category where your own club was nominated. In two cases the winner won by less than five votes. Our ten biggest clubs account for about 50% of our members and accounted for about 50% of the votes. To my eye, there was a tendency for voters to prefer community projects over International projects (though the Philippines project won) and to prefer under dogs. Neither of the two clubs that had two projects nominated won, so maybe their votes got split? Someone wondered if there was any north/south bias, with the northern clubs more likely to vote for northern projects. If so, it wasn't obvious in the voting. In any event, all 24 nominees were terrific. The videos that Ryan put together really showcased the work and made us all proud to be District 6900 Rotarians.

Here's a brief summary of all 24 projects that were nominated

Rotary Club of Atlanta Airport: ROTARY DAY OF DREAMING AND INSPIRATION

A Rotary Day of Dreaming and Inspiration is to build the community and create a close environment. Our initial goal was to provide 300 pairs of shoes to kids in the community of Hapeville and the Tri-Cities area. However, we were blessed to catch a deal through our partners to purchase 450 pairs of shoes and socks and 175 meal boxes, as well. Our event was well-attended because we partnered with a local festival “Happy Days - Local Motion” which is a weekend long event that re-unites the community residents with businesses. We were able to provide approximately 390 kids with a pair of shoes/socks, along with approximately 150 meal boxes to the families.

Rotary Club of Cairo: POWER LUNCH

This year will be completing our 10th year with Power Lunch. Power Lunch is a mentoring program that we carry out at a local, underprivileged elementary school. The school has an extremely high ESOL rate.

Each school year the school faculty picks 15-20 students to participate in the year-long program. They’re nominated because they’ve fallen behind on reading and other factors. The students must show improvement in reading, academics, behavior, and other areas to remain in the program.

Rotary Club of South DeKalb: TEACHING OUR YOUTH ABOUT HEALTHY LIVING

The Rotary Club of South DeKalb provided a Botanist and garden supplies to teach the youth at the Lucious Sanders Recreation Center how to plant, grow and harvest their own fruits and vegetables. The students learned important factors in the environment such as soil composition and pest control, along with how to properly space their plants for optimum growth. The program also provided them with the tools to continue to eat healthily, since many of these kids had never tried a variety of vegetables.

Rotary Club Of Johns Creek North Fulton: SHINE THE LIGHT

Shine The Light focuses on ending human trafficking by bringing awareness and education to middle and high school students, their parents and educators. The focus of our efforts is through the empowerment of our relationship with local schools and our Interact clubs in North Fulton County. This is a pilot program which we plan to expand to other clubs in subsequent years. It is a five phase project.

Rotary Club of North Cobb: MOUNTAIN TOP BOYS HOME COOKOUT

North Cobb Rotary supports Mountain Top Boys Home, a home that supports young men who, by no fault of their own, have been referred there by the Georgia Department of Family and Child Services. The Home provides shelter and a safe environment for these young men. Each year, our club provides food and volunteers to help host their annual cookout, where members of the community are invited to come and see all the good work they do. The event builds awareness of the budgetary needs that are not covered by the state. Our club provided pork, hamburgers, and all the fixings, along with 10 volunteers to ensure the success of the day. Our club also provided a grant of $750. Beyond the cookout, many members of our club serve on the board and support the Mountain Top Boys home throughout the year.

Rotary Club of Lake Spivey / Clayton County: HUMAN TRAFFICKING/GIGI’S HOUSE

The club partnered with Clayton County to be the first county in the state of Georgia to hang Human Trafficking Awareness posters in all of Clayton’s middle and high schools. Awareness and prevention is the key, and many young people get trapped into an initial deceptive web and are taken into this horrific form of slavery because they are naive and trusting. The club is also partnering with Gigi’s House, a home which will house, counsel, and school human trafficking victims to help them escape this devastating life style.

Rotary Club Of Dougherty County: NEW MEMBERS - SMALL PROJECTS

The Dougherty County Rotary Club’s new members elected to initiate several small projects throughout the year to support local needs in our community. The new members would meet and select a project to present to the club during a regular scheduled meeting. This allowed more club participation and an opportunity to provide support for so many in need.

Rotary Club of Carrollton: ROTARY RAGTOP RAFFLE

The Rotary Club of Carrollton launched its first fundraiser in more than a decade. With the help of roughly 30+ Rotarians from our club and a handful of Dawnbreakers and Rotaract members, the car giveaway was a huge success. Tickets were sold for $100 with only 800 printed from August to October 24th. We utilized an End Polio Now event where we hosted live music and refreshments at the Carrollton Amphitheater and completed the drawing at the end. We raised $63,000 in ticket sales with a net of $31,000. All money will be used for local projects and non-profit partnerships.

Rotary Club of Vinings Cumberland: PLANTING FOR HEALTH AT THE GOOD SAMARITAN HEALTH CENTER’S URBAN FARM

The Good Samaritan Health Center provides access to quality healthcare like regular check-ups and exams, prenatal care, dental visits, health education and counseling to individuals and families in Atlanta who have the least access to healthcare and are at the highest risk of having serious health issues remain undiagnosed and untreated. Many of those at the greatest risk of nutritional diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes lack access to healthy food options.

Rotary Club Of Alpharetta: MEDRETURN BOXES - DRUG TAKE-BACK

Opioid addiction is a leading cause of death, not only in teens and young adults, but neighbors, co-workers, and friends. An addiction can innocently result from a common surgery. The drugs are highly effective at reducing pain, but highly addictive and commonly over-prescribed. Following a well-publicized gathering addressing the opioid crisis in North Fulton, Alpharetta Rotary stepped forward by purchasing 7 MedReturn boxes, and collaborating with the City of Alpharetta to have one placed at every fire station, and at Police Headquarters. Drugs can be deposited in these safe-boxes 24-hours a day, no questions asked.

Rotary Club of Peachtree City: SOUNS PUERTO RICO AND PEACHTREE CITY LITERACY PROJECT

One of the Projects that we are most proud of is a basic literacy program called Souns (sounds). Through Souns, tens of thousands of children are learning basic literacy skills across languages and continents thanks to Rotary. Currently, we are completing a $40,000 grant to implement Souns in 200 Head Start classrooms in Puerto Rico. The measurable impact on children has been huge and we now have a grant for $163,000 for 815 more classrooms in Puerto Rico.

Rotary Club of Roswell: HELPING HONDURAS

Roswell Rotarians continue their commitment to bring hope to rural southern Honduras through a Global Grant. The grant’s objective is to provide a water distribution system to approximately 1,900 people (380 families) in the communities of El Resbaloso and Piedras Blancas in the Goascoran municipality. Due to the hot and dry conditions, these communities currently spend about one-third of their very modest income buying water.

Rotary Club of South DeKalb: READING IS FUNDAMENTAL

Chapel Hill Elementary is a Title I school located in South DeKalb that was adopted by the South DeKalb Rotary Club as a Community Partner. We decided as a Club to take our Reading to Students to the next level. With that ideal in mind, we donated 275 books to the school’s library so that the students could have more books to take home to help with their reading.

Rotary Club of Emory-Clifton: DISTRIBUTION OF SHOES TO INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IN PALAWAN, PHILIPPINES

The Shoe for Healthy Youth Project lasted for three days where volunteers traveled from Puerto Princesa City to remote rural areas inhabited mostly by indigenous people. There were 1400 shoes distributed, from pre-school to sixth graders. Volunteers, administrators and teachers assisted in shoe fitting, distribution, and feeding. Juice, cookies, boiled eggs and sandwiches were served. Providing slippers/shoes help prevent children from acquiring illness, especially parasitic diseases. Recipients were thrilled to receive these gift of love and kindness! We are scheduled to conduct a similar project in July to reach other schools in the area.

Rotary Club of Milton: RISE AGAINST HUNGER MEAL PACKING EVENT

The Rotary Club of Milton hosted a meal packing event to provide meals to children in developing countries. By targeting hunger, specifically by partnering with school feeding programs, we can help combat the world’s most challenging issues: disease, poverty, education, gender inequality, child labor and economic decline. The meals from this event went to Swaziland, a country devastated by severe drought.

Rotary Club Of North Atlanta: FODAC

North Atlanta Rotary led this community-wide collection of home health medical equipment and supplies for recycle and refurbishment by Friend of Disabled Adults and Children (FODAC). This service project, held on July 22, 2017 was accomplished in collaboration with 46 volunteers from several area Rotary Clubs, North Atlanta Rotaract Club, the 57th Squadron Restaurant and FODAC.

Rotary Club of East Cobb: ROTARY PARTNERS WITH WHEELER HIGH SCHOOL TO LAUNCH AVID PROGRAM

July 31st 2017, the East Cobb Rotary launched a partnership with Wheeler High School to jump start their new AVID program. The purpose of AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) is to prepare high-potential students for a rigorous high school curriculum in an effort to make them college and career ready. With the help of East Cobb Rotary, Wheeler High School was able to launch this program in 2017 for 9th and 10th grade students. The students applied and were interviewed prior to being admitted to the program.

Rotary Club of Brookhaven: SAS GOLF TOURNAMENT SUPPORT THE SHARE PROGRAM AT THE SHEPHERD CENTER

The SHARE (Shaping Hope and Recovery Excellence) Military Initiative began in 2008 to provide a continuum of rehabilitation care for soldiers who have sustained a traumatic brain injury while serving the US on active duty in Iraq or Afghanistan. Since SHARE’s inception, the program has served more than 200 individuals from all service branches. The program typically treats 8-12 wounded warriors at a time.

Rotary Club Of Marietta Metro: COBB CHRISTMAS WITH SANTA

During the past 8 years the Rotary Club of Marietta Metro has embraced the Christmas holiday season with our primary service project—our Cobb Christmas Program. This program serves the approximately 17,000 children and families in Cobb County that live in poverty. Food and toys are gathered or purchased and then distributed during a designated weekend in December. In December 2017 the Club contributed more than $500.00 in toys and cash.

Rotary Club of Dougherty County: EDUCATION OUTREACH - VAN PURCHASE WITH WRAP

Members of the Dougherty County Rotary have charged themselves to support educational enrichment programs with support of The Parks and Zoo at Chehaw, www.chehaw.org. Chehaw, whose funds have been cut 3% annually, provides educational programs to K-12 schools in sixteen Southwest Georgia Counties. The van utilized to transport staff and animals has reached the end of its useful life and the programs are at risk of being discontinued. We have committed to purchase a new van to show our support for the valuable educational support provided by Chehaw.

Rotary Club of Albany: MEALS ON WHEELS

The Albany Rotary Club delivers Meals on Wheels for the SWGA Council on Aging that serve the elderly and under privileged senior citizens who might not have a warm meal each day. Every active member is scheduled to participate. We deliver six meals, two days per week and two club volunteers per day.

Rotary Club Of Roswell: REMEMBERING THOSE WHO SERVE

Roswell Rotary honors the men and women who have served their country in the Armed Forces and the victims of the 911 attack through three separate events … Memorial Day: Approximately 6,000 people gathered on the greens at City Hall for the 20th annual ceremony, Honor Air: Our 9th annual trip to Washington DC honoring veterans who served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, an 911 Ceremony: Remembering the victims of the worst terrorist attack in American history.

Rotary Club of Atlanta: HONDURAS MARIPOSA MIRACLE

In March 2017, a group of 50 Rotarians and business leaders joined the Rotary Club of Atlanta and Bob Hope’s Wilderness Team to work on several projects in the Agalta Valley of Honduras. The team is returning to Honduras in March 2018.

Rotary Club of LaGrange: A JUNGLE ADVENTURE: LITERACY IN TROUP COUNTY

The Rotary Club is committed to making reading and books priorities for all of our Troup County young students. Through our Pre-K Book program we provide books for all of the county’s Pre-K students and through our Rotary Readers we also schedule additional times to go into classrooms to read to the students. This year with a $6,000 District Grant and $1,000 in Club funds we partnered with the Troup School System to help create a vehicle that actually is able to bring books and literary experiences into neighborhoods that have limited access to such advantages, the Jungle Bus.