On April 16th the Lebanon Rotary Club and Sustainable Lebanon as well as some other community partners held a second Styrofoam recycling collection day that drew about 300 households from Lebanon and surrounding communities.
Club News
We’re doing something a little different as we wrap up this current Rotary Year. Instead of identifying one club this month, we want to highlight those clubs in our District who received District Grants for 2021-2022 to apply to a variety of projects and activities in their communities and the world, as well as Alonzo Malouin Teacher Scholarship Recipients. Some of them were featured in this section in previous Newsletters, but we want to take a moment to congratulate all in their efforts to Serve to Change Lives through the power of our Rotary Foundation!
White Mountain Rotary is pleased to announce the first Guy Lopez Memorial Golf Tournament, which will be held on Friday, June 3, at the Androscoggin Valley Country Club in Gorham, NH. A shotgun start will take place at 9:00 AM. We invite you to be a sponsor and/or prize donor of our four-golfer team, scramble Tournament.
Our hearts continue to break for the people of Ukraine and our fellow Rotarians in that country who are suffering greatly from this tragic, devastating war that has been unleashed upon them. Our Rotary Foundation immediately responded by setting up a special disaster relief fund (click here), and our fellow Rotarians and clubs kicked into to gear to find ways to show solidarity and help. With this in mind, I emailed our Club Presidents and asked them to share what their members and clubs have been doing. Here is their reply.
Because of continuing COVID concerns, this year we switched things up to have “Drive By” Pie for Breakfast as part of WinterFest on Saturday, January 29th. It was 4 below that day and an outdoor space heater came in handy. We had a great community turn out and folks were appreciative of our efforts.
Robert Young, pictured on the left with Angelica from RSVP, has been relentless in his desire to make sure his community is safe. Here is what he (and the North Conway Club) have accomplished so far which represents 40,000 mask donations! 
On January 19, the Lincoln-Woodstock Rotary Club made presentations to five nonprofit civic endeavors in their northern NH communities, awarding a total of $103,000 granted to Linwood Ambulance Service, Vet’s Rest Stop, The Bridge Project, Lin-Wood Skate Park, and the LinWood Educational Trust Fund.
Aiming to raise $10,000 by February 13th, the Rotary Club of St Albans is hosting a Super Bowl Squares fundraiser that gives back to the community by supporting local food pantries.
For the members of Drummondville-Malouin Rotary Club, during the 2020-22 period a specific project has been close to their hearts: the development of the new outdoor courtyard of St. Joseph's School. This school is located in a very disadvantaged environment, with many people from immigrant backgrounds, with few resources and means. The idea was to create a supportive environment where students and the community can come together 24/7 and have access to sports like basketball with modern and adequate equipment.
As I mentioned above, during this holiday season our clubs are up to all kinds of creative activity when it comes to events and fundraisers. When I heard about what the Newport Rotary Club was up to again, I wanted to share it with all of you. So, I asked them to give me a few words about this unique way of creating a ripple-effect for good.
When I (DG Mike) read about Lebanon Rotary Club’s river clean-up project in their newsletter, I thought it was a wonderful example of living into our 7th Area of Focus, The Environment, and our 2nd Priority in Rotary’s Action Plan, Expanding our Reach, as they collaborated with others to get the job done. (Here’s the story.)
In the Fall of 2020, Vergennes Rotary Members Scott Gaines and Fr. Yvon Royer started an application for a Rotary International Global Grant with support from District 7850.
Members of the St. Peter’s and St. Ambrose Catholic Church Migrant Outreach team, of which Fr. Royer is Pastor, connected with some leaders of the Addison Allies, a group that supports our local migrant workers. This contact led to the committee’s getting to know members of the San Jose Monteverde Community, Mexico, who are presently working on farms in the Addison County.
The Middlebury Rotary Club is holding an online auction. Starting Friday, October 29th and running for 10 days, you'll have the opportunity to bid on some wonderful items and at the same time, support the important work we do in the community.
On Monday, September 27th, DG Mike dropped in on the Lancaster Rotary Club because PDG Larry Vars invited him to participate in an in-meeting service project and Mike wanted to share this idea throughout the District. It was a perfect project heading into Thanksgiving (all the fixings for turkey noodle soup) and would be easy to duplicate! For anyone who has taken part in a Rise Against Hunger meal-packing experience, this was set up just like that. Here’s the scoop.
As many of us might recall, PDG Larry Vars took us to Sherbrooke for his District Conference in May 2019 to that we could all help them celebrate their 100th Anniversary. It was a wonderful time.
Teamwork at its Best!
As we all know, Rotary not only impacts our communities and the world, but also allows us to meet new friends to work together in various projects. The most recent collaborative project in District 7850 involves six clubs and checks off the SEVENTH and newest area of focus: Supporting the Environment! Three of the clubs involved, White Mountains, North Conway, and Ossipee are located in the Mt Washington Valley and the other three, Bristol, Lincoln-Woodstock, and Bristol are located in the Western White Mountains and Lakes Regions. Members from each of the clubs have been meeting regularly to organize two major cleanup projects covering two very popular scenic areas of New Hampshire – the Kancamagus Highway and Pinkham Notch. 
The town of Lyndonville, Vermont held its annual summer Stars and Stripes celebration on July 17. Kicking off with a parade down Main Street, the festivities then moved to the Band stand park where there was live music, kids’ entertainment, craft vendors and the Lyndonville Rotary Club’s food tent.
Wilkins Harley-Davidson interviewed Karl Rinker who gave us a video rundown on what's going on in Barre! The Rotary Club of Barre is hosting an event called the "Barre Art Splash".
On Sunday May 16th, Members of Randolph Sunrise Rotary Club gathered to prepare packages of soup mix for the Randolph Food Shelf. Thanks to their efforts, 150 packets were prepared, each feeding 8 people for a total of 1200 meals! The packages will be delivered to the Food Shelf on Tuesday.
Thank you to all who donated and all who helped out with the project. Special thanks to John & Leslie Holmes for their generous monetary donation. And thanks to Jennifer Jolls for making the labels for each package of soup.
The "March for Kamp" is a community-wide walking challenge fundraiser to support Kamp Iwannahavfun organized by the St. Johnsbury Rotary Club. The goal is for each participant to commit to walking at least 31 miles in the 31 days of March. We would love to see families and local businesses all making an effort to get active and help us provide scholarship funds for local children to attend our popular summer camp. This is a great small group activity and can be done safely and socially distanced.
MILTON — Students in Milton High School’s Interact club aren’t letting the challenges of virtual meetings stop them from making a difference in their community.
The Rotary Clubs of Bristol, Lincoln-Woodstock, North Conway, Ossipee, Plymouth, and White Mountains invite you to join with us to brighten up our area’s most scenic highways, byways, and trailheads. The more volunteers we attract, the more impact we will have. We are looking for support from individuals, other service clubs and organizations, chambers of commerce, school groups, churches, municipalities, area businesses, and anyone who would like to join us as we Clean Up New Hampshire.
The Cohase Rotary eClub recently sponsored a pet food drive to assist pet owners facing economic challenges and to help support organizations committed to animal welfare. The event was held on Saturday, January 9, 2021 from 10 AM to 1 PM at Hannaford Supermarket in Bradford, Vermont. The response from the community was overwhelming with over 1000 pounds of pet food and supplies donated by over 200 families and individuals.
Greetings from Honduras! Here is a brief update on projects...after the hurricanes left many homeless and the pandemic caused many to lose their jobs we raised $2,685.00 from clubs and individuals for food. The cost is about $10 per bag per family. . One photo is of the staples included in the bags...not including 3 pounds of beans and 5 pounds of rice which were also added.
Cohase Rotarty Club coordinated a project working with children from Monroe School to prepare Valentines for Grafton County Seniors
The Lincoln Woodstock Interact had its second annual Festival of Lights Fundraiser this past year. Despite the pandemic the club was able to hold the event safely with special attention paid to physical distancing and mask wearing.
In a joint effort with local Lions Club and Boy Scouts, Vergennes Rotary Club held a hugely successful food drive on Saturday Feb 13th.
Congratulations to Morrisville, who have earned the Rotary Citation, and and North Conway Rotary Club, who have earned the Rotary Citation Platinum, the most significant award a Rotary club can achieve, for 2019-20. During a year that was challenging for many Rotarians around the world, these clubs demonstrated a commitment to achieve their goals, which ultimately helps strengthen Rotary and shape our future.
Randolph Sunrise Rotary Club donated 300+ backpacks to local students.
Salisbury Community School students in Middlebury assembled and decorated their new desks.
Despite the changes in protocols due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our clubs continue to find many creative ways to remain active and in service in our local communities. We are pleased and honored to share just a few of their many stories with you.