by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
The Rotary Club of Jacksonville, often referred to as “Downtown Rotary,” will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding in 2012.
One of the club’s long-standing traditions is to support local nonprofit organizations through its Rotary Charity Foundation. That tradition continued Monday with the award of five grants totaling $32,000.
Projects and Screening Committee Chair Davis Knight said 68 organizations applied this year for the club’s grants. The total amount of the applications was $1.2 million.
After the committee’s evaluation, which included visiting most of the applicants, five organizations were selected to receive grants.
The foundation also donated $30,000 to the club’s centennial charity project, a mobile health clinic in partnership with St. Vincent’s HealthCare.
Knight recounted the club’s philanthropic history, which began in 1918. Club members Marcus Fagg and George Hardy had been personally buying shoes for poor children and presenting them at Christmas. The men approached their fellow club members to participate and the club’s directors authorized a donation of $100 toward the effort, which put new shoes on the feet of 50 more children.
World War I was under way at the time and the club also supported the Red Cross with a contribution and members marched in the annual Red Cross Parade. The USO and Salvation Army also received contributions from the club in its early days.
In 1952, the Rotary Charity Foundation was created and the club has awarded grants to local nonprofit organizations each year since.
This year’s grants included:
• $2,500 for the Youth Crisis Center to support its programs for children, including residential foster care for runaway and abandoned children.
• $5,000 for Emergency Pregnancy Services, which provides pregnancy testing, medical care, counseling and adoption services to young women, for plumbing repairs at its center in Arlington.
• $5,300 for Morning Star School for the purchase of an interactive Smart Board for its primary school special education students.
• $7,200 for Hope Haven Children’s Clinic and Family Center to allow 200 children to enroll in a summer camp.
• $12,000 for Seamark Ranch, a Clay County organization that provides foster care and educational services for at-risk youth, to improve the water system at the 400-acre facility.
Knight said serving on the committee was a rewarding experience and fulfills the club’s mission to help children.
“Philanthropy is one of the reasons Downtown Rotary is so highly regarded. It’s what we do,” he said.
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