Annapolis Evening Rotary Club
President: Reena M. Parangot
Meets: Tuesdays at 6 p.m.
Union Jack’s
2072 Somerville Rd., Annapolis
Contact: [email protected]
www.meetup.com/AnnapolisEveningRotaryClub
BWI Rotary Club
President: Peter Notari
Meets: Thursday at 7:30 a.m.
Embassy Suites Hotel
1300 Concourse Dr., Linthicum
Contact: [email protected]
www.facebook.com/pages/BWI-Rotary-Club/167665306665213
Howard West Rotary Club
President: Kathryn R. Saulsbury
Meets: Monday at 6 p.m.
Turf Valley Resort
2700 Turf Valley Rd., Ellicott City
Contact: [email protected]
Rotary Club of Annapolis
President: Ronald A. Baradel
Meets: Thursdays at noon
Annapolis Yacht Club
12 Dock St., Annapolis
Contact: [email protected]
www.facebook.com/rotaryannapolis
In 2016, the club hosted its 71st annual “World’s Largest Crab Feast,” which brings between 2,000–3,000 people to the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis on the first Friday in August. Rotaract and Interact club members assist, and all of the event’s waste is composted and recycled. The club grants between $60,000–$65,000 of the net proceeds to Annapolis-area community nonprofits that make a sustained impact on the city.
Chartered on Feb. 1, 1921, the club holds its Black Tie and Diamonds Gala each March, which raises money for a charity that applies to be chosen as the gala beneficiary. The grant amount has ranged between $25,000–$80,000 each year for the past 13 years.
Additional projects include participating in Habitat for Humanity home rebuilding projects and paying for holiday meals at Thanksgiving and Christmas for needy families and seniors. The club also sponsors Rotaract and Interact clubs in Annapolis.
The Rotary Club of Annapolis Foundation distributes $10,000 each year to local nonprofits. In 2016, it donated $10,000 to STAIR, a project to help youngsters in local schools who needed additional tutoring to learn how to read, and also for a computer project in the county.
The club awards $4,000 towards scholarships for high school seniors in Annapolis-area public and private schools. Grade point averages, community involvement, school involvement and other factors are considered in choosing the top four recipients.
Internationally, the club donates funds to the Polio Plus campaign, and completed an educational/reading project in Ecuador approved for the first time by the Organization of American States. It cooperated with Rotary clubs in Uganda for a project teaching peace and mediation skills. At least four members visit each project overseas, using their own funds, to see how sustainable they are. The club has been recognized by RI for demonstrating the best methods to conduct these projects, and shares this information with other clubs.
Rotary Club of Columbia
President: Brahm Prakash
Meets: Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m.
Eggspectation
6010 University Blvd., Ellicott City
Contact: [email protected]
Chartered in 1968, the Rotary Club of Columbia has contributed more than $1 million to local nonprofits and other organizations, including Howard Community College (HCC) and the Howard County Public School System.
The club members also participate in Rebuilding Together, the Loan Closet (founded by the club), giving dictionaries to third-graders and working with the Freestate ChalleNGe Academy — a program that provides skills, education and discipline to at-risk high school dropouts.
The Rotary Club of Columbia gives additional funds to local Howard County nonprofits. The club also contributes to international projects, including giving donations to PolioPlus and the Rotary Foundation, as well as individual projects in other third-world countries.
To raise these funds, the Rotary Club of Columbia holds an annual William Jefferson Memorial Golf Outing and it sells squares in a basketball pool for the NCAA Final Four game.
Rotary Club of Columbia-Patuxent
President: Alan C. Jefferson
Meets: Friday at 7:30 a.m.
Vantage House
5400 Vantage Point Road, Columbia
Contact: [email protected]
www.facebook.com/RotaryClubColumbiaPatuxent
The Columbia/Patuxent club is a diverse group of professional men and women who are active both in the community and abroad, with emphasis on helping those in need, supporting education and job training, providing clean water, combating hunger and improving the health and lives of as many people as possible.
Members have volunteered their time by providing motel boxes for the homeless at Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center; providing a district group for support and volunteering with the Eat, Grow, Play Curriculum for the Head Start Program of Howard County; assisting at the Police Pace Race; and distributing free dictionaries to more than 1,000 third-graders.
Some of the charities that have benefitted from the club’s fundraising efforts include: Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Central Maryland, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of Central Maryland, the Domestic Violence Center, Gilchrist Hospice Care, Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center, HC DrugFree, Jim Rouse Scholarship Fund and the YMCA of Central Maryland.
The club also provides some of its proceeds to international programs such as the Clean Water Project, Orphanages in Colombia and the Foundation Against HIV and AIDS.
Rotary Club of Columbia Town Center
President: Alan C. Ray
Meets: Wednesday at 12:15 p.m.
Columbia Sheraton
10207 Wincopin Circle, Columbia
Contact: [email protected]
The Columbia Town Center Rotary club continues its partnership with Our House, a program that teaches carpentry skills, workforce readiness and GED preparation to abandoned, abused, homeless and orphaned teenage boys. The highly structured program includes five eight-hour days of hands-on training in carpentry, drywall and roofing, as well as life skills training, academics and therapy sessions in the evenings.
Chartered in 1982, the club has since raised more than $1 million to support local charities and to fund scholarships for Howard County students, allowing them to attend four-year and community colleges.
The club also gives numerous services to local charities and other events throughout the year. Charities it has supported include the Athelas Institute Inc., Our House, Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center Inc., Community Action Council, HopeWorks, Patapsco Heritage Greenway, The Samaritan Woman, Conexiones, Rebuilding Together and Bridges to Housing Stability.
In addition, club volunteers maintain the gardens at Winter Growth Senior Center, and the club recently entered into a partnership with the Howard County School System to provide support to Bryant Woods Elementary School students. The club hosts a Valentine’s Gala each February to raise funds to support its community service work.
Rotary Club of Crofton
President: Barry DesRoches
Meets: Tuesdays at 7:30 a.m.
Nautilus Diner
1709 Transportation Blvd., Crofton
Contact: [email protected]
The 2016 Bowl for a Cure Fundraiser sponsored by the Crofton Rotary Club and the South River High School Interact Club raised $2,000 for the Interact club’s Relay For Life team. The event was held on May 15 at the Crofton Bowling Centre. Funds were raised through generous donations by event sponsors as well as through tickets sold by Interact members.
Rotary Club of Elkridge
President: Meghan Belcher
Meets: Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
The Elkridge Furnace Inn
5745 Furnace Ave., Elkridge
Contact: [email protected]
In 1948, the Elkridge Rotary Club was formed by a group of local business leaders. Over these years community leaders from various civic organizations, educational institutions, local businesses, charities, churches and other organizations have been members of the Rotary Club of Elkridge. The club has a long history of serving the needs of the Elkridge community.
Rotary Club of Ellicott City
President: Bruno Reich
Meets: Thursdays at noon
Tersiguel’s Restaurant
8293 Main St., Ellicott City
Contact: [email protected]
The Ellicott City Rotary Club is dedicated to the idea that we can make the world a better place if we just reach out and help. The club’s 69th annual Charity Crab Feast will be held Sunday, Oct. 16.
Rotary Club of Glen Burnie
President: Charles A. McCurdy, Jr.
Meets: Thursdays at 6:30 p.m.
Sunset Restaurant
625 Greenway Rd., SE, Glen Burnie
Contact: [email protected]
The Rotary Club of Glen Burnie’s major club event is a Community Service Awards dinner held every March where, in the spirit of Rotary’s “Service Above Self” motto, community groups in the Glen Burnie and North County areas are able to recognize their own members who go the extra mile in serving the community.
The club is also heavily involved with Glen Burnie High School and its middle schools (Corkran and Marley) in multiple literacy and career programs.
Another major project entails giving a college scholarship to a Glen Burnie High School graduate every year.
The club also volunteers at the Big Glen Burnie Carnival, and maintains a park in the center of Glen Burnie. Each year, the club hosts a Christmas party for more than 90 local children who would not have much of a Christmas otherwise. On the international side, the Rotary Club of Glen Burnie was the lead club for a $250,000 project that brought clean water to a town of 3,000 people in Santa Clara, El Salvador.
Rotary Club of Lake Shore-Severna Park
President: Donald Keils
Meets: Every Wednesday at 6:15 p.m.
Mt. Carmel United Methodist Church
4760 Mountain Rd., Pasadena
Contact: [email protected]
The Lake Shore-Severna Park Rotary club has been serving its community since 1948. The club has been focused on education of children and helping those in need in the Pasadena and Severna Park area.
In addition to its local, community-based work, the club has supported water projects throughout Africa. These projects have assured the availability of clean water for several sub-Saharan villages.
Rotary Club of Parole
(Annapolis)
President: Scott A. Meyers
Meets: Tuesday at 7:30 a.m.
Double Tree Hotel
210 Holiday Ct., Annapolis
Contact: [email protected]
The Parole Rotary club supports programs for youth; educational opportunities and international exchanges for students and professionals; vocational and career development; and much more. Its major fundraisers are parking cars at the Naval Academy home football games and hosting the Naptown BarBAYQ, a barbeque contest and music festival that draws thousands of visitors in May.
The club’s signature project is the Books for International Goodwill (B.I.G.), which takes used books for shipment to needy schools and libraries in the United States and around the world. Since1995, BIG has saved millions of books from landfills and has shipped more than 7 million books to help spread literacy throughout the world.
Rotary Club of South Anne Arundel County
President: Joe Van Deuren
Meets: Thursdays at 7:30 a.m.
Killarney House
584 West Central Ave., Davidsonville
Contact: [email protected]
Rotary Club of West Anne Arundel County
President: Patricia Baldwin
Meets: Thursday at 7:15 a.m.
West Anne Arundel County Chamber Conference Room
8385 Piney Orchard Pkwy., Odenton
Contact: [email protected]
Sunrise Rotary Club of Ellicott City
President: Paul Brown
Meets: Thursday at 7:15 a.m.
Tersiguel’s French Country Restaurant
8293 Main St., Ellicott City
Contact: [email protected]
The Sunrise Rotary Club of Ellicott City has had another busy year of “service above self.” The club’s signature project, the Summer Enrichment Program, is a Head Start-conducted program that concluded its 15th year in July. This program, carried out by the Community Action Council (CAC) of Howard County, has been planned and supported in close collaboration with the Sunrise Rotary.
Following a decision by the “Howard 7” Rotary clubs to embrace the Summer Enrichment Program as their signature program, plans are underway that will better assure CAC’s goals of both expanding and sustaining the program.
The club continues its educational partnership with the Howard County Public School System’s (HCPSS) Applications and Research Laboratory (ARL). Plans are underway to again place up to 30 interns from the Health Professions Academy in several of the Lorien Health System providers of skilled care and assisted living.
Club support has been extended to the Bright Minds Foundation to help underprivileged students in Howard County schools, to Kenya Connect to provide computer resources for students near Nairobi, to Howard Community College and the HCC Education Foundation Partnership, to the HCPSS’s Dictionary Project and the county library’s Bumble Bee Contest, among others.