Community Service Committees

Board Member Responsible for Community Service - Alan Ashbaugh

Community Needs
Highway Clean-Up
Rotary READ
Rural-Urban
Community Grants
Scholarships

Community Needs Committee – Marge Norskog

Purpose

To perform an assessment of the needs in our community and make recommendations to the Board of Directors on how our club can best serve our local community through Service above Self.

Highway Cleanup Committee – Troy Tafoya and Ron Stoops, co-chairs

Purpose

To promote fellowship and community service by maintaining the section of Highway 14 (Mulberry) adopted by the Rotary Club of Fort Collins between the Sundance Saloon east to I-25.

Guidelines

Organize a group of club members 2 - 3 times per year (including Rotoract and Interact) to clean up trash and treasurers that accumulate in the median and sides of the adopted section of Highway 14.

Rotary READ Committee (Quad Club Activity) – Brian Burck

Purpose

Rotary READ Fort Collins' (RRFC) mission is to foster a love of reading in elementary school-aged students, with a special focus on students in grades 4 through 6. This emphasis is given by the program to help instill good reading habits before students experience junior high school and high school demands. RRFC is a unique coalition of the four Fort Collins Rotary Clubs, the Fort Collins Public Library, and the Poudre School District (Fort Collins, Colorado). The RRFC is comprised of representatives of all three coalition members. RRFC's activities focus on being an effective adjunct to educators' and library professionals' efforts to increase reading habits at an early age.

Goals

  1. Place books in the hands of elementary school-aged students by having a Rotary READ week each fall. During the week have each student read (or have someone read to them) at least 15 minutes per day for one week.
  2. Energize budding writers and readers with a personal knowledge of popular writers and understand how books are written by having one or two noted authors make presentations to each of 6 to 8 schools, public libraries, and/or private schools in the Fort Collins area each spring.
  3. Have Rotary READ Fort Collins 100% self funded.

Rural-Urban Committee – Glenn Schmidt and Jim Harper, co-chairs

Purpose

To foster education and understanding between rural and urban communities on issurs important to both. To foster understanding about our rural roots and current issues facing rural and urban cultures.

Guidelines

Sponsor the Rotary Club of Fort Collins Rural Urban Day; sponsor scholarships for young people interested in careers in agriculture; recognize success and contributions to Larimer County Agriculture by selecting Master Agriculturalist and Service to Agriculture Award recipients. Sponsor speakers related to ussues in agriculture. Work with the Fort Collins Park District staff to improve and maintain the Rotary Farm Museum at the Farm at Lee Martinez Park.

Community Grants Committee – Marj Walsh

Purpose

To recommend to the Board recipients of financial grants and arrange appropriate event for awards to be presented.

Guidelines

  1. It is expected that all grants be made upon written request only.
  2. Requests for applications shall be made publicly.
  3. Board approval must be made on all grants prior to announcement or award.

Scholarships – Bob Meroney and Jud Harper, co-chairs

Meeting time

Call of the Chair. Most activity occurs during the Spring after scholarship applications are submitted by the students at their respective high-schools/colleges. There are typically 3 to 4 one-hour meetings utilized to review some 50-60 applications. Based on these applications about 30 students are selected for oral interviews, which occur during early April at each school. School interviews require about 2-3 hours at each school. Committee members participate in as many sessions as they can fit into their schedules.

Purpose

To award need-based scholarships to students who have demonstrated the scholarship necessary to succeed in post-secondary educational or vocational programs.

Guidelines:

  1. Awards are made to graduating seniors selected from:
    1. Fort Collins High School
    2. Fossil Ridge High School
    3. Rocky Mountain High School
    4. Poudre High School
    5. Centennial High School
    6. Frontier High
  2. In addition, one award is given to a student currently enrolled in a degree or certificate program at the Larimer campus of Front Range Community College. This award is not limited to traditional-aged students. Finally, there are two named scholarships established to memorialize individuals. These are need-based awards for students who have demonstrated the scholarship necessary to succeed in college. Thus we select nine recipients total.
  3. To qualify for awards, all recipients must enroll full-time in degree or certificate programs at Colorado State University or the Larimer campus of Front Range Community College. Application forms are provided by the counseling centers at the various high schools and Front Range Community College during January-February of each year.
  4. All awards are $2000 for one academic year. Half of the award ($1000) will be given at the beginning of the academic year. The second $1000 will be awarded if, after the first semester, the student has earned at least a 3.0 grade point average. The 3.0 GPA is based on the system where a 4.0 GPA would be earned for straight A's. Funds are to be deposited in a student account at the institution and may be used for tuition, fees, books, and necessary supplies or equipment. If a recipient withdraws from the institution or drops out of the degree or certificate program, unused funds will be returned to the Fort Collins Rotary Club.
  5. Selection will be based on need, scholarship, community service, and leadership. Each applicant is required to submit a paper in which they comment on Rotary's Four-Way Test of the things we think, say, or do.
  6. Interviews of finalists will be conducted in the spring and the awards announced not later than May 30.
  7. Award recipients will be expected to provide a 3 minute report (in person, if possible) of their college experience to the Rotary Club of Fort Collins lunch time meeting at the Lincoln Center during the Fall Semester.