Columbus Sunrise Rotary Club earned one of the top awards recently at the 2017 Rotary District Conference in Columbus.
Distinguished Club Awards were presented to small-, medium- and large-size clubs, and Sunrise Rotary, which has 4 members, was the winning medium-size club.
The awards are based on points earned in membership growth, Rotary Foundation support and completed projects, among other areas.
In presenting the award April 22 to Sunrise Rotary President John Griffieon and other Rotarians attending the conference, Laura Carie, the district governor, recognized Columbus Sunrise Rotary for its accomplishments:
Added six new members since July 1
Purchased Shelterbox to help after the flood in Haiti
Partnered with Columbus Rotary Club to provide a district grant to Brighter Days Homeless Shelter
Eight members received the Paul Harris Fellowship award this year
Performed road-side cleanup and received a certificate of recognition from INDOT for the Adopt-A-Highway 2016 “Trash Bash” program
Collected money for the local food pantry in a project called “SOUPtember” by placing soup cans throughout Columbus for donations
Rang the bell for the Salvation Army during the holidays
Participated in CANstruction, which provided nearly 4,000 cans of food from Sunrise Rotary for local food pantries. Constructed “Turtle Dude” from the cans of food, and won the Best Original Design award.
Supplied volunteers for the local food pantry one Saturday each month.
Participated in a special holiday pantry.
Collected school supplies for local children through the “Fill the Bus” event at Walmart.
Participated in the Backpack Distribution Day, handing out more than 1,000 backpacks filled with school supplies.
Raised money for and awarded the Thor Bogren Scholarship through Ivy Tech College in Columbus.
Sponsored an inbound exchange student from France, and an outbound exchange student to Finland.
