Projects
College Football Fundraiser
Members of the Rotary Club of Griffin were asked to sign up for their favorite college football team either individually or as a team of two. All teams chosen by Rotarians was followed and recorded regardless of conference, wins, or losses. The challenge was based only on the total number of points your team scores in each game during the season. An individual player will pay $1 for each point scored by your team during the season. That amount will be $1.20 for a team of two Rotarians. There is a cap of $400 per individual or $200 for each partner in a team of two. Every two weeks an update was given of college footballs teams with the most points scored and Rotarians.
Community Food Packing
The Griffin Rotary Club partnered with the Rotary Daybreak Club and Kiwanis, to assemble food and information boxes and distribute them through ??. All three clubs provided volunteers for the box assembly/packing date. 3,000 boxes containing 15,000 meals were produced for our community.
GRSP Student
The Rotary Club of Griffin sponsored its first GRSP student in 1949 and every year since. This year's student, Hedvig Rask, our 95th, is from Sweden. She is attending the University of Georgia. Rotarian James Jenkins and his wife, Sandy, are hosting for the year.
Honoring Our Veterans
The Rotary Club of Griffin Veteran's Committee has partnered with our Senior Citizens Committee for a program around Memorial Day, this year on May 21st in Griffin to honor all veterans from Spalding County. Chairs Rita Cavanaugh and Allen Edwards and their committee have picked the theme, "A Tribute to Our Service Members, Past and Present." The members of Boy Scouts of America Troop 2 post the American Flag, flags of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard. Members of Rotary Club of Griffin, The Griffin Concert Association and St. Georges Methodist Church Music Group will be performing. Special guest, retired Army Major Sandra Brownlee, who's veteran organization, "Waypoint" is spearheading a new homeless vets home in Griffin.
Laws of Life Essay Contest
The Rotary Club of Griffin has for many years sponsored the Georgia Laws of Life Essay Contest. Members of the club volunteer to judge essays and the club financially sponsors the contest at Griffin High School.
Students who participate in the Laws of Life Essay Contest select a saying that is a "Law of Life" and use that saying to examine and write about their personal key life lessons and core character values such as honesty, generosity, courage, compassion and perseverance. The contest reflects Rotary's emphasis on values, high ethical standards and service to others.
New Horizons/New Dimensions School Playground
New Horizons/New Dimensions Preparatory School for underpriveleged children in Spalding County has had no playground or sports facilities of any kinds since opening over 10 years ago. Rotary Club of Griffin stepped in to launch their efforts to build a playground for their youngest elementary school age children. Our efforts included use of the District Grant monies, plus our own to purchase swings, which included professional installation for liability reasons. We also negotiated the donation of 3 truckloads of mulch to be used as soft landing for the entire 3,000 square foot playground. Our members then brought equipment to level the land and spread the 3 truckloads of the mulch to a level required by the city, in the cold...and rain.
New Teacher Lucheon
The Rotary Club of Griffin has sponsored a luncheon for all new teachers in the Griffin-Spalding County School System (GSCSS) for over 75 years. We were all honored to serve these dedicated new teachers who are going to lead our next generations of Griffinites and hopefully Rotarians. The new teachers had the opportunity to meet Rotarians and enjoy lunch during their orientation week. This welcome provides a great first impression of our school system and community. This year, we welcomed 118 new teachers. At the luncheon, President Kathleen Smith spoke to the teachers about Interact, Laws of Life, Ryla and our new Scholarship program. This helped lead the way to relaunching our Interact club in Spalding High and getting Laws of Life back in Griffin High.
Philip Smith Memorial Blood Drive
The Rotary Club of Griffin collected 28 units of blood for the Philip Smith Memorial Blood Drive held Thurday, March 6th, 2024, at First Baptist Church. Our drive this year was originally scheduled in February and promoted heavily, but the Red Cross had to cancel due to weather. We rescheduled, but with more limited time to promote and our turnout suffered. We have held this blood drive since fiscal year 2003/2004.Salvation Army Coat Drive
The Rotary Club of Griffin held a coat drive this Rotary year and set a goal of 50 coats. President Kathleen Smith announced the drive at our weekly meetings and in the Griffitarian. We exceeded our goal and collected 75 gently used coats for the Salvation Army. All of the coats were cleaned by Bunn's Cleaners who donated their services to this great project. Major Tim Williford of the Salvation Army was present to accept the donation and thanked the Club and Bunn's Cleaners for making this possible during this cold winter season. Major Tim took the coats to the House of Hope shelter and distributed the coats to his clientele there.
Salvation Army Kettle Drive
The Rotary Club of Griffin supports the Salvation Army by donating money and time to the Kettle Drive and the local Distribution Center in support of families and children, especially during the holidays. Rotarians, Interactors, family and friends staffed the kettle at the Griffin Kroger from November 29, 2024 through December 24, 2024 for a total of 172 hours. Salvation Army committee chair Andrea Griffin solicited Griffin Rotarians to ring the bell at the kettle tallying hours and community to ring the bell. This year District Governor Gordon Owens was on hand to take a shift ringing the bell.
Strong Mind and Body Boxes
The Griffin Rotary Club partnered with seven other Rotary Clubs and Midwest Food Bank, with Peachtree City Rotary Club as the head, to assemble food and information boxes and distribute them over a two month period. All eight Rotary clubs provided volunteers for each of the four box assembly/packing dates and the two box distribution dates for a total of six volunteer opportunities in September and October.