Our Club is Hard at Work with Several Important Projects, Help is Needed From All
The Widener Holiday Party: Usually held the week before Winter Break
Together with Jenkintown Rotary and the Interact Clubs from Jenkintown and Widener Memorial we host a holiday party for the children at Widener Memorial School. This is a school for children with physical disabilities. The party is held just before the beginning of winter break. There are snacks, songs, and fellowship with the children capped off with a special visit by Santa to deliver gifts for each child in the program.
Our donations go for individual gifts for these neediest of children. The Interact Club of Jenkintown has been shopping for the presents. In addition, a donation is usually made to the Home and School Association for use to supply their needy children with gloves, hats, and scarves or to provide the school with needed equipment.
Check the “Save the Date” page to see what we are up to
2nd Police District Advisory Council supports the efforts on the neighborhood officers around safety and quality of life issues. Our Rotary Club is a member organization of the advisory council, participating in monthly meetings. Our Rotary Club in partnership with NYLife has made available free identification kits for neighborhood children at the annual 2nd PDAC Community Day and at TBYN Northeast Celebration.
New Courtland Life, a non-profit that provides medical, transportation and day programs for nursing home eligible older adults aging in place at home has provided Thanksgiving turkeys for distribution to families with an older adult in the household. NE Sunrisers have augmented those Turkeys with the fixings for a complete Thanksgiving Dinner and delivered those to homes of older adults identified by Northeast NORC.
Northeast NORC provides community based support for the older adults aging in place in their own homes in Northeast Philadelphia Zip codes 19111, 19114, 19115, 19116, 19149 and 19152. NE Sunrisers volunteers provide support specifically with “Fix For A Friend” services for seniors during Winterization, MLK Service and Spring Cleaning days. We also mentor and provide transportation for Rotoractors from both Arcadia University and Manor College who participate with us on those days.
Twice a year, our club participates in the Fall and Spring Senior Cleanup day sponsored by the Rhawnhurst NORC. We help the seniors by cleaning up their yards, changing batteries in their smoke detectors, winterizing their doors and windows, putting in or removing window/door screens etc. There are lots of projects available to match your skills. All are welcome and needed.
Take Back Your Neighborhood is a Registered Neighborhood Organization in Northeast Philadelphia specifically focused on the Castor Gardens / Oxford Circle neighborhood. Activities include monthly meetings on local zoning issues and presentations about services offered by Philadelphia City Departments and local organizations
Cook for a Friend We cook up to 200 meals 4-6x/year. We then pack and freeze them. Volunteers deliver food sufficient for a week of meals to the homes of elderly frail and homebound seniors in our community. These meals significantly improve the lives of these food insecure people. We usually have 8-10 or more Rotarians and family members come out each time. Not only are we doing important work, but we have a great time in the process. This project is ongoing.
Dictionary Project Our members visit local schools and give away dictionaries to every third-grader there. While we are there, we also teach the students the importance of words- words can heal and words can hurt.
Mitzvah Mania Our members assist with volunteer projects at the JYC including packing meals for shut-ins.
DePaul USA The DePaul House at 5725 Sprague Street provides transitional housing for formerly homeless men 18-65 yrs of age. We have assisted with the Annual BBQ in conjunction with the Brotherhood lodge of the Pennsylvania Freemasons and have outfitted a computer lab at the St Raymond’s home. We regularly donate gently used clothing to them for both men and women.
Hearts for Autism HeARTs for Autism® is a grass-roots, volunteer, charitable, non-profit organization of parents, kids, professionals and artists committed and inspired to use art therapeutically with ASD persons and their families, while educating the public about ASD and advocating for integrated, improved services. We have participated in their clothing drive and other events.