Rotary Foundation Award

On Wednesday, November 13, Rotary District 7210, in which Pawling’s Rotary Club resides, held its annual Rotary Foundation celebration to acknowledge the support of local clubs for Foundation activity and growth.  The Rotary Foundation is a major international nonprofit that supports underserved communities around the world.

During November, the declared Rotary Foundation Month, celebrations are held within each district to pay tribute to those Rotarians who have gone “above and beyond” in supporting the Foundation within their club.  This year’s event, held at Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie, New York, honored Earl Crawford, Pawling Rotary’s Foundation chair for many years, posthumously.  Earl recently passed away, leaving a hole in the collective hearts of all in the club, and club members were elated that the district had chosen him as the recipient of the prestegeous Jeffrey Keahon Foundation Award.

The Foundation Award is given to Rotarians of distinction for their efforts on the Foundation’s behalf, promoting and supporting the Foundation at the district level.  Earl Crawford was just such a Rotarian.  His fundraising efforts for the Foundation within the Pawling club were sweet, gentle, and most effective.  Attending the event in support of Earl’s recognition were Pawling Rotarians Richard Harshbarger, Lori Johnson, Scott Shafer, Susan Stone, Jeffrey Asher, and club president Medina Khalil, who accepted the award on Earl’s behalf.

Dictionary Day

November 12^th was one of Pawling Rotary’s favorite days of the year, as all third-grade students in Pawling’s elementary school were awarded their very own personalized dictionaries…a special gift from the Pawling club that is presented every November.  Club members John Ammaturo, youth outreach chair, Richard Harshbarger, Dictionary Day project chair, and Medina Khalil, club president, were there to make this much-anticipated presentation, whereupon students immediately began to explore the wonders of spelling, word usage, and parts of speech, all of which are readily available within the covers of this eloquently simple, non-tech tome.

Mizzentop third graders will receive their dictionaries after the first of the year, so another day of delight on the part of students, Rotarians, teachers and administrators awaits.

The Interact Club

Pawling’s Interact Club, sponsored by Pawling Rotary, is a service club for teens 12 to 18 years of age who are committed to serving their community.  Pawling’s Club is a joint project of Pawling’s Rotary Club and Pawling Recreation.  Rotarian John Ammaturo and Pawling Recreation’s Carly McGrath are mentoring this group of 20-plus teens as they explore ways in which to make a difference.

This year, Interact members volunteered at the Rotary Club’s Fall Fest, assisting with activities for the younger children who attended, and manning the Fall Fest Shake Shack, where they earned dollars to fund their service projects.  Projects embarked on so far this year include purchasing and packing items into specialty shoeboxes for disadvantaged boys and girls age 2 to 14.  Each box contains personal care items, school supplies, warm gloves and socks, pajamas, and small toys that were then sent for distribution to Samaritan’s Purse and their “Operation Christmas Child” shoebox initiative, an international outreach program.  Also, during the month of November, the group conducted a food drive for the Pawling Resource Center and delivered essential product for our neighbors in need.

Interact’s leadership team for 2024-2025 includes co-presidents Lucas Walsh and Kevin Reynolds, vice president Kevin Greco, co-secretaries Elizabeth Walsh and Izzy Papa, treasurer Sam Fielder, and social media chair Maia Dumas.

Teens interested in joining the Interact Club may simply attend a meeting held every Tuesday at 7:00 pm at the Teen Center.

Coat Drive Rotary’s annual coat drive, benefiting the families and seniors of the Pawling Resource Center, ran from October 15^th thru November 30^th.  More than 250 coats were donated and immediately distributed throughout the six-week drive.  Coat drive chairwoman Paula Aguilar was busy collecting new and gently used coats from donation boxes located at the Lathrop Center at Lakeside Park, PCSB, the Pawling Library, and M&T Bank.  The Rotary Club is grateful for the kindness and generosity of the Pawling Community, and thanks everyone for making what we do possible!