Defining community service
To Pell City Rotary Club, “Serve to Change Lives” is more than Rotary International’s theme for 2021. It’s the standard for this club this year and every year.
Not even a pandemic could stop Pell City Rotary from its mission. In big ways and small ways, the club leaves a lasting impact that does indeed change lives.
For years, it has been bringing daddies and daughters together for a special evening of dancing, fun and making memories that will last a lifetime. The annual Father-Daughter Dance is one of the most anticipated events in the community each year, serving as a catalyst for strengthening the bonds only a father and daughter can share.
But when the pandemic hit yet another surge, the dance was cancelled. Enterprising Rotary members had a better idea. They prepared hundreds of boxes full of surprises and goodies and an idea list of ways fathers and daughters could spend time together.
One idea was to watch a movie together and nestled in the midst of all the coupons for ice cream cones and meals they also could share, was the starring attraction – popcorn. Father + daughter + popcorn + movie. Now, that’s a winning formula for making relationships stronger.
Always the epitome of a communitywide event where everyone pitches in, under ordinary circumstances, Southland Golf Carts that shuttled fathers and daughters to and from the dance would have been a leading participant.
This year, the community still came together despite no dance.
For the boxes:
Dairy Queen gave coupons for free ice cream cones.
Chick-fil-A provided coupons for free kids’ meals.
DJ Carson Bruce put together a playlist with a QR code for families to scan to listen to at home together.
Main Street Memories added the popcorn as the box’s centerpiece.
City of Pell City stored items at the municipal complex and loaned the space to assemble boxes and distribute.
The Pell City Fire Department set up tents for distribution.
Rotary volunteers assembled and distributed boxes.
And the end result were hundreds of fathers and daughters making new memories courtesy of Pell City Rotary Club.
Giving so Rotary can give
Rotary has two major fundraisers per year besides the Father-Daughter Dance – Ray Cox Memorial Golf Tournament and the annual Rotary Tennis Tournament.
Through these fundraisers, Rotary is able to do what it does best giving in service to others. Again, it is more than just raising money. It is about community in its truest sense, bringing people together for a good cause.
From those who sponsor the tournaments to those who play in them and the countless volunteers that make these successful events happen, the community rallies in support, knowing that their investment of time and funding brings sizable returns for good works throughout the city and beyond year after year.
Benefitting from grants given this year alone are: Lakeside Park, Pell City Center for Education and the Performing Arts, Easterseals Community Clinic, Habitat for Humanity, United Way, Children’s Place Child Advocacy Center, Christian Love Pantry, Boy Scouts, St. Clair Literacy Council, Toys for Kids, Library Guild, YWCA, Mustard Seed Society, Ann’s New Life Center, Logan Martin Tennis Association, PCHS Show Choir, Kennedy Elementary School and the Pell City Education Foundation.
With a boost from Pell City Rotary and a district grant, the Col. Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home now has an impressively designed, professional putting green, a small tribute to their service and sacrifice.
Weekly Mission
Each Tuesday, Rotarians gather together for lunch. Beyond a time of networking and fellowship, it is a time to learn more about their community and ways Rotary can help.
The club hosts expert speakers in their fields and leaders with a cause – all aimed at enlightening and inspiring Rotarians as they seek to make their community a better place for all.
Forty-seven years ago, 25 businessmen founded the club that has grown more than three-fold and continues to thrive. Their focus was service above self.
Today, that vision never wavers, it has only strengthened in time by serving to change lives. l
