Nevada Rotary focuses on schools, youth

Name of club: Nevada Rotary Club

Meeting day, time and location:

Thursdays, noon, Nevada Country Club

Local club founded: April 2, 1926

Historical point of interest: We don't own any property.

Current membership: 76

Current officers and board:

President Steve Reed, President-elect Jeff Feuquay, President-nominee Jennifer Gundy, Treasurer Ralph Shumaker, Secretary Larry Bradley, Past President Bob Beaver, International Service Michael Brown, Vocational Service Mary Ireland, Membership Brian Bloom, Community Service Jeremy Fast, Benevolence Candice Moore, Carol Branham Member -- Chair of Citizen of the Year, Paul Harris Fellow

Club projects:

Our club likes to fund projects for the schools and for youth. We furnish dictionaries to every third grader in the county. We sponsor the Middle School Science Fair. We provide three $500 college scholarships to area students. We sponsor Nevada High School's student participants in Boys' State and Girls' State. We fund attendance at Rotary's Youth Leadership Awards camp in Oklahoma. We also provide funds for NRMC's Prescription Program, ring bells for the Salvation Army, work with Cottey's Rotaract Club (a Rotary-affiliated group for young people), and help sponsor Boy Zone at the middle school. We have provided funds for the Shop with a Cop program and this year will be sending a contribution to the Community Toy Drive. We also host and sponsor the annual Citizen of the Year award for Nevada, and sponsor a Paul Harris Fellowship to a deserving local Rotarian each year as well.

Main fundraising activities:

The Club hosts a 5K run in the spring (The Run Amuck 5K), and in December hosts a Christmas Auction at a regular club meeting, with bids on our goodies and prizes to help fund our local benevolences. Other funds come through the club's voluntary "100 Club" contribution program.

Who joins and how?

Anyone is welcome to join Rotary. The best way is to ask a Rotarian to take you to a meeting. Don't know who might be a Rotarian in Nevada? Call Steve Reed at (417) 667-8181, ext. 2140, and tell him you'd like to visit. If interested in joining, a prospective member fills out an application and submits it to the board. The board votes on approval of new members once a month at its regular meeting.

Anything else noteworthy?

Part of a Rotarian's dues go to support worldwide benevolence projects through Rotary International. One of the biggest is Polio Plus, Rotary's initiative to eliminate polio in the world. In the decades since this project began, Rotary has managed to eliminate polio from all but three countries in the world. For more information on Rotary International, visit the Web site at www.rotary.org.