Rotary Club of Winchester, MA, USA Club #6639, District 7930Under the leadership of PP Linda Doucette and current President Jeff Wheeler, The Winchester Club continued its outreach in the community during the 2020 pandemic without the benefit of a major fund raiser. Despite the limitations the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the town and region as a whole, we continue our partnerships with the Mission of Deeds, Meals on Wheels, Council of Social Concern and the Interact Club of Winchester High School, and maintain our sponsorships of Wrap-a-Smile Project, Rotary College Scholarships and outreach to the town's Jenks Senior Center.
With those partnerships in mind, our Club is currently assisting Mission of Deeds with their annual winter coat drive, which will provide new coats in need. Once a month, our Rotary members are providing transportation coverage for two (2) Meals-On-Wheels runs which deliver food to those in need. Our partnership with the Woburn Council of Social Concern has led to several successful Club sponsored food drives that are held on Saturdays at the Sons of Italy. This location offers great exposure for Rotary. After hearing there was a need for additional food items in general for the community, particularly peanut butter, a major Club effort was undertaken to procure a pallet of over 1000 jars of peanut butter for the Council's food pantry. In mid-November, a group of volunteers from the Club filled and delivered dozens of bountiful Council Thanksgiving Baskets for distribution to those in need. Around the same time, the Club also coordinated a generous donation of 336 Table Talk pies. The local Interact Club, which is run out of Winchester High School, has diligently worked hand in hand with our Club, pitching in to assist in the clean up and painting of the Winchester Recreation Center before its fall opening in September, volunteering their time to collect food donations at each of the food drives and initiating a Bottle & Can Recycling Drive as a fundraiser to give to children in Boston Children's Hospital Stem Cell unit during the holidays.
As far as our sponsorships are concerned, we worked with Wrap-a-Smile Project whose mission is to provide a quilt to every cleft palate patient who wants one globally. This summer we announced and awarded our Rotary College Scholarships to four deserving Winchester High School seniors. On the first day of school in Fall of 2020, the Club purchased large platters of cookies from a local bakery to deliver to all of the high school, middle school and several elementary schools to show our appreciation to the Principals and Staff for all of their education and academic efforts. And we have also funded drive by pastry and cookie handouts to The Jenks Senior Center, as a way to lift the spirits of the elderly in town during the pandemic lockdown and social isolation that comes from that.
In other areas, we continue to arrange a series of keynote speakers for our weekly Thursday Rotary Lunch Zoom meetings that educate our membership on everything from: public school opening plans from the town's Superintendent, local hospital initiatives to keep patients safe, medical doctors' attention to positive mental health and an organization's sustainable program that aims to reduce tribal southwest Kenya poverty to District 7930 and Rotary International current and upcoming projects and campaigns, just to name a few. We've also worked closely with the Winchester Chamber of Commerce's drive to promote and support small local businesses in town with their recent "SHOP 01890" and" 01890 Spirit Day's town-wide movements.
Although this year, 2020, has brought its share of challenges, Rotary Club of Winchester continues to use the passion, energy and unity of our membership to take action on projects to solve real problems with service leadership, commitment and vision.
Jeff Wheeler, President, Rotary Club of Winchester, #6639, District 7930 12/10/20