Ithaca Rotary Club Launches Fundraiser for Puerto Rico Recovery with 25 Area Sponsors
The Rotary Club of Ithaca, with the help of more than 20 local restaurants, is raising $10,000 for disaster recovery in Puerto Rico by organizing a raffle that features a dozen dinners valued at $100 each as the grand prize. Four other gift certificate prize packages valued from $150 to $500 are also available, for a total of five prizes. Only 200 tickets are being sold until February 14 at $50 each, and are available online at www.rotarydozendinnerdraw.org and in person at The Pack 'N Ship Store, 101 East State Street, The Commons, Ithaca.
The Dozen Dinner Draw, initiated by the Ithaca Rotary Club’s International Service Committee, is modeled on a similar raffle organized by a Rotary Club in the Toronto area. When Dennis Gray, a former member of that club, relocated to the Ithaca area, he was impressed with the variety of fine dining establishments in Tompkins County and thought the raffle would be a great fit for the community.
“The purpose of this is to raise funds for international service projects so that we can have a more significant impact on what our Club does on the international stage with Rotary,” Gray said.
The funds will be used for a variety of water and sanitation disaster recovery projects in Puerto Rico, which suffered catastrophic infrastructure damage from Hurricane Maria last September.
“Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation do such tremendous work around the world and our Club wants to raise the profile of these initiatives in our community,” added Nancy Potter, co-chair of the Rotary Club of Ithaca’s International Service Committee, which is organizing the fundraiser. “Ticket buyers have a 1 in 40 chance of winning a fabulous prize and your generous contribution supports long-term recovery for Puerto Rico.”
The participating restaurants are featured at www.rotarydozendinnerdraw.org and are listed below.
The winners of the Dozen Dinner Draw raffle will be selected at a gala Valentine’s Day gourmet dinner that will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, February 14, at the Country Club of Ithaca, 189 Pleasant Grove Road, Ithaca. All are invited to this Dozen Dinner Draw event; need not be present to win. Reservations for the dinner at $45 per person can be made by calling 607-257-0010.
The 25 Dozen Dinner Draw sponsor restaurants are: Agava, August Moon Spa @ La Tourelle, Coltivare, Country Club of Ithaca, Gola Osteria, Inn at Taughannock, Joe's Restaurant, John Thomas Steakhouse, Kilpatrick's Publick House, Little Venice, Mahogany Grill, Maxie's Supper Club & Oyster Bar, Mercato Bar & Kitchen, Mix, Monks on the Commons, Moosewood Restaurant, Nikki Green Restaurant, Northstar House, Sahara Mediterranean Restaurant, Tamarind, Taverna Banfi, The Antlers, The Boatyard Grill, The Heights Restaurant & H Bar, and Zaza's Cucina. All are featured at www.rotarydozendinnerdraw.org
For more information, contact Nancy Potter at potternancy20@gmail.com or 607-591-5811.
Losurdo grew up in King Ferry, New York and graduated from Michigan State University. She is married to Frank Losurdo and they live in Ithaca, NY. Their son John is a junior at Michigan State University.
At its June 28 meeting, long-time Ithaca Rotary member Scott Russell was named Rotarian of the Year for 2016-17. The award is given every June in honor of an active club member who exemplifies the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self.”