Each year the Rotary Club of Schaumburg-Hoffman Estates awards grants to not-for-profit organizations which serve the citizens of Schaumburg and/or Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The club provides these grants in an effort to strengthen our network of support, addressing basic needs and empowering those in need in our community. This year the Rotary Club of Schaumburg-Hoffman Estates made grants totaling over $30,000. Checks were presented to representatives of the selected organizations at the regular club meeting on Friday, 11 May.

Additional photos may be viewed by clicking on the 2018 Project Selection Recipients in the right-hand column of this page.

Community Service Saturday!

Saturday, 19 May was a busy day for Schaumburg-Hoffman Estates Rotarians. While some of our members were at the District 6440 Conference in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, others were busy with two different community service projects.

One team spent their time on our first roadside clean-up of the season. Our club is responsible for the section of Golf Road between Roselle and Plum Grove Road. In spite of uncooperative weather, our fearless ROAD WARRIORS Brian Townsend, Brian Berg, Rosemary Justen and Jack Lucas completed the task, leaving that stretch of road in good shape for the start of a new season.

A second group of Rotarians and friends gathered at the Children’s Advocacy Center located at 640 Illinois Blvd. to do the spring clean-up and planting at our club's Healing Butterfly garden built for CAC last year. They were joined by Mark Parr, Director of the center. The construction and maintenance of this garden is an ongoing project of our club. Photos from this workday may be viewed in the photo album section of this home page.

Check Presentation

On Monday, 9 April 2018 our club president, Cris Hinojosa, presented a check from the Rotary Club of Schaumburg-Hoffman Estates to the new Rotary Northwest Supper Club which meets on Monday evenings at Biaggi’s in Algonquin. This club includes the areas of Crystal Lake, Lake in the Hills and Huntley.

The check was a new club charter gift from our Club. We are pleased to welcome this newest addition to the District 6440 Rotary family.

Scholarship News

Fishing Well’s early success prompts additional financial commitment from Rotary Club

Harper College News Bureau
March 16, 2018

Four current Schaumburg/Hoffman Estates Rotary Fishing Well Scholarship recipients (left to right): Sarah Yeo, Karen Schimpf, Oscar Alvarado and Carlos Segura

The Rotary Club of Schaumburg/Hoffman Estates has been so impressed by the early success of its innovative Fishing Well Scholarship through Harper College, the club couldn’t pass up an opportunity to increase its support even more.

“By providing access to higher education for those that may not have it, (scholarship recipients) improve their lives, their family and the entire community by having better employment opportunities and more earning power,” said Eileen Higginbotham, the Rotary Club’s Director of Community Service. “As the program started to roll out, we saw the potential and the results. We thought, ‘Well, let’s see what we can do to extend this.’”

ROTARY’S RUN FOR THE ROSES held 3 March 2018 at the Arlington International Racecourse Million Room

The Rotary Club of Schaumburg-Hoffman Estates holds its major fundraising event each year in March. This year’s event was a great success. Although final figures are not yet in, we are happy to report that significant funds were raised in support of the work of our charitable foundation for the coming year. These funds will enable continued support of many community projects, including our various scholarship programs, and financial assistance to our service partners such as Gigi’s Playhouse, Wings, Blessings in a Backpack, the Schaumburg Barn Senior Center, School District 54’s Food Pantry, the Children’s Advocacy Center, the Kenneth Young Center, and many others.

It is because of the hard work of our Rotarians and the generous support of event sponsors that we achieved our goals for this event. Thank you to all who worked so hard over the past months!

In addition to helping raise the money needed to continue our work in the community and around the world, this event is also a time of great fun and fellowship. Photos from the event are posted in a Photo Album that may be accessed on our home page at the right.

2018 Project Grants Process Has Begun

The Rotary Club of Schaumburg-Hoffman Estates engages in year-round fundraising to make possible a wide range of service project in our communities and around the world. Each year the club’s The Rotary Club of Schaumburg-Hoffman Estates award grants to not-for-profit organizations which are either located within or serve the citizens of Schaumburg and/or Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The club provides these grants in an effort to strengthen our network of support, addressing basic needs and empowering those in need in our community. This year the the Rotary Club of Schaumburg-Hoffman Estates The Rotary Club of Schaumburg-Hoffman Estates will award up to $25,000 in such grants.

Club Met at GiGi's Playhouse

On Friday 17 November Rotarians from the Schaumburg-Hoffman Estates club gathered at our Community partner GiGi's Playhouse in Hoffman Estates. Lunch was provided by Best Truckin' BBQ and served to us by the GiGi's program participants, who also joined us for lunch.

Community Service - Roadside Clean-up

On Saturday, October 28^th, a small, but dedicated group of Rotarians braved the elements to collect 7 bags of garbage from the area of Golf Road between Roselle Road and Plum Grove Road. Rotarians that participated were Brian Berg, Bill Kelley, Glenn Szurgot, Jean Schlinkmann, Jack Lucas, Bob Fleisher, and Brian Townsend. In addition, 2 of our Fishing Well program members, Brian Callero and Carlos Segura, assisted with the effort.

It is amazing how much refuse accumulates in just a few short months, but it was no match for the efforts of the Schaumburg-Hoffman Estates Rotary Club. Keeping the community clean helps to instill pride in our villages and we’re proud to support the Roadside Clean-up Program.

Rotaract Club at Harper College

A Rotaract service club began at Harper College this year! In collaboration with the Rotary Club of Schaumburg / Hoffman Estates & Barrington Breakfast Rotary, Schaumburg AM Rotary Club sponsored a Rotaract Club at Harper College in Palatine. This student-led club held its inaugural meeting on Harper’s campus this September with 15 of its 20+ inaugural members in attendance. Club members had the opportunity to get to know one another a bit at the meeting & many great ideas were shared! The club’s focus is on performing community service & they facilitated their first service project on Friday, September 22 by helping to clean up and beautify a park in the Arlington Heights community.

Polio Eradication Remains Rotary's Goal

Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for over 30 years, and our goal of ridding the earth of this disease is in sight. We started in 1979 with vaccinations for 6 million children in the Philippines. Today, Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan are the only countries where polio remains endemic.

Friendship Exchange Going to Taiwan

Three member of the Rotary Club of Schaumburg-Hoffman Estates -- Jillian Bernas, Anita Forte-Scott and Bill Kelley -- are participating in the second half of a Rotary Friendship Exchange between Districts 6440 and 3461. The sixteen-member team began their visit to Taiwan on 7 November. They will be visiting at least eight clubs while in District 3461. This visit comprises a cultural exchange and a service project. Some of the Rotarians travelling from District 6440 will be leading and immersion English as a Second Language (ESL) experience for elementary students in Taiwan.

A delegation of Taiwanese Rotarians came to our district in June. They were hosted by District 6440 Rotarians, attended clubs in our district, including Schaumburg-Hoffman Estates and visited many cultural sites in the area and well as enjoying a number of fellowship opportunities.

The Rotary Foundation

The Rotary Foundation transforms your gifts into projects that change lives both close to home and around the world. As the charitable arm of Rotary, we tap into a global network of Rotarians who invest their time, money, and expertise into our priorities, such as eradicating polio and promoting peace. Foundation grants empower Rotarians to approach challenges such as poverty, illiteracy, and malnutrition with sustainable solutions that leave a lasting impact.

Strong financial oversight, a stellar charity rating, and a unique funding model mean that we make the very most of your contribution. Give and become a part of Rotary’s life-changing work! http://www.rotary.org