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Our Club

Rotary Club of Bellingham is a diverse group of community leaders who, through bold vision and high aspirations, are committed to making our local and global community a better place and more peaceful place to live. Through fellowship, discovery and partnerships, we are dedicated to engaging and enriching the community and individual members by making a positive impact on the lives we encounter and serve, having fun along the way.

Our Mission

To provide business, professional and community leaders with a stimulating and all-inclusive dynamic organization which engages in enjoyable, ethical and efficient opportunities to support our local community and the world.

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Rotary Meetings

Visitors are welcome!

Our meetings are held at Whatcom Community College - Syre Hall, in Bellingham. We are also meeting via Zoom, so whatever your location and comfort needs are, you are welcome to join us!

You can view our club calendar which includes dates and times of meetings as well as upcoming speakers, Club social and service events, and more! For information on our meetings and how to join in the fun, contact us here.

As a service organization of business and community leaders, we will continue to make a positive impact in our local and global community during this challenging time.

Rotary is a global network of 1.4 million neighbors, friends, leaders, and problem-solvers who come together to make positive, lasting change in communities at home and abroad.

Why Join Rotary?

To be part of a global community focused on doing what they can to make the world a better place. The object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:

The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service.
- High ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; and the dignifying of each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve society.
The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s personal, business, and community life.
The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.
Learn more here.

Did you know?

Rotary was founded in Chicago in 1905 by attorney Paul Harris
There are more than 46,000 across the world and in more than 200 countries
Service Above Self and One Profits Most Who Serves Best are mottos of Rotary
One of Rotary’s guiding principles is the Four-Way Tes t.

About the Rotary Club of Bellingham

Established in 1917 as the 331^st Club in the world, the Rotary Club of Bellingham is the largest, most active and well-known service organization in the community. We are a leadership organization working together to make a difference. Our members include local business, nonprofit, professional and civic leaders and those driven to serve. We form lasting friendships through our shared Rotary experiences including weekly meetings with interesting speakers, committee meetings and projects, social events and group service projects within our community and internationally. Learn more about Rotary Club of Bellingham

Community History

When you join the Rotary Club of Bellingham, you are joining a rich tradition of movers and shakers who have made this community what it is. From Boulevard Park, the Arne Hanna Aquatic Center, the Bellingham Food Bank, Hospice House, and many more large projects were funded in-part by the Rotary Club of Bellingham. Learn more about our History and our Impact on Whatcom County.

See how we celebrated our 100^th anniversary in Whatcom County in 2017:

Rotary Club of Bellingham Foundation

Our Foundation is responsible for distributing almost $100,000 in scholarships every year to local worthy students. Learn more about RCOB Foundation.

Get Involved

Are you interested in attending an upcoming meeting? Whether you just want to learn more about Rotary, or speak to our club members, we'd love to have you visit! Contact us to set up a visit.

Join Rotary

Club activities, social events, and volunteer projects offer networking opportunities that build personal and professional connections.

Get involved with Rotary today!

The Rotary Club of Bellingham Provides Over $74,000 to the Community Boating Center for their Wheelhouse Building

Our major project funds went to the Community Boating Center in 2021-2022 for the construction of a new building on the CBC campus. The new building will be named the Rotary Wheelhouse in recognition of our support of this project. The building will include a classroom, deck overlooking the bay, storage, showers and handicapped-accessible bathroom.

While the building itself is a worthy project, what makes this something RCOB can enthusiastically support is the CBC’s impact on our community. The Boating Center amenities are available to anyone without any membership fee. It has programs for children as young as 5 to learn about marine life and water safety, they have a middle school sailing team, and there are a number of programs for people of a variety of ages and abilities. They make it a point to reach out to communities that might rarely or never have the experience of being on the water, such as participants at the Max Higbee Center (the recipient of our Major Project award in 2020-2021).

Many people and organizations have enthusiastically supporting this project. The Port has altered CBC’s lot line to make room for the building, they are also installing a new small watercraft dock, the sewer line is being extended at a greatly-reduced cost, and this is a fantastic opportunity for our Club to reinforce connections with community stakeholders. The addition of this new building is so vital to the CBC's growth…and vital to the importance of water recreation in our community. A project like this harkens back to why we took up a project like Boulevard Park many years ago – access to waterfront and the water is good for the soul of this community.

The Rotary Club of Bellingham Foundation Provides Over $90,000 in Scholarships

The Rotary Club of Bellingham Foundation has provided over $90,000 in scholarships to local, deserving students this school year.

The Foundation allotted $74,000 to provide for scholarships through the local Whatcom Dollars for Scholars program as well as named scholarships to be awarded based on agreements with donors. The Foundation provides Whatcom Dollars for Scholars criteria for these scholarships. The Mischaikow Scholarship of $2000 was also awarded to an excellent student with one or both parents born in a foreign country of excellence. The six Phil Millard Memorial Athletic Scholarships of $4000 each were also awarded to local students excelling at both athletics and academics.

In addition, The Foundation provided 14 scholarships through Bellingham Technical College, Western Washington University, and Whatcom Community College.

The Rotary Club of Bellingham Provides Over $84,000 to the Whatcom Center for Early Learning

The Rotary Club of Bellingham (RCOB) named the Whatcom Center for Early Learning (WCEL) as their recipient for their 2022-2023 major project grant funding. The Major Project Committee selected the WCEL due to the alignment of WCEL’s goals with RCOB’s goals - helping youth and families in the Whatcom County community.

WCEL’s grant proposal identified capital improvements needed at their Big Blue House location on H Street – making the building more accessible for those using strollers or wheelchairs by building a ramp, reimagining the playground and making it more inclusive with a special focus on what children with disabilities need. The WCEL is also working on a sensory path to provide opportunities for sensory engagement. These upgrades will ensure their facility is more accessible in order to better fulfill their mission and meet growing community needs.

The Rotary Club of Bellingham raised $84,216.91 for this upcoming work.

The Rotary Club of Bellingham Packs 37,152 Meals in Less Than 3 Hours

The Rotary Club of Bellingham teamed with Children of the Nations for a meal-packing event to benefit students in Sierra Leone. The Club’s original goal was to pack 30,000 meals in 3 hours and to raise $9,000 to fund this initiative. They exceeded that goal by raising $9,759.06 and packing 37,152 meals in less than 3 hours on April 22, 2023 in the Assumption Catholic School Gymnasium in Bellingham, Washington.

106 volunteers including Rotarians from the:

Rotary Club of Bellingham
Bellingham Bay Rotary
Bellingham Sunrise Club
Passport Club
and the Bellingham Rotaract Club plus volunteers from the community came together to accomplish this feat

Why Sierra Leone? It is a lush tropical country on the west coast of Africa that boasts beautiful beaches, picturesque mountains, and some of the richest natural resources and mineral deposits (including diamonds) in the world, but it is also one of the poorest countries in the world. It consistently ranks as one of the least developed countries on the United Nations Human Development Index. It also has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world (children dying before reaching age five).

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