Home Page | Rotary Club of Westfield, MA

Jennifer Gruszka, president of the Rotary Club of Westfield, said “We are happy to be able to continue our long history of providing assistance to the many persons and organizations who try to make Westfield a better place to live and grow” Gruszka said. She went on to say “our youth are, of course, our future and we are pleased to help them reach their educational goals.”

Gruszka announced recently that grant applications will be accepted until the end of the month “from Westfield-based non-profit organizations that benefit the greater Westfield community.” Funds awarded will not exceed $1,500 and may be used for “any capital improvement project related to their mission, which follows the principles and ideals of the local Rotary Clubs as well as Rotary International.” In addition, the Westfield club will award three $1,000 scholarships to assist city residents graduating from any of the city’s four high schools to pursue their higher education goals.

The local Rotary Club meets on Mondays (except the first Monday of the month) at the Bubble Mug Cafe in The Pottery Cellar at The Mill at Crane Pond. Guests and prospective members are always welcome.

Please click here to access the grant application.

Please click here to access the scholarship application.

Rotary Youth Exchange

After a two-year pause, the ROTARY YOUTH EXCHANGE (RYE) is back!

Rotary Youth Exchange is an international student exchange program run by Rotary.

It is one of the largest and most respected international exchange programs that students and your Club can be a part of.

This International Exchange helps our youth, our Clubs and OUR communities better understand other cultures, gain new perspectives, and foster friendship and peace. The benefits are tremendous and life changing for our outgoing and incoming students.

District 7890 is looking to send several students in our district to study abroad for one school year.

These students should be enrolled in High School (Age 15 – 18 ½ at the time of their departure).

The process for accepting applications starts September 1st and ends October 30th, for students leaving next summer, 2023.

Your Club would need a 3-person committee to help find and recommend candidates from your local school district to encourage them to apply. They would also need to find 3 host families in your community (they do not need to be Rotarians) who would share hosting duties for an incoming international student in their home, for 3-month terms.

Your Club would also assist the incoming student with monthly check-ins, club visits and a nominal monthly stipend.

Comprehensive RI Youth Safety protocols will be in place for both outgoing and incoming exchange students.

For more information, or if your Club would like to participate in this program, please contact Brendan Goodrich, District Rotary Youth Exchange Chair, by September 15th. Brendan can be reached: p 860-773-3652 | c 860-883-2328 or bgoodrich@ionbank.com

Photos from Jazz Brunch

Click here to view photos from the 2022 Jazz Brunch.

Westfield Rotary Jazz Brunch

Join us on Sunday, May 1, 2022 for our first Jazz Brunch! This festive event will take place at Tekoa Country Club. Enjoy a delicious brunch, followed by the cool sounds of Wolf Pit Jazz with Dr. Ed.

Proceeds benefit the Westfield Rotary Scholarship Program. Attendees will meet three recent Westfield scholarship recipients.

Paul Harris Recognitions, given to those who exemplify Rotary's motto of Service Above Self, will also be awarded to Mary Boscher and Lisa McMahon.

Tickets are $50 per person. Click here to purchase tickets.

2022 Scholarship Program

The Rotary Club of Westfield is continuing its program of honoring high school students who have exhibited excellence as a student and as an individual.

The selected will receive a $1,000.00 check towards their future college/continuing education expenses and a Rotary Certificate of Achievement.

The following criteria will be used in determining the selection.

Students must be in their senior year of high school.
The student must maintain a good attendance record.
The student will have demonstrated community involvement.
The student should possess strong leadership qualities.
The student should be showing academic effort in all studies.
The student should exhibit a positive attitude towards themselves, their peers, teachers, and life.
The student shall exhibit the Rotary character traits of being truthful, being fair to all concerned, and building good will and better friendships with others.

The recipients will be invited to the Rotary Jazz Brunch on Sunday, May 1, 2022 at Tekoa Country Club. The recipients will be recognized for their achievements and will be presented their awards. Each recipient is invited to bring two guests to the Jazz Brunch.

Please respond by March 4, 2022, with your application and curriculum vitae.

Click here to access:

Scholarship Program Information

Scholarship Application

Please submit application to westfieldrotary7890@gmail.com

Please mail your selection to:

Rotary Club of Westfield

PO Box 754

Westfield, MA 01086

Rotary Offers Service Grants

One aspect of the Rotary Club of Westfield’s long history of service to the Westfield community is a program of service fund grants and the club is ready to offer this year’s direct grants to local non-profit entities.

The club’s grants committee has announced that applications for 2021 grants will be accepted during December.

The grants are open to non-profit agencies with 501c3 status and missions which follow the principles of Rotary International and local Rotary clubs.
Grants are available for capital improvement projects in support of the applicant organization’s mission in amounts not to exceed $1,500.

Applicants should submit an application prior to Dec. 31 with an accompanying narrative describing the purpose of the funding request.
Application forms can be found on the club’s website, westfieldrotary.org, and should be mailed (with the accompanying narrative and a copy of the organization’s 501c3 status) to the Grants Committee, Rotary Club of Westfield, P.O. Box 754, Westfield, MA, 01086.

For more information about these grants, or any other aspect of Rotary, interested parties may contact the club’s president, Carl Hartdegen, at 413 562 8557.

The club meets on Mondays at noon at the Bubble Mug Cafe in the Pottery Cellar on the ground level of the Mill at Crane Pond. Visitors and prospective members are always welcome.

Westfield Rotary helps St. Vincent de Paul Society

A grant from the Lynn Boscher COVID Relief Fund of the Rotary Club of Westfield has helped the St. Vincent de Paul Society continue it’s mission to help the hungry and financially challenged residents of the city.

The non-denominational society operating from St. Mary’s Church offers monthly donations of food, as well as financial support, to those in need and was the recipient of one of several $1,000 grants provided recently by the fund created in memory of former Rotarian Lynn Boscher by his widow, Mary Boscher.

Lynn Boscher, who died in 2019, had been a prominent resident of the city, serving on the City Council, the Westfield Chamber of Commerce and supporting (among other organizations) the Boys and Girls Club, the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts and the St. Mary’s PTO.
His widow established the fund in his memory with a $5,000 donation to the Rotary Club of Westfield, asking that the money be used to help persons affected by the COVID pandemic. The Rotary club more than tripled the assets of the fund and, to date, has made grants to several city organizations including the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

Kate Taibbi, president of the the Westfield chapter of the society, explained that the funds bolstered the society’s effort to help struggling city families. She said that the society provides food bundles to about 50 local recipients each month who have registered for assistance by calling the society at 413-568-5619.

The bulk of the food support are staples provided largely by the Western Massachusetts Food Bank, churches such as St. Mary’s, Holy Trinity and St. Peter’s and St. Casimir’s, as well as generous support from both the Big Y and Stop and Shop supermarkets.
Niamh Matthews, a volunteer helper from the Key Club at St. Mary’s High School, pointed out the the bundles often also include “fun items” such as popular breakfast cereals, cookies, snacks and chocolates provided by individual parishioners.

Taibbi said that cash donations, such as the grant from the Rotary club’s Boscher Fund, allow the society to help struggling families pay for their rent, utilities and other basic necessities.

“It takes a village”, she said, saying that she is grateful for all the help the society gets from the community.

Lynn Boscher Rotary Covid-19 Relief Fund

Westfield Rotary accepting scholarship applications

The Rotary Club of Westfield is continuing its program of honoring high school students who have exhibited excellence as a student and as an individual and is now accepting scholarship applications.

The selected will receive a $1,000.00 check towards their future college/continuing education expenses and a Rotary Certificate of Achievement.

The following criteria will be used in determining the selection.

• Students must be in their senior year of high school.

• The student must maintain a good attendance record.

• The student will have demonstrated community involvement.

• The student should possess strong leadership qualities.

• The student should be showing academic effort in all studies.

• The student should exhibit a positive attitude towards themselves, their peers, teachers, and life.

• The student shall exhibit the Rotary character traits of being truthful, being fair to all concerned, and building good will and better friendships with others.

The recipients will be invited to a Rotary meeting (every Monday at noon at Genesis Spiritual Center, tentative due to COVID) to be recognized for their achievements and to be presented their awards. The student recipients will have their lunch paid for by Rotary. The student may be accompanied by parents and those additional guests are asked to pay for their own lunches ($12.00).

Please respond back by August 1, 2020 with your application and curriculum vitae.

The Rotary Club will plan on making the presentations by the end of August.

Please click here to access the application or view under website Download Files.

Please submit application to westfieldrotary7890@gmail.com or

Please mail your selection to:

Rotary Club of Westfield

PO Box 754

Westfield, MA 01086

Westfield Food Fest - 2020 Hiatus

Rotary Westfield Food Fest - No Fest for 2020

Rotary helps protect senior citizen lives

The Westfield Rotary Club helps the Westfield Senior Center with the installation of lockbox's.

Westfield Rotary Club Helps Fund Community Center in Nicaragua

Twenty-three students and two faculty members from Westfield State University travelled to Granada, Nicaragua at the beginning of January as a service learning course.

Within two weeks, they worked alongside local builders to help construct a community center for the residents in a village outside of Granada.

In addition to building, the members immersed themselves into the culture and community they were working in, through various activities such as exploring local markets and planning lessons to teach children in the area.

On the last day, the builders, children, families and the Westfield State group got together to celebrate the new community center.

The Rotary Club of Westfield supported this project with a building materials grant to the Institute for Central American Studies in the amount of $1,500.00 which we presented on December 4, 2017.

Westfield Rotary Donates to Athenaeum

Westfield Athenaeum gets Rotary grant

Global Grants

The members of the Rotary Club of Westfield were visited at their regular Monday meeting by members of the West Springfield Rotary Club, Bob MacDonald and Dan Marini (President), who thanked the Westfield Rotarians for their support of project to help schoolchildren in India.

Rotary Social is engaging

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