Projects

About Our Projects

We have ten strong members and would love to have more join our team. We believe that this the most important work our club could ever be involved in because it affects children, families, and our entire community. District 7690, Summit Foundation, and members of Summit Rotary have funded our initiatives and allowed us to provide support for our community.

Meals Of Hope

Meals of Hope is a 501(c)3 that started with the idea of making nutritious meals available to children that are hungry and facing food insecurity right here in our community. To a child who is dealing with the stress and insecurity of not knowing how or when they will receive their next meal, a comforting bowl of Macaroni and Cheese or Beans and Rice (both fortified with soy protein and 21 vitamins and minerals), provides a bit of hope to carry them through another day. Since 2012, Summit Rotary has been involved in holding meal packing events twice a year. It is a fun event working with fellow club members to package these meals and is extremely rewarding to see how many meals we can provide to those in need!

McKnight Scholarships

In 1985 Summit Rotary Club, with a contribution from Buck Campbell, established a single $500.00 scholarship. At the urging of Ken Newbold, the Greensboro School Superintendent at the time, the club decided to rotate the scholarship to each of the city schools on a 4 year cycle.

Student Improvement

This award publicly recognizes middle and high school students in Guilford County. Each recipient has demonstrated improvement in one or all academic, social, and personal areas of his or her life. These students have taken an active role in overcoming their hardships, and must act as role models for other students going through similar challenges.

Moscow Club

In 1990 Rotary International chartered the first Rotary Club in Russia following the breakup of the Soviet Union. The Rotary Club of Moscow was that Club and continues to lead the Rotary Community in Russia. Summit Rotary Club became a Sister Club to the Moscow Rotary Club in 1993. The initial idea came from Michael Jones, one of our members who attended a make-up meeting at the Moscow Club while in Russia on business in 1991.

Free The Kids

Summit Rotary has supported the Espwa orphanage in Les Cayes, Haiti since 2008. Free the Kids is the charity providing funding for the orphanage. Father Marc, a former Catholic chaplain in the Navy founded the orphanage in 1999 with 15 children. In 2019 they have 300 full time children, a medical dental clinic, six schools with an enrollment of over 12,000 serving 2,000 meals a day. Espwa is a shining light in a dysfunctional country. It provides hope to clean, well fed, happy children, teachers, house moms and suppport staff. The video shows the latest project for the orphanage.

Summit Rotary’s First 1000 Days

The First 1000 Days team supports a critical movement in Guilford County to increase the success of all youngsters, providing opportunities for school and life. 45% of Guilford County’s youngsters are literacy-ready for kindergarten. A 30,000 vocabulary gap exists among our young children. 80% of a child’s brain develops by age 3, a crucial time for parents and children. In 2016 our Rotary Club read Roger Thurow's The First 1000 Days, the story of a non-profit going into poverty-stricken areas of four countries, including the U.S. It had great results by providing strategies for parents on nutrition, health and interaction during the first 1000 days in the life of a child. After discussion, we began to look at efforts of our own county of Guilford. We learned so much about how various agencies support youngsters

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Ready for School, Ready for Life (Ready, Ready)

In 2017 we were selected to partner with a new initiative called Ready for School, Ready for LIfe (Ready, Ready). Its goal is to provide a great start in life for all of our youngsters and to increase the number of literacy-ready kindergarteners. We first trained to provide 12 weeks of research-based LENA Start lessons designed to increase a child’s vocabulary.

Guilford Basics

We are currently participating in the communication of Ready, Ready’s new project called Guilford Basics, a five-step national program to increase the success of youngsters in their early years. This program is funded through the Cemela Foundation. Our goal is to help permeate the county with information about the five steps needed to increase the opportunities for youngsters. We attended training and we are distributing a minimum of 3000 fliers/posters describing the five steps and giving the web-site of valuable info for parents. We also currently sponsor a rolling billboard in our county that describes Guilford Basics

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A&T’s Table For Two

We also partner with A&T’s Table for Two, a non-profit component of a state and national program called EFNEP serving pregnant moms. We provide incentives for participants who complete a 7-week course on nutrition and healthy living for their youngsters. These incentives include pack’n plays and bathtubs full of items needed for a newborn. In May of 2019 we received an EFNEP state award for our work and in February we were mentioned in NC Agricultural Extension Agency’s newsletter.

Little Free Libraries

This year our team has agreed to also sponsor Little Free Libraries. We are currently reviewing each site for needs such as painting, books, etc. and will make repairs as needed.

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