by Kirby Lindsay, posted 9 March 2012
Donate your gently used books to the Rotary Club of Fremont right now, and know they will get into grateful hands of readers and learners in South Africa and India.
Children’s picture/story books, adult fiction, adult non-fiction, professional reference books, K – 12 textbooks and even copies of National Geographic and/or Smithsonian magazines are sorely needed – and on March 31st the Fremont Rotary Club (also known as the Fremont Fun Club) will sort, pack and ship off (hopefully) a pallet of books, with your help!
The Power of Fremont Rotary
Rotary Clubs bring together business people in fellowship to perform philanthropic works that help our community, and the international community as well.
Clubs meet weekly, to hear a presentation, update information on on-going service projects and share information about their lives and the wider community.
Every Tuesday, at 5:30p, the Rotary Club of Fremont meets at Hale’s Ales Brewery, when service projects don’t interfere. “Fremont gets the highest percentage of participants to show up for service projects,” explained current Fremont club president Chris Pierard, “especially given our size.”
Fremont Rotary is a small club – with 20 – 30 members – but also well-known as a very active club. They preempted the weekly meeting on March 7th for a benefit held at the Backdoor @ Roxy’s for Walk For Life, a non-profit that treats children born with club foot in Bangladesh.
The meeting the second Tuesday in March, on the 13th, will also be service oriented as members gather to build sandwiches with ingredients donated by Roxy’s Diner and PCC – Fremont. Each month he Fremont Fun Club makes 250 – 400 sandwiches (“depending on how much stuff we get donated,” explained Pierard,) for distribution by Operation Nightwatch and the Compass Center.
The Power Of Rotary
In addition to weekly meetings, on Saturday, March 31st club members will gather to pack a pallet of books as their service for ‘Rotarians-At-Work-Day.’ Clubs all over Rotary District 5030 (covering the Pacific Northwest area) will collect books as part of the ‘Books for the World’ project, and deliver the boxes to warehouses in Kent (donated by Western Van Lines and Northwest Harvest.) The books, “can be sent unsorted,” to the warehouse, Pierard admitted, “but Fremont chooses to sort them out, and pack a pallet.”
The boxes, loaded on pallets, will be loaded into shipping containers and sent to Rotary Clubs in District 9300 (South Africa) and District 3131 (India.) There Rotarians will unpack the containers, sort and distribute the books into waiting hands. The power of Rotary exists partially in having those responsible contacts in far off lands who can see the project successfully carried out, and report back.
Not every Rotary Club must participate in ‘Books For The World.’ Clubs, and other Districts, can select other projects for ‘Rotarians-At-Work-Day.’ “The intent is all of us get together and work together on a service project,” Pierard said. This project, he explained, “enables us to adhere to the Rotary mandate, but also to gather and work hard together.” Attendance at the book-packing-party is not mandatory for members, Pierard allowed, but most likely nearly all will attend.
The Power of Philanthropy
The Fremont Fun Club members obviously prefer active projects, rather than writing a check or simply sitting and listening to weekly presentations (although the Fremont Rotary does that too.) This fits with the Fremont club’s motto: ‘Do good, feel good, drink beer.’
In addition to the book drive, the Rotary Club of Fremont will hold a fundraiser this spring/summer to raise money for some of their regular causes, including FamilyWorks and B.F. Day Elementary School. The club sponsors an exchange student – right now their student from Taiwan is attending Ballard High School.
For those who want to find out more about Rotary, and those who want to join, stop by Hale’s on Tuesday at 5:30p – and get some dinner and fellowship for your $15 meeting fee. Technically, Pierard agreed, attendees must be invited by a Rotarian but, “we’re a loosey-goosey club,” he joked, “every club in the District knows that.” Ultimately, he explained, “if someone is interested in getting involved, and doing good in our community,” he hopes they will visit.
The Power Of Books – And How To Donate!
Last year the Fremont Rotary also packed a pallet of books, and History House donated most of them from their used book sale, “but they don’t have as many as last year,” Pierard noted. Fremont Rotary – and South Africa and India – need your books. Please consider donating.
Donate books at Hale’s Ales Brewery on Tuesday evenings between 5:30 – 7p during Rotary meetings (held upstairs in the conference room.) Or drop them off at History House at Noon on March 31st, and meet the Rotarians who will sort and pack them for shipment. Large donations, and those unable to drop off their donation, can contact Pierard for a pick-up at chris@fremontrotary.com
Or, as the Fremont Fun Club might say, ‘Do good, feel good, donate books!’
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©2012 Kirby Lindsay. This column is protected by intellectual property laws, including U.S. copyright laws. Reproduction, adaptation or distribution without permission is prohibited.