The Brainerd area is blessed to be home to many fantastic service organizations dedicated to any number of outstanding causes that benefit our local community, as well as the world at large. The Brainerd Rotary Club is privileged to be one of the oldest service organizations in our community, and we pride ourselves on being not only a community partner in the Brainerd area, but throughout the globe as well.
Rotary International is an international services organization with the motto of "Service Above Self" who brings together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian services and build peace and goodwill in the world. On a global scale, Rotary may be most well known for efforts to eradicate polio throughout the world. The Brainerd Rotary Club has also had a global impact in participating and sponsoring housing, school and water projects in Haiti, and recently has collaborated with Rotary clubs from Canada and Australia to support a clinic in Timor Leste.
At a local level, The Brainerd Rotary Club and the Brainerd Rotary Foundation have supported numerous community and youth events and projects. With the Brainerd Dispatch, we have proudly co-sponsored the Brainerd High School Hall of Fame event to annually recognize distinguished alumni of BHS. We've also partnered with the city of Brainerd to sponsor the annual community Easter egg hunt; and were happy to sponsor the Positive Charge campaign celebrating the Brainerd Lakes area a few years ago. Recently, we've worked to acquire 38 acres of land and 1,400 feet of Mississippi River frontage located in the city of Brainerd and donate it to the city for use as a park. Rotary Riverside Park is a natural scenic area that is a passive park located just south of Kiwanis Park, that we hope will become a great community resource.
February celebrates the anniversary of Rotary worldwide and is an opportunity for us to celebrate the Rotary International theme of the year which is "Light Up Rotary". To celebrate this in our community, we would like to invite one and all to celebrate
Valentine's Day at the "I Love Rotary" event, Saturday, February 14th at The Woods event center. Social hour, dinner, entertainment and prize drawings as well as information and displays about Rotary projects and initiatives will be available for review. This fun, social evening is only $25 per person. Why sit in a restaurant full of strangers on Valentine's Day, when you can dine in a room full of friends? Please visit www.brainerdrotary.org or contact Dan Brown at 218-820-5463 to find out more information or get ticket details.
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DEBBY ERICKSON is president of Brainerd Rotary Club and a Brainerd resident.
