Fort Mill Rotary disperses $58,000 in ‘Christmas’ gifts
Every seat was filled Wednesday for the Fort Mill Rotary Club’s annual “Rotary Christmas,” when the chapter presents checks to grant recipients, putting their fundraising dollars to work in the local community and abroad.
Though the event is typically held at the beginning of each year, “It just seems like Christmas,” Rotary President Butch Cowart said.
A total of $58,000 was divided between 16 organizations in Fort Mill, Rock Hill, Haiti and Honduras. The funds were raised at the organization’s Charity Ball and auction, held each fall.
“We’re fortunate to live in a great community and to get to give back,” Cowart said.
The Foundation for Fort Mill Schools was one of the grant recipients. Brian Murphy, Rotary Club Scholarship chairman and a member of the foundation’s Board of Directors, accepted the award on the foundation’s behalf.
The grant will help the foundation in many ways, he said, including paying for school supplies, “so our teachers don’t have to go into their paychecks,” for them Murphy said.
Grants recipients included: Education Equals Hope, to fund a kitchen at a school in Haiti that feeds 300 children daily; The Palmetto School at The Children’s Attention Home in Rock Hill for a robotics program; Fort Mill YMCA; Habitat for Humanity to fund home revitalization projects in Fort Mill’s Paradise community; the Men’s Warming Center and Renew Our Community in Rock Hill; Adult Enrichment Center in Fort Mill to pay for Greenway memberships for senior adults and adults with intellectual disabilities; Fort Mill Care Center, to pay for emergency dental work for clients.
Other grants will help pay for land preservation, potable water projects and Scouting, among other uses.
There is inspiration and satisfaction in knowing that “you are a part of a gift to the world, and that is what Rotary is all about,” Cowart said.
“It’s the most giving and caring organization that I’ve ever been a part of,” Cowart said.
Kelly Lessard: kellyrlessard@yahoo.com, @KellyLessardFMT
Grant recipients
Groups and organizations that received “Rotary Christmas” grants are: Fort Mill Rotary Club 2016 grant recipients are: Foundation for Fort Mill Schools, Education Equals Hope, The Palmetto School at The Children’s Attention Home, Fort Mill Care Center, The CART (Coins for Alzheimer’s Research Trust) Fund, Fort Mill YMCA, the United Way of York County – Men’s Warming Center, The Puzzle Piece Foundation, Habitat for Humanity of York County, Renew Our Community, York County Free Clinic, Adult Enrichment Center of Fort Mill, ASC Greenway, Palmetto Council Boy Scouts of America, Girls on the Run and the Rotary International Honduras Water Project.
This story was originally published February 4, 2016 at 6:49 PM with the headline "Fort Mill Rotary disperses $58,000 in ‘Christmas’ gifts."