The Rotary Club of Brandon was proud to present $160,000 in charitable grants to its local nonprofit partners on June 16 during its weekly meeting, marking a meaningful investment in organizations that serve families, youth, veterans, seniors and individuals in need throughout the Brandon community. The grants reflected the club’s ongoing commitment to service above self and its dedication to strengthening the programs and resources that make a lasting difference close to home.
“The Rotary Club of Brandon is a service-oriented club formed in 1961 and is the longest running Rotary club in our area,” said Liz Brewer, club member and past president. “We are made up from more than 50 community leaders who meet every Tuesday to enjoy fellowship and lunch. With giving hearts and a hard work ethic, together we have a variety of socials, service projects and two signature events we host each year, which, in turn, has given us the opportunity to donate these much-needed funds to local charities.”
These funds were raised through the club’s annual signature events, the Wild Game Dinner and Bill Harper Golf Tournament.
“This is possible thanks to our event chairs, Patrick Skidmore and Brett Briggs; our event committees; our sponsors; our volunteers; and the guests who came out in support of our work,” Brewer said.
The Rotary Club of Brandon is one of the largest charitable service clubs in the community. Charities have the opportunity to submit their grant applications in the fall, and all applications are reviewed by the Brandon Rotary Club Charity Fund Board and presented to its club members in the spring.
“Our club members then vote through a ballot system on how much each charity will receive, and these checks are distributed at our last annual meeting in June of each year,” Brewer said.
The local charities that received donations from the Rotary Club of Brandon include the Angel Foundation FL, ECHO, High 5 Inc., Hope for Her, Rotary’s Camp Florida and Scouting America, and it also provided $27,000 to be used for our Rotary Senior Scholarship Program in 2027.
“This year’s amount has exceeded the goals since our club formed and was due to the incredible work done by our event chairs and their committees which are made up of club members,” Brewer said. “We all felt an incredible sense of pride knowing that our hard work was going to bless these local charities. Our goal for next year is $175,000.”
If you would like to learn more about the Rotary Club of Brandon, you can visit its website at https://brandonrotary.org/index.php.