Ongoing Projects: These projects have been supported for several
consecutive years and continue to be a vital part of the work of North Columbus.
Britt David Reading Program - Our Britt David Reading Program is a long term service project we have done for many years with Britt David Elementary School. Each teacher is paired up with a Rotarian that reads to the class at least once every two weeks but most classes are read to each week. This program allows the students to see actual men and women from the community take time out of their schedules to come and spend 30 minutes to an hour reading and mentoring. Most Rotarian readers say they get much more out of the program than the student.
Wynnton/Rigdon Road Elementary School Christmas/Easter Project for Special Needs Children - Annually we visit the local elementary schools housing special needs students providing visits from the "Easter Bunny" and "Santa Claus". Gifts for the students are distributed under the guidance of the school adminiistration and teachers.
Interact Club - Pacelli - We sponsor a youth club at the Pacelli High School in Columbus. The youth club is composed of outstanding students from the school. The goals of the club are similar to those of our Rotary club in that they promote service above self, build leadership opportunities for its members, and provide a meaningful opportunity for fellowship.
Laws of Life Essay Contest - Since 2003, North Columbus Rotary Club has sponsored the Laws of Life Essay Contest. This contest started by Sir John Templeton allows high school students from all over the state of Georgia to write about a personal experience and tell what affect that it had on their lives. The beauty of this contest is that usually the winners are not the top students but average students that have learned from an experience in their life. Rotary sponsors the project by awarding prize money, holding an awards banquet and assisting with judging the essays.
G.O.A.L. Program - To support technical education, North Columbus Rotary Club sponsors the G.O.A.L. program. In partnership with Columbus Technical College, NCRC judges four student finalists on how well they convey the importance technical education has had in reaching their career goals. At a banquet sponsored by Rotary, the finalists give speeches outlining how they made their decision to attend a technical college and the positive effect it has had on their career. The winner then goes on to compete at the state level for the chance to be the ambassador for technical education in Georgia.
Fred W. Kirby Award - Fred W. Kirby was a longtime public school educator and member of North Columbus Rotary Club (then East Columbus Rotary Club). Each spring, North Columbus Rotary Club holds a banquet honoring the male and female student from each high school that scored highest on the SAT test. The students are recognized along with their parents, principal, and guidance counselor. The students are given a plaque and an opportunity to tell the club their future plans and goals. This is a great opportunity to have the future business and civic leaders of America recognized as they begin preparing to meet their future goals.
AIDS Awareness Project - This is an on-going project in which students in all middle schools have an opportunity to listen to presentations by health professionals and persons stricken with AIDS. The presentations are candid and students are encouraged to ask questions during the presentations as well as through sessions with school personnel.
Cornerstone Literacy Project
Georgia Rotary Student Program (GRSP) - A college student from a country other than the United States is selected from applications to Rotary to spend a full year as the guest of the North Columbus Rotary Club. While living here, the student will be provided a "host family" and an opportunity to further his/her education through Columbus State University. The student attends the weekly Rotary meetings of our club as well as participating in other Rotary functions at the local and regional level. Club members intereact with the GRSP student through family activities in the community. The student has the chance to experience first-hand the American way of life as well as some wonderful "Southern Hospitality"!
Rotary Career Day Program (Shaw High School) - Members of the club will attend selected classes at the school to provide personal interaction with students in helping shape career choices. Members of the club will discuss business practices from their personal experiences and answer questions from the students about prerequisite training and experiences required to pursue different careers.
New Projects
Adopt a Cottage - Rotary Clubs in Georgia are helping restore/refurbish cottages at Warm Springs which were part of the heritage of the rehabilitation efforts that took place there in times past. Once the cottages are operational, they will again play a significant role in the rehab center as well as mark the historical significance of the area.
Autism School Project in Bulgaria - North Columubs has helped raise funding to support the staff training of individuals working with autism. The training efforts will equip the people there to address helping their own people.
District Tree Planting - The Club will join other Rotary Clubs within the state of Georgia to plant trees as part of an ecology effort.
International Projects - The North Columbus Rotary Club participates in helping the worldwide community by partnering with other clubs and pooling our resources. Some of this support is conducted through the Rotary Foundation. Other projects are more targeted due to the special interests of one or more members initiation and "selling" the idea to the club. We participate in the Polio Plus program designed to eliminate Polio from the earth through donations. We have participated in programs to help bring clean water to places that have no clean water. More recently, we have participated in a program to help educate the educational leaders in Sophia, Bulgaria as they deal with children with various mental health issues such as autism. More details of the Bulgaria project can be found here.
New Projects: These include some projects that were included in past years and are
being re-visited as well as some entirely new projects. We are proud to announce
our intentions of these additional service opportunities.
- STAR Teacher Recognition
- Drug Awareness Program for Middle School Students
- GED Scholarship Program
- Public Service/Service Personnel Award Program
- House of Heroes
- CART Program
- Ferst Foundation
- Math tutoring at Georgetown Elementary School
