Fenton Rotary gives back more than $1 million to community The Fenton Rotary is an organization that continues to give back to the community for more than 34 years. When the Fenton Rotary Club learned about the State Road Elementary School initiative to hire a new school employee with long hair, wet nose and four legs we knew this was something we wanted to be involved with. Principal Barry Tiemann brought this idea to the schools a few years ago after modeling a similar program in Brighton, which had a therapy dog for the kids. It has been shown that dogs bring a warm, calming environment to people, and to the classrooms where students feel more relaxed and comfortable. Students who have anxiety feel more confident reading out loud to a therapy dog, and that they reduce stress in students helping to improve their attention spans and academic performance. Partnering with several local leaders including Dr. Nicole Wax, The State Bank and Rotary, Fenton schools were able to raise $8,000 for the purchase and training of Fenton’s most friendly four-legged school employee. We are so fortunate as a local group to take part in projects with this type of long-term community value that we hope to continue this program for many years to come. Along with collaboration with local leaders and businesses, the Fenton Rotary is also able to provide annual scholarships to Fenton, Lake Fenton, and Linden schools. With the help from The Home Depot Foundation, from which we received another Charitable Giving Grant, we can continue building ramps for local veterans and residents in need. Through the Fenton Rotary’s Rubber Duck Regatta Race, which will be held on July 4th at the Fenton Freedom Festival following the parade, we annually raise more than $20,000 that is given back to the community through our various service projects. Over the last 30 years the Fenton Rotary has given back more than $1 million to the community through the generous support of our community. We promote service above self and are an organization that is built for networking and growing business and community value. Over the years some of the members Fenton Rotary Club have participated in international projects to Guatemala and Mexico to help with clean water projects, globally with the eradication of polio efforts and hosted local exchange students from across the world. We welcome business leaders and up and coming employees from organizations to join us for breakfast on Tuesday mornings at 7:15 a.m. at Spring Meadows Country Club in Linden to learn more about what we do, to get involved and to give back in the community. We recognize that life is busy, and families, kids, and work can all get in the way of giving back but there is nothing that feels greater than helping someone in need. Our attendance policy is flexible around the needs of your family and work schedule as we are committed to growing our organization and develop future leaders. One of our former members and community members, Nick Popa, says it best when asked about Rotary, “I wish I would have gotten involved a lot earlier in my life.” There is never a better time than now to give back. Noah Morgan 2018-2019 President