On January 19, the Lincoln-Woodstock Rotary Club made presentations to five nonprofit civic endeavors in their northern NH communities, awarding a total of $103,000 granted to Linwood Ambulance Service, Vet’s Rest Stop, The Bridge Project, Lin-Wood Skate Park, and the LinWood Educational Trust Fund.
Rotary International was founded with a mission of “service above self,” and the local Club – chartered in 1951 - demonstrates that every year with their support of agencies and initiatives that serve the population of their shared communities.
With a long history of supporting the local education community, the Club established the Linwood Educational Trust Fund, Inc. decades ago with a major gift of $100,000, and have continued support of students of the Lincoln-Woodstock Cooperative School District ever since. After the interruptions of COVID, the club awarded $50,000 this year in addition to their annual gift of $10,000. This amount will also support larger scholarship gifts to help students manage the increasing costs of higher education.
Principal Mark Pribbernow, along with school and Foundation members Myles Moran, Bob Nelson, and Doug Moorhead accepted the grant. “Students are not only given the benefit of scholarships as a result of this generosity but the ‘giving back’ example that starts with Rotary’s contribution is a leadership example to the kids and to the community,” said Pribbernow.
Primary financial support comes from an annual vehicle raffle, already underway for 2022. In the inaugural year, the raffle prize was a Chevy Chevette, years that followed offered a succession of brand new Corvettes, until a recent shift to America’s favorite pickup, the Ford F150. A bright red, 2022 F150 Lariat edition truck is already on order and expected to arrive late May: tickets are available now for the raffle that will happen this coming September.
Lin-Wood Skate Park has been a vision for the communities for many years, and two of the foremost proponents, Kevin Bell and Brian Angelone, were on hand to receive a grant award of $35,000 to close the funding gap on Phase One to begin scheduling construction. With this and other recent fundraising success, ground-breaking may begin as soon as Fall of 2022. “We consider it an investment that will benefit our communities for generations to come,” said Lynne Warren, Club President. “And it continues to be a privilege to be serving in leadership with so many dedicated Club members who consistently give of their time and effort to make outstanding presentations like these possible.”
The Bridge Project, like the Educational Foundation, got its start as a Rotary Club initiative. The goal was to provide a space where people could feel comfortable asking for help. Since its inception in 2016, The Bridge Project has grown to support hundreds of community members by providing a connection point between at-risk individuals and group support networks. The Bridge Project was awarded $10,000 in annual support.
An award of $5,000 was given to the Vet’s Rest Stop for building the Library of this ongoing project building a community center for area veterans of the armed services. Located in Woodstock, the goal is to offer services supporting the region’s vets in a variety of ways. And Chief Dave Tauber was on hand to receive a $3,000 grant to Linwood Ambulance Service in support of their life-saving AED service to the communities.
The Lincoln-Woodstock Rotary Club, and their youth counterparts Interact and Early Act , all strive to live up to Rotary International’s motto of Service above Self,” and Club members pitch in on not only the fundraising activities but a wide range of volunteer efforts from highway cleanup on the Kancamagus Highway; meals for children, families, and seniors; “mask-up” and helping in vaccination drives during the pandemic; and almost any other community-based effort that needs volunteers. For more information about the activities – or for local nonprofit application for the second round of granting in 2022 – please visit www.lincolnwoodstockrotary.org. Visiting Rotarians are also welcome at weekly meetings, held Wednesdays at 7:00 a.m. at Woodstock Station.