COMMUNITY

Community Service Awards

Rotary Year 2025-26

Each Spring our club provides cash awards to deserving community projects. Generally, funds are awarded only for capital projects with a priority of benefitting children and to be completed within one year of the award. Maximum award is $1,500.00. Capital projects may include items such as program supplies (instruments, books, videos, etc.) but not salaries, rents, mortgages or debt retirements.

This year we have awarded a total of $8000, with $1500 to each of five organizations and $500 to a sixth. These are:

Josephine Community Library Foundation  $1500

The annual Summer Reading Program engages children in reading and learning throughout the summer months with activities, special collections, and events across all four library branches in Josephine County. Research shows that Summer Reading Programs help prevent the “summer slide” while fostering lifelong reading habits. This six-week themed program consistently attracts hundred of participants; nearly 1,000 took part in 2025, collectively reading more than 535,000 minutes during the program. Grant funds will be used to purchase themed books and support program activities.

The Special Olympics of Oregon  $1500

The Josephine County Local Program is seeking the Rotary Club Grant to help pay for the cost of new uniforms and equipment. Special Olympics Oregon provides sports training and athletic competitions in Olympic-type sports year-round to children, youth, and adults living with intellectual and developmental disabilities. These opportunities allow athletes to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy, and participate in sharing skills with their friends, families, other Special Olympics athletes, and the community.

CASA  $1500

CASA is respectfully requesting funding to provide essential summer clothing, diapers, and wipes to children served through our program. These children, all of whom are in foster care due to abuse and/or neglect, often lack access to basic necessities that support their health, dignity, and wellbeing. This grant would ensure that vulnerable infants, toddlers, and youth are equipped with seasonally appropriate clothing and hygiene supplies during the summer months.

Boys and Girls Club of the RV  $1500

Rotary Capital project funding will support teens at our new Grants Pass Teen Center through the purchase of two new computers. These computers will provide critical access to technology for youth during afterschool hours and throughout the summer, supporting homework completion, academic enrichment, and digital skill-building. In addition, the computers will offer a safe, supervised space for recreational use, including gaming, helping to foster positive peer engagement and consistent participation in our programs.

The Little Beans Project  $1500

We are seeking Rotary Club support to build a safe, engaging outdoor learning environment for children ages 3-5. This space will support preschool programming, sensory exploration, and physical development in a structured play-based setting. The project transforms an existing outdoor area into a purposeful early childhood environment that promotes movement, creativity, and social interaction.

RV Performing Arts Alliance  $500

This funding will directly support essential program expenses, including prop materials, camp snacks, script and music supplies, program t-shirts, and first aid supplies. Most importantly, this support will expand access to the arts by providing scholarships for local families. A grant of $1,500 toward capital expenses will allow us to offer either seven full scholarships or up to fifteen partial scholarships, ensuring that financial barriers do not prevent children from participating in this transformative experience.