Rotary’s 3-Point Initiative grant recipients to be recognized at Governor’s Challenge
The Rotary Club of Salisbury will take the court at the Governor’s Challenge basketball tournament to recognize nine recipients of grant funding through Rotary’s 3-Point Initiative: Promoting Responsibility, Integrity and Academic Achievement.
The Rotary Club of Salisbury is a partner with Wicomico County for the annual Governor’s Challenge basketball tournament, which is sponsored by The Bank of Delmarva.
The club will provide nine local nonprofits with grant funding to help them implement the 3-Point Initiative. The presentation will be at 8:45 p.m. Friday, Dec. 29, on Court 1 at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center, before the All-Star Experience that night.
Funds for the 3-Point Initiative grant were raised through the Rotary Club of Salisbury’s work in procuring sponsors for the tournament. The Donnie Williams Foundation has offered to match those funds dollar for dollar, as it did in 2016.
The Rotary Club raised $7,237.50, which will double with the match from the Donnie Williams Foundation to $14,475. With an additional $5,000 from the Richard A. Henson Foundation and a $15,000 match from the Richard and Patricia Hazel Charitable Fund, the total to be awarded to local nonprofits is $34,475.
“The response from the community in support of our initiative has overwhelmingly exceeded our expectations,” said Kurt Schuster, president of the Rotary Club of Salisbury. “It provides us this unique opportunity to reach out in support of these nine exceptional local agencies and programs.”
The organizations receiving funding were selected by a Rotary committee based on an evaluation of their ability to successfully implement the initiative for the youth in the area they serve. Nonprofits were invited to apply for the grant funding, with awards ranging from $1,000-$10,000, depending on the program’s impact and funds available.
To apply for the grant, each nonprofit had to submit a narrative detailing how the organization promotes the three tenets of the initiative: responsibility, integrity and academic achievement.
Annually, The Rotary Club of Salisbury channels over $65,000 back into our community through the support of agencies and causes including Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, scholarships for local high school and college students, Fruitland Fire Department, Christian Shelter, Wicomico County third grade dictionaries, RYLA, Easter Seals Camp Fairlee, MAC, Inc., Meals on Wheels, Parsons Home, Polio Eradication (Global), Fruitland Community Center, HALO, Wicomico County Library, The Salvation Army, Mission of Mercy, the construction of wheelchair ramps and much more.
The Rotary Club of Salisbury meets every Thursday at 6 p.m. in the Rotary Scout and Community Center at 1715 Riverside Drive in Salisbury. To learn more about the Rotary Club of Salisbury or to obtain membership information, please contact Membership Chairman John Aukward at 410-713-2833 or jaukward@bankofdelmarva.com or visit the club’s website at www.rotarysalisbury.org.
