The Westborough Rotary Club’s Environment Committee has organized a drive for collecting and recycling bags and plastics from household waste. Although bags plastics are ubiquitously in use, the economics of recycling them has been generally unattractive for businesses. These plastics eventually make their way in our fresh-water lakes and oceans destroying habitats and damaging the environment. The objective of this drive is to increase awareness of this serious issue and invite community members in the region to become actively involved in addressing it locally.
WE NEED YOUR HELP and WE THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!
As you know, the past several months have been challenging to say the least.
While we are all impacted by and responding to COVID - 19 in different ways, as a charitable organization the Rotary Club of Westborough has had to rethink how we raise funds to serve our Community. Without the ability to gather for in-person events, our fundraising opportunities have been drastically curtailed.
We hope you can help! We’re sure you recall the good work we do by way of annual scholarships, youth leadership awards, supporting the Youth & Family Services Holiday Store, lighting downtown Westborough during the holidays, co-sponsoring programs to deal with substance use disorders and mental health issues. And during this pandemic, we’ve provided thousands of pieces of PPE gear to hospitals and first responders. Here’s a brief video that shows what we’ve been up to! [Video link]
Without the ongoing support of local business like yours, none of this could be possible.
While most businesses sponsor us in amounts ranging from $500-$5000, any amount you are able to contribute is greatly appreciated.
We are excited to continue our service to the community. You can count on us to appropriately recognize your generosityat all virtual and in-person events, on our website, social media and all publicity opportunities for the remainder of 2020 and all of 2021.
Ways to contribute:
You may contribute here by credit card [link]
or
Mail a check to Rotary Club of Westborough, PO Box 903, Westborough MA 01581. Please include a memo of “2020-2021 Sponsorship”.
If you need an invoice, have any other questions, suggestions, or needs, please email us at sponsorship@westboroughrotary.org.
Thank you in advance for your support of our work in the Westborough community through your generous giving.
Join us for World Polio Day as global health experts and partners share our progress on the road to polio eradication. At the end of the 1980s, more than 350,000 children were paralyzed by polio every year. Today, Rotary and its partners have reduced the incidence of polio by 99.9 percent. However, until we see the last of the poliovirus, eradication efforts must continue to:
IMMUNIZE more than 400 million children against polio every year
IMPROVE disease surveillance systems to detect any poliovirus in a person or the environment
HIRE more than 150,000 health workers to go door to door to find every child
Learn how Rotary and its partners have vaccinated more than 2 billion children worldwide when you join us for this virtual presentation:
WHEN: Saturday, October 24 @ 10:00am
On Tuesday, November 3 enjoy the fresh air while helping our community safely enter and exit the polls at WHS! The polls are open from 7 am to 8 pm. We have shifts available throughout the day.
Volunteers will greet voters, direct them to their district, Wipe pens with alcohol & other COVID cleaning needs, and provide general assistance. Instructions will be provided to volunteers on site as responsibilities may vary slightly by shift.
Please sign up via this link. We have shifts available throughout the day.
Volunteers are asked to sign up by Monday, October 26th! This is a fun and easy opportunity for our club members and others who want to help, and it's service that makes a difference. Hope you can join in the fun!
Who We Are:
The Westborough COVID-19 Community Fund has been established to distribute resources to residents in Westborough who are disproportionately affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
Hosted by the Westborough Rotary Fund, Inc., the Westborough COVID-19 Community Fund was created following the recommendations of a task force in Westborough, aimed at identifying and responding to community needs related to the impact of COVID-19. The task force is comprised of representatives from the Board of Selectmen, Town Manager’s Office, the Westborough Food Pantry, the Westborough Fire Department/Emergency Management, Westborough Connects, Westborough Interfaith Clergy, The Rotary Club of Westborough and Westborough Cares, which is a collaboration of Westborough Youth and Family Services, the Westborough Senior Center, In Your Shoes, St. Luke’s Church Outreach and the Forbes-Kirkside Foundation.
The Rotary Club of Westborough is pleased to announce the recipients of our 2020 high school scholarship awards:
- Rhea Balasubramanian - New York University – Global Public Health
- Madison Bromm- Miami University of Ohio-Kinesiology / Elementary Ed.
- Carolyn McDermott- Fairfield University – Nursing
- Ryan Doan Nguyen- Harvard University -Government/pre-law
- Miara Sasdi-University of Maryland- Criminology/Criminal Justice
The purpose of Westborough Rotary Club scholarships is to recognize students who are contributing to the Rotary vision of a world where people unite and take action creating lasting change in our communities and across the globe. The students selected demonstrated strong academic achievement, leadership in school and community and spoke passionately about service as a key component of their post-high school experience.
We congratulate all of these fine young people and wish them health and happiness in all of their future endeavors.
When Milford hospital physician Katie Northrup approached her friend Kelley Petralia of Westborough Connects asking to help obtain face shields for their staff to combat PPE shortages due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kelley contacted Elliott Rittenberg, President of the Rotary Club of Westborough. Westborough Rotary and Westborough Connects had worked together on a Rotary funded grant over the past year, and Kelley knew she could count on the club for help. Thus, began a Rotary project to source materials and build 100 face shields for donation to Milford Hospital. Elliott reached out to Victor Tom, Past President of the Bedford Rotary Club and current District Grants Subcommittee Chair for help with funding, and Victor suggested to solicit the assistance of other Rotary Clubs.
This initial request grew into a much larger effort, and a total of 1,415 face shield shields were distributed to multiple hospitals, EMS services, and other front-line health care providers. The project was supported by funding from Rotary District 7910, the Westborough Civic Club, and generous individual contributions, along with volunteer efforts from Rotarians, the Westborough Civic Club, and local residents. Zoom online sessions were used to provide training, and materials were delivered without contact in kits to volunteers’ homes for distributed production while maintaining social distancing. Through the combined efforts of the Westborough and Bedford Rotary Clubs, and assistance from the Rotary Clubs of Concord and Billerica along with local residents, 400 face shields have been delivered to Milford Hospital, 100 shields to Emerson Hospital, 200 to UMass Memorial Hospital in Worcester, and other amounts to the Bedford VA Hospital, St. Joseph's Hospital, along with smaller clinics, fire, police and EMT services in local communities.
Here's a quote from one of the recipient organizations that demonstrates this project's impact: "Each day since this pandemic has started our staff has shown up to work ready to put their safety on the line to help others. Donations such as these go a long way in ensuring they can continue to do that and return home safe to their families. Your support has helped build morale and fulfill our mission"
