The Rotary Club of Brunswick serves the community by supporting area non-profit organizations, youth education and wellness projects, and by assisting needy people locally and throughout the world.

In addition to contributions provided to numerous non-profit organizations in the area, we host two open to the public family events each year: our annual Family Bike Rodeo in May and our “Games on the Mall” held annually on July 4 at the Brunswick Mall.

Supporting the contributions and these events means that fundraising is an important part of the work we undertake, and the committee dedicated to this task decided to evolve fundraising into “fun-raising” as an additional challenge in our 2019/2020 Rotary year. Outlined below are our main fundraising activities that finance our local service projects and how we have worked to make each a fun activity for all involved.

Brunswick Rotarians produced a 2020 calendar with photographs submitted by club Rotarians. Sixty-one photos were submitted and the top 12 were chosen by three local photographers: Tiffany Dumas, Zoe Theberge, and Alexa Fox. Local businesses purchased advertising banners throughout, and monthly raffles were planned for buyer. So where is the fun in all this? It was fun for club members to see the photos of area landscapes credited to club members. It was fun to talk to local members of the business community to gain their support. It was fun offering the calendars for sale, or to provide them as holiday gifts. There was fun built into the calendar for buyers/gift recipients with raffles occurring three times each month throughout the year.

Last spring, the Brunswick club sponsored a .5K road race around the Brunswick Mall on Patriots’ Day. The Times Record wrote: “Brunswick Rotary Competes with Boston Marathon.”

The water stops included Aroma Joe’s Coffee, Frosty’s Donuts, Domino’s Pizza and Wilbur’s Chocolates. On a cool and rainy day, the ‘racers’ enjoyed a break in the rain as they ambled around the perimeter of the mall. Watch for details on the 2020 race, coming soon.

Another spring fun-raiser, the eighth annual Midcoast Maine’s Got Talent, is scheduled for May 8, at the Crooker Theatre. This popular event features local talent and creates smiles for the entertainers and the audience alike. Last year, the Woodside One Wheelers shared the stage with senior citizen Claude Bonang playing the bones, the saw and spoons. The evening is filled with smiles, laughs, and astonishment at the local talent. We also offer donated items for sale through a silent auction in the lobby. Watch our Facebook page for details on this year’s program; we typically start collecting entrants’ information in February.

Another fundraising tradition of the Brunswick Rotary Club is a ‘re-gifting auction’ which occurs in January. Club members bring in gift items that they can’t use/don’t like and other Rotarians bid on the treasures. The funds raised at this auction are used to pay dues for Rotarians who need temporary assistance.

Brunswick Rotarians also enjoy raising money within the club meetings. In November, we collected cash at each lunch table in our famous ‘green bottles.’ Each bottle had a sponsor who matched the amount collected to provide turkey dinners for those in the Tedford Shelter at Thanksgiving times.

The 50 members of the Brunswick Rotary Club meet 2-3 times per month on Mondays at noon for fellowship, to plan the club activities of service and to learn about the community through guest speakers. Please check our Facebook page for location, date and program details. All visitors are welcome.

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