Established in 1939 by service-minded business and professional individuals who lived or worked in Newtown, the Newtown Rotary Club today continues its dedication to serving Newtown and the surrounding communities as well as the greater world community. Last year the club raised over $50,000 that helped to fund numerous projects. We have supported the Newtown Youth and Family Counseling Center, The Dorothy Day Hospitality House, Newtown Scholarship Fund, Kevin’s Community Center, The Meeting House, Ambulance Corps, Danbury Hospital, Cyrenius H. Booth Library, FISH, Meals on Wheels, Ability Beyond Disability Community Home, The Newtown Fund, Volunteer Fire Departments, VNA, and Regional Hospice, just to name a few. There is no “good cause” in Newtown that hasn’t been helped by the Rotary Club.
In addition, the Club’s members provide hundreds of hours of service each year. The Club has helped to clean up local river banks, helped with the construction for the Fun-space playground, landscaped the new Family Life Center grounds at our adopted Ability Beyond Disability Community Home, and helped design and fund the Rotary Park on the Fairfield Hills campus. The Club founded and still participates in the Labor Day Parade, and is known for the Pancake Breakfast that is part of the annual Town Holiday Festivities. Each month the Club honors the “Students of the Month” from the intermediate, middle and high schools, as well as St. Rose School. We also sponsor Interact Clubs at the Middle, Reed Intermediate and High Schools and participate in joint programs like an annual blood drive organized through the Red Cross. We also sponsor the annual Businesses of the Year Awards in conjunction with the Newtown Chamber of Commerce.
Newtown Rotary is part of a much larger organization—Rotary International. Rotary International is made up of 32,000 clubs in 200 countries and geographical areas with over 1.2 million members. The organization works to help the world’s needy people and to further world peace and understanding as evidenced by its unique role as a founding member of the United Nations, retaining a permanent seat on the General Council. The Rotary International Foundation invests each year in humanitarian and educational projects throughout the world. The Newtown Club supports many of these programs such as the Polio Eradication program, the Haitian Health Foundation, and Clean Water Projects in South India and Ghana. Additionally, the Club has led school supplies projects in Kosovo and Costa Rica that were supported by students here in Newtown.
In this brief description, it is impossible to note all of the accomplishments and activities of the Newtown Rotary Club and Rotary International. Rotary is a remarkable organization with an enormous ability to make the world a better place for all of us. The club provides numerous opportunities to give back to the community in a variety of ways and if you’d like to find out more, please contact us now!
We can give your spirits a lift through the good things we do for other people and the camaraderie we offer.
David Freedman
President 2019-2020
Rotary Club of Newtown
