What happened at yesterday's York Rotary meeting? Our speaker, Tara of Equip for Living spoke to us about her amazing non-profit. What is Equip for Living? Their mission is to support adults with special needs and improve their quality of life by providing a resource hub where people can give and receive funding for adaptive equipment and technology, receive education relating to what services and activities are available in their area, and swap equipment with others in the community. It's AMAZING how many wonderful people are in our community making a difference in the world! To learn more about this organization, please visit their website at
Friday's meeting included a visit from York Ready for Climate Action Executive Director, Marina Mails and Board of Director member, Rozanna Patane. Who is York Ready for Climate Action? They are a group of passionate volunteers from around the York community, dedicated to increasing awareness about climate change and making urgent reductions in emissions for the benefit of our community and our planet! They informed the club of their mission, and several upcoming events, and also suggested ways we can all help. To learn more about this amazing volunteer group doing so much in the York Community, please visit their website at https://yorkreadyforclimateaction.org/
Great meeting this morning with a presentation from the York High School Speech & Debate Team! Students Marin, Chloe, Alyssa, Carter and Sophie each showcased their talents before the club. What an AMAZING group of young people! They have been invited to compete at the NCFL Speech & Debate Nationals over Memorial Day weekend. They are currently raising money to attend this prestigious event. We plan to help- and if you'd like to help too, please contact Mary Banks, who is the York High School Speech and Debate Coach at mbanks@yorkschools.org.
Friday's meeting included an update from the amazing Amy Miller, who brought us up to date with the Eben Ezer School and Guest House project in Haiti. York Rotary has supported this project since 2010.
We also welcomed York Middle School's Student of the Month Ilya. Ilya is shown here with her family and President Lovell. Ilya has selected Fairtide in Kittery as her donation recipient.
Great job Ilya!
What is ShelterBox?
ShelterBox is an international disaster relief charity established in 2000 in Helston, Cornwall, UK, that provides emergency shelter and other aid items to families around the world who have lost their homes to disaster or conflict.
In 2023, ShelterBox supported more than 325,0000 people (approximately 65,000 households). It was their second biggest year, behind the 420,000 supported in 2022, in terms of people reached since ShelterBox began in 2000.
To learn more please watch this short video "We Are ShelterBox"
York Rotary Club proudly supports this amazing organization.
At today's meeting we were introduced to Nellie Young. Nellie is a Sophomore at Marshwood High School and a member of their Interact Club. Nellie will be traveling to Peru next week where she will be visiting Curva Zapata- Pachacamac, Lima, Peru which is the location of a current Nursery which teaches children aged 3 to 7 years old. The current nursery is in terrible condition, and she and others are working on a project where they will build a new, safer one. This impressive young lady spoke of the projects needs, and the goals she has set. To assist Nellie in her fundraising efforts please visit her GoFundMe page at:
In addition to hearing from Nellie, we also inducted our newest member, Ricard DeSoto! Welcome Richard!
At today's meeting we had the pleasure of District Governor Marion Cheney as our speaker. She informed us of all the wonderful things that District 7780 has planned in the next few months. Some events include;
- "A Concert For Peace" scheduled for February 17th from 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm at Noble High School. This concert features a wide array of local talent, and tickets are $25.00. Proceeds from this concert will benefit the Rotary Peace Scholars Program. This event is open to the public.
FMI visit https://our.show/concertforpeace2024
- The District Training Assembly for 2024 is scheduled for Saturday, April 20th from 8am -2pm at Westbrook High School. Everyone from York Rotary who has ever attended this training in the past has always RAVED at how much they learned, and the sense of community that they felt after attending.
- The Annual District Conference is scheduled for June 29th and will be held at an AMAZING location! The Isles of Shoals Conference Center located on Star Island. This is a family friendly event!
If you are reading this and your are NOT a Rotarian- What are you waiting for? Learn more about membership by clicking the blue
"Membership Inquiry"
button at the top of homepage of this website!
We'd LOVE to have you join us!
Friday, January 19, 2024 was a HUGE day at the York Maine Rotary Meeting!
First we heard from Will, from York High School who is in not only an Interact member, but also a member of the National Honor Society. He asked us to support his group's upcoming fundraiser where they plan to hold a 3 v 3 basketball tournament to help Lewiston Maine. As a result of this presentation, the York Rotary Club agreed to assist financially.
Then, we were introduced to York Middle Schools, Student of the Month, Brennan. Brennan is seen here with President Ben Lovell and his teacher Cindy Bernier.
He choose the York Ambulance Services as his Charity. What a remarkable young man!
Then there was a presentation of Paul Harris Awards to members Jackie Grant (PHx2) and Mike Estes (PHx3) from President Lovell.
Next President Lovell and his wife Sandy were presented with A Major Donor Award from the Rotary Foundation by in-coming president Jud Knox.
Last, but certainly not least, our inspirational speaker was York's own Jane Bishop who is an ambassador for the Northern New England Chapter of Dress a Girl Around the World. Dress a Girl has thousand of members sewing throughout the USA and beyond and have dressed over 1.5 million girls in 82 countries throughout the world, including many cities in the USA. Ms. Bishop said that she has a network of people aged 8 to 80 who help make beautiful dresses and dolls that are donated to girls who are less fortunate. These dresses allow girls to go to school when they might otherwise not be welcome. Her chapter's goal for 2024 is to make 4,850 dresses this year. In addition to the dresses, each dress includes a pair of underwear. With scrap material they also make cute little dolls. Her group has also been asked to make 2,600 menstrual kits for girls and women in Kenya. This amazing woman lives right here in our own back yard in York, Maine and would like our support. York Rotary is committed to helping to get the word out about this amazing non-profit organization and to assist in other ways. Want to learn more? Visit the Northern New England chapter of Dress a Girl Around the World on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092961151128
Happy 2024!
The first York Rotary Meeting of 2024 was held at York Police Department in their Training Room~ What a NICE venue!
At this meeting, we inducted our newest member, Nicole Masterson, pictured here with President Ben Lovell, and also in a 2nd photo with Major, York PD's new therapy dog in training.
We were also introduced to several York Police Officers and one of the dispatchers, and they talked about their roles in the community and how long they've been in the industry.
The last 3 photos are of the Star of the Show- Major.
We are so thankful to York Police Department for the use of their meeting room, the lovely breakfast and for the opportunity to get to know them better.
To learn more about this amazing team who keep York Maine such a safe place to work, live, and play please visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/YorkMainePD
It’s the most wonderful time of the year!! We welcomed our favorite - the York High School Chamber Singers for our annual Christmas Concert. Thank you for making our holidays PERFECT! We also had the pleasure of congratulating our student of the month Maeve from York Middle School. Maeve choose Save The Music Foundation as her Charity! Maeve is seen here with her Interact Advisor Nicole, Rotary President Ben Lovell and Asst. Principal Jay Delahanty. Thank you Maeve for making the world a better place!
Great meeting today! We welcomed Herbal Pharmacist, Jon Moro as our guest speaker. He educated the club members on how to keep our bones healthy. There was a LOT of great information in this presentation!
To learn more about bone health, and more specifically to learn more about Herbal Path of Portsmouth, NH, please visit their website at https://www.herbalpath.com/
In addition~ We welcomed our November Student of the Month MacKenzie, who was joined by parents and her teacher Jess Baxter. The photo above is President Ben Lovell presenting MacKenzie with her Rotary Tee Shirt.
MacKenzie's donation will go to Animal Welfare Society of Kennebunk.
Congratulations MacKenzie!
We welcomed York Superintendent Tim Doak as our guest speaker (seen here with President Ben Lovell) at Fridays meeting. Superintendent Doak spoke of “One York” and his exciting plans for the future of York Schools.
Yesterday, October 31, 2023 was a special day! President Ben Lovell turned over the keys to the 2023 CWAC winner Roxanne! Congratulations! Special thanks to Sales Manager, Tim Thomas of Berlin City Lexus of Portland Maine for making this years CWAC transaction seamless!
Thanks to everyone who supported this years CWAC! Stay tuned for next years vehicle announcement in 2024.
A high spirited meeting this morning… including a Sing along
to John Denver’s “Country roads” , kick-off to Spreading the Joy this holiday season with YCSA York Community Service Association: gas gift card donations
to our neighbors in need.
to John Denver’s “Country roads” , kick-off to Spreading the Joy this holiday season with YCSA York Community Service Association: gas gift card donations to our neighbors in need.
And we have a WINNER!
Congratulations to lucky ticket # 216!
You have WON a NEW 2023 Lexus NS 350 Hybrid!
Thank you to ALL those who participated, helped sell tickets and purchased a ticket or tickets this year!
Friday, September 22, 2023 our friend David Underhill, from the Portsmouth Rotary Club visited us to remind us how important our financial support to the Rotary Foundation is and how those funds GROW!
Every year we can apply for grants to help support causes that we find important.
Thanks Dave for this important and informative presentation!
Long time (and incredibly accomplished) Rotarian Holly Sargent returned from Augusta to talk about her experiences so far in her first term in the Maine House of Representatives serving on the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee. We are grateful for her involvement in making our state a better place. Welcome back, Holly!
We are so excited to reunite with Lila Sewall, 2020 York High School graduate and Rotary scholarship recipient. Lila graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 2022 (her specialty is pastries) and now works at the White Barn Inn in Kennebunk. Lila also shared her experience as a volunteer with Zebra Crossings, an organization that provides programs for children with chronic health conditions and support for their parents and siblings. We are so proud of Lila and hope she will come back to see us again soon.
We were fortunate to welcome Charlie Black and Mary Andrews to the meeting this morning and learn about the Trooper Black Foundation which provides assistance to First Responders and their families during times of crisis or need. This mother-son team started the organization in 2019 to honor Mary's late husband Charles Black who died in the line of duty in 1964 just weeks before Charlie was born. To help the foundation serve more first responders and their families, the Trooper Black Foundation is organizing 5K Run/Walk for First Responders which will be held on Saturday, October 21 in York, Maine. For more information about the organization and the race, please visit trooperblackfoundation.org
Nick Darby, Special Events Coordinator at the Town of York, Parks & Recreation Department was INSTRUMENTAL in assisting York Maine Rotary in pulling off one of our MOST SUCCESSFUL Four on the 4th Road Race events ever!
Nick helped coordinate a new race route, volunteers, sponsors, marketing and SO MUCH MORE.
In a small effort to show our appreciation, several members of the Events Committee presented Nick with a Paul Harris Fellow Award.
Thank you NIck for all of your help, and providing "Service Above Self".
Who is Nick Darby? He is a wonderful FRIEND of the York Maine Rotary Club!
Yesterday's guest speaker at the August 4, 2023 York Rotary Club Regular meeting was York Police Department's own Chief Owen Davis.
We appreciate Chief Davis taking the time out of his busy schedule to come to our meeting and update the club with what
York Police Department does to keep our our town and citizens safe every day.
Thanks Chief!
To learn more about the York Maine Police Department, please visit their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/YorkMainePD
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Service Above Self
York, ME 03909
United States of America