Rotary Projects:

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Shelter Boxes – Our Club sent 10 shelter boxes to Tsunami survivors in 2005.  Each box contained housing, water purification and utensils for 10 people.

Group Study Exchange Program – Many members of our Club hosted individuals who visited the state of Florida in April 2007 through the Rotary International Group Study Exchange Program from Sweden.

Homeless Family Center – On April 21, 2007, several members of our Club helped build a safe playground area for the children who reside at the Homeless Family Center.  Approximately 35 children were residing at the Center at that time.

Beautify America – On August 18, 2007, our Club participated by providing food and beverages for individuals who cleaned up the Sebastian Inlet.

Pelican Island Elementary School Santa Day – On December 19, 2007 and December 10th, 2008, our Club donated a book to every child who attends Pelican Island Elementary School.  Nearly 500 books, cookies and candy canes were distributed by Santa.

Student of the Month – Every month our Club honors a local high school student who has excelled academically.  The student is a guest at a meeting of the month, where he/she speaks about how they have made a difference at their school with regard to community service, extra curricular projects, and what their plan is for college.

Speaker/Youth Book Program – Every time we have a speaker attend our luncheon meeting, we ask that they sign a children’s book that we have provided.  We then donate the book to an after school program for under privileged children.

Habitat for Humanity – In 2007, our Club and the Vero Beach Rotary Club helped build a home for a single mother and her two young children. 

Vero Beach Rotary House – Our Club helped support the Rotary Club of Vero Beach by supplying a team of 10 people to volunteer for the event.

Nursing Books for India – Over the past two years we have shipped nursing books to a small village in India.  The books are used at the local Indian hospital to educate doctors and nurses.

Backpack Buddie Program – Our Club has adopted a program at three local elementary schools, which will provide children in need a backpack filled with food to take home with them on Friday after school.  The backpack is then returned on Monday and filled again for the following weekend.  The school recognized the need for this program when several children were observed to be unusually hungry at the school’s Monday morning breakfast.  Our Club’s objective is to expand this program to serve every elementary school in our county.  There are 14 elementary schools in Indian River County.

Boys & Girls Club – On September 20, 2008, our Club provided food and beverages for a Boys & Girls Club Fun Day which served approximately 100 people.

Christmas Tie Fund Raiser - On December 17, 2008, our Club along with the Vero Beach High School Rotaract Club raised well over $500 in 10 minutes of a bidding event that was held before lunch.  The proceeds went to purchasing gifts for Vero Beach Elementary School’s pre-K and Kindergarten students.

Kidz Closet Charities - Every weekend in August, our Club sorted children's clothing at the Kidz Closet Charities clubhouse which is run by a local friend, Diane Mahan.  After sorting and bagging clothing for area agencies who serve the working poor, the bags of clothing were delivered to over 500 needy children.  On August 8th, 100 bags of clothing were delivered to Father Jean at St. Helen's Catholic Church.  Father Jean will be taking these bags with him on his missionary trip to Haiti at the end of August.

Summer Camp – Our Club provided funding to send approximately 30 children to summer camp at the Gifford Youth Activity Center which is a local organization.

Rotaplast International Project  –  In July of 2009, a Rotarian from the Vero Beach Sunrise Club together with other Rotarians traveled to Lima, Peru to perform numerous reconstructive surgeries to children who are born with cleft lip or palate anomalies.  Our Club sponsored the cost of several surgeries that were performed.

Rotary Youth Exchange Program – Our Club is sponsoring two exchange students for the 2009-10 school year.  One student is in Argentina and the other is in Thailand.  Our Club is hosting a student from Denmark.

Backpack Buddies Program/Head Start – On October 1st, our Club will implement this program at the Head Start schools in the county, there are 5 in total.  The program will provide needy children with a backpack filled with food to take home over the weekends.  The child friendly food is given to children who otherwise may not eat during the weekend.  The school administrators recognized the need for this program when several children were observed to be unusually hungry at the school’s Monday morning breakfast. 

St. Francis Manor  - Our Club provided funds to this facility which offers low cost housing to elderly folks.  The funds will cover the cost of monthly birthday dinners for nearly 100 residents for a year.

Kidz Closet Charities - Operation Bare Necessities – Our Club is providing funds to this project which will furnish local school nurses with underclothing and socks for children who show up to school without these essentials.  The funds will also help local agencies with purchasing diapers, children's underclothing and socks for the families that their agency serves.

Dedication of 40 Children's Books to Pelican Island Elementary School - On September 25th, 2009, our Club dedicated 40 children's books to Pelican Island Elementary School.  Our Club was honored by the school with a book dedication ceremony which displayed the face of each of the books on a lovely book case surrounded with fall leaves and pumpkins.  Each of these donated books have been signed by a guest speaker who attends our weekly meetings.  One of the books which is about baseball was signed by Fay Vincent, the former Commissioner of Baseball.  Mr. Vincent was a guest speaker at our Club meeting this past spring.

Christmas Tie Fund Raiser - On December 16,2009, our Club along with the Vero Beach High School Interact Club raised nearly $700 at a lunch auction which was run by one of our highly energized members.  The proceeds went to purchasing gifts for the kindergarten students at Vero Beach Elementary School.

Harvest Food & Outreach Center - As a holiday gift to our community, our Club made a contribution of $5,000 to the Harvest Food & Outreach Center which enables the center to provide 1,000 emergency food bags.  Each food bag provides three days worth of food for a family of four.

Haiti Clinic - In February 2010, our foundation donated $2,500 to the Haiti Clinic team which is comprised of local doctors from Indian River County and Brevard County.  These practitioners set up makeshift clinics in Cite Soleil, treat over 1,000 patients per visit which usually consists of a long weekend, and train Haitian community members in healthcare practices and other professions, so that the Clinic will someday function on its' own. 

Backpack Buddies Program/Highlands Elementary School – In March 2010, our Club provided $4,000 to the Treasure Coast Food Bank to help implement this program at the Highlands Elementary School.  The program will provide needy children with a backpack filled with food to take home over the weekends.  The child friendly food is given to children who otherwise may not eat during the weekend.  The school administrators recognized the need for this program when several children were observed to be unusually hungry at the school’s Monday morning breakfast. 

Children's Art Festival - On April 24th, 2010, our Club partnered with Youth Guidance of Indian River County for a morning at the Vero Beach Museum for the Children's Art Festival.  Rotarians from our Club were paired with a child to mentor for the event.  We spent time at the museum participating in various art activities, then proceeded to the festival under the oaks visiting booths filled with all sorts of goodies.  However, the inflatable bounce house and blown up slide were the hit of the day!  We ended the morning with lunch at the picnic pavilion area on the river.

Treasure Coast Elementary School Book Dedication – On May 11th, 2010, our Club dedicated 30 books to Treasure Coast Elementary School.  We were greeted by one of the 1st grade classes who sang for us and then each of them read a poem by Shel Silverstein.  It was a moving presentation as these six and seven year olds sang out their hearts to us.

Gifford Youth Activity Center - The Rotary Club of Orchid Island Foundation contributed $4,000 to GYAC (Gifford Youth Activity Center) to enable children from low-income households to attend summer camp.  This scholarship will act as a bank for the center to dip into when a family cannot afford the full cost of summer camp.
 
Indian River School District Summer Feeding Program - Our Club contributed $2,500 to the Indian River County School District and helped raise $7,500, to be used for a summer feeding program.  The US government funds part of "The Tanif Summer Feeding Program", but the school system depends upon local contributions to cover the cost that the government does not include.  With the $120,000 of government funds and $30,000 of local support, the Indian River School District will set up a summer program that will serve children breakfast and lunch along with providing academic activities as well as sports, five days per week for 10 weeks of summer.

Backpack Buddies Program - $10,000 contribution to Backpack (Buddies) Program from Holy Cross Church Golf Tournament