Projects
Dunwoody Police Foundation K-9 Unit Founding Donor
Members of the Rotary Club of Dunwoody mobilized to assist the Police Foundation with obtaining the initial funds to start their fund raising for a new K-9 Unit. The Club donated $5,000, and this was matched by members donations of $6,500 for a total donation from the club of $11,500.
4th of July Parade and Hot Dog Stand
Two Rotary Club of Dunwoody (RCD) teams worked on this annual event that attracts over 2,500 participants and 32,000 spectators. One RCD team put the "float" together and then waved and distributed candy and balloon globes to kids over the 2,7 mile parade route. All our giveaways were tagged with an invitation to parents to join RCD in Having Fun and Making a Difference! Our float took second place in the Civic Organization category. The float included information on stopping polio.
Human Trafficking Awareness Event 10/23/19
Our Club is working to bring awareness and stop demand for the sex trafficking trade in our neighborhood. This is the restart of a District Program from several years ago by Buckhead Club. We are working with Secretary of State's office and
• Buckhead
• Midtown
• Brookhaven
• Dunwoody – Charlie Augello & Louise Barden
• Roswell
• Alpharetta
GRSP Leadership Weekend
Our club brings GRSP international students within Georgia, USA for a leadership training weekend on Martin Luther King weekend. Our Rotary club works with Buckhead, Brookhaven and Atlanta Metro to host 40 international students. We bring them all to Atlanta and perform 2.5 days of classes and service projects to teach them leadership skills. These students are hosted free of charge by members of the participating clubs on Friday and Saturday night.
DNC Butterfly Festival Bus Drivers
The Rotary Club of Dunwoody has long supported the Dunwoody Nature Center (DNC)- and its annual Butterfly Festival. The event draws over 3,000 guests and parking at the Nature Center is limited, so the Festival offers shuttle buses from offsite parking to the event. This service is key to assisting the attendees at the festival as many have small children, and walking in Atlanta heat in August for any distance is not an easy feat.
On August 17 our club provided 13 drivers to operate eight shuttle buses - one in the morning (8am-1pm) and one in the afternoon (12:00 to 5pm).
This is a signature event of the Dunwoody Nature Center, and this effort allows our club to show Rotary Service above Self in action to the local community.
Rotary Club of Dunwoody & Special Olympics
6 Rotarians from Dunwoody accompanied by 15 students from nearby Perimeter College at Georgia State University volunteered to support Special Olympics to host a basketball competition for middle school kids with special needs at Sequoyah Middle School. Numerous middle schools were represented from Dekalb County, each bringing many kids. The kids get to exercise the hand-eye coordination and "shoot hoops". Afterwards a meal was provided so that all participants could talk and discuss the event.
FODAC Medical Collection Day DeKalb Rotary Council
Friends of Disabled Adults and Children (FODAC) is an organization that collects used medical equipment and refurbishes it for distribution to people who can't afford to buy new. Each year, the Rotary Club of Dunwoody joins the DeKalb Rotary Council (all the Rotary Clubs in Dekalb County) on a Saturday, in a project organized by the Rotary Club of North Atlanta to collect equipment for FODAC. In July 2019, we collected over $350,000 in used medical equipment.
Club members are encouraged to participate in two ways:
By donating medical equipment and
Volunteering the day of the Event: as part of a Rotarian team who collects used medical equipment in multi club groups like a giant scavenger hunt.
This is a wonderful way to support our neighboring club, help the local community, and raise the awareness of the good Rotary does int he world
Kingsley Harvest Gift Baskets
Students in Title 1 schools often come from families that are financially distressed. Thanksgiving is a particularly difficult holiday for their families.
Kingsley Elementary is a Title 1 school and the Rotary Club of Dunwoody supports an effort called Kingsley Harvest Baskets whereby baskets containing a turkey and other food items are provided to the Title 1 families. This is organized by a Dunwoody Rotarian's wife and daughter, who also get outside food donations from the community.
Bounds Garden at Monroe Park
Bounds Gardens at Monroe Park is a lovely little traffic island across the street from the Dunwoody library. Monroe Brock, a former member, initiated this project over 20 years ago and our club has maintained ever since under the careful eye of Fred Bounds.
The seasonal work done by a dedicated team of Dunwoody members on Saturday mornings as needed bimonthly. They are also joined by a member of the Atlanta Metro club.
Books for Local Title 1 schools
The Rotary Club of Dunwoody provides a book during the Christmas holidays for each student in the Title 1 schools we support – at present, Dresden and Kingsley Elementary. Age. Appropriate books are selected by the school media center. We gave out about 1800 books in December 2019.
The Club has been involved in this project at Dresden Elementary for more than 20 years – initiated by Roy Ethridge and Jennie Springer. In its early days, club members donated books at the holiday luncheon and they were later distributed at the school. For many years now, we have purchased the books and distributed in early December. We added Kingsley to the program in 2017. Since we started, we have distributed more than 22,000 books. This project is now managed by Jack Sparks, and we sort and package the books after a Friday morning meeting in late October, early November and bring to the schools for distribution before Christmas break.
USO Greeters and Food Service at Atlanta Airport
Providing their talents and treasures, Dunwoody Rotarians hosted two days in Fall, 2019, at the USO at Hartfield Jackson Airport welcoming veterans passing through and assisting them with their needs.
This project has sustainable support in the community served - several hundred military service personnel served daily at the USO center at Hartsfield Jackson Airport in Atlanta, GA. RCD and USO has had a partnership in supporting our military personnel, bi-annually, for over 15 years, by serving a typical American lunch of hot dogs, homemade cookies (donated by Rotarians), and fresh fruit, and by assembly,gift bags.
Laws For Life
Each year Rotarian George Stewart and a team of approximately 25 volunteers ensure financial support for scholarships for the Laws of Life Essay Contest in our area schools. The Dennis Crean (a deceased member who was a very devoted supporter) weekly raffle funds the scholarship drawings each week supported by Rotarian volunteers.