Rotary Club of Avalon Park – Thank You to the Community – Open Invitation

Rotary International has over 1.4 million members and 46,000 clubs worldwide. In East Orlando we are fortunate to have a club right here in Avalon Park consisting of members in the surrounding neighborhoods of Eastwood, Waterford Lakes, Stoneybrook and Lake Nona. July 1 begins a new year for each Rotary Club with a new board of directors installed. As June is the last month of my Presidency, I want to take this opportunity to thank all of the residents and businesses of East Orlando for supporting our club and the fund-raising events we host each year.

Though the pandemic lead to the cancellation of two of our popular fund-raising events: The 2nd Chance Foundation Poker Tournament and The Craft Beer Festival, we still managed to host the Holiday Wine Walk and the Spring Sip & Stroll which allowed us to donate over $15,000 to various charities and scholarships. Thank you again as we cannot raise the funds we do without your continued support. I know that incoming President Jean Zambrano is looking forward to her Presidency and working with our community! We enjoy hosting these events as much as the community enjoys attending them.

The funds we have raised this year have been distributed to local high school students in the form of college scholarships, in support of The Central Florida Miracle League, United Global Outreach in Bithlo as well as a school in Haiti, Education Reinforcement Association (ERA) in association with our friends at United Global Outreach. In past years, funds have been provided to the Yellow Brick Road Foundation and the Sacha Patin Memorial Fund.

Rotary’s mantra is Service Above Self. As Rotarians we live by this phrase every day. Rotarians are leaders and problem solvers who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change, across the globe, in our communities and in ourselves. Rotarians worldwide work on various community service projects ranging from providing food and clean water to people who do not have such vital daily living resources to providing computers to schools in poor countries or keeping students safe from human trafficking while trying to attend school. Locally, you may have participated in one of our community service projects such as cleaning ponds or the Veteran’s Memorial Garden behind Avalon Church, or the 20th Anniversary 9/11 Ceremony. Internally we have supported service projects for organizations such as: Adriana’s Attic, Harbor House, 2nd Harvest Food Bank, Samaritan Resource Center, Word On The Street, The American Heart Association and United Cerebral Palsy of Central Florida to name a few. All of these organizations are near and dear to the hearts of our members, and we look to continue to support such organizations in any way we can.

In the Rotary Club of Avalon Park, we are your friends, your neighbors and local business owners. We attend the same places of worship, and our children attend school together and participate in after-school activities. When one of us is hurting, we come together as a community to support one another. To quote Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – “Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You do not have to make your subject and verb agree to serve… You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”

So, as one of my last official acts as club President, this is my open invitation for all neighbors who have the heart or desire to serve, come out and join us in serving your community. If you are not sure, this is your invitation to join us at a meeting and find out more about Rotary. We are a fun diverse group reflective of our community. We meet every Wednesday morning at 7:30 am at the Pavilion, located at 13401 Tanja King Blvd, Orlando, FL 32828

Solving real problems takes real commitment and vision. For more than 117 years, Rotary’s people of action have used their passion, energy, and intelligence to take action on sustainable projects. We are always working to better our world and we have plenty of seats available at our table, there is one available for you!

Yours In Rotary Service,

Jim McQueeney President - Rotary Club of Avalon Park – 2021 -2022 Cell: 407-306-8238 jimmcqueeney@gmail.com