SHELBY — The Rotary Club of Shelby, Ohio truly put service above self with the largest donation in club history to the Shelby Fire Department.
Members of the community and the Rotary club presented a $5,000 check to Fire Chief Mike Thompson at the club’s first “Rotary on the Road” meeting on July 13. Rotary President Carrie Kemerer said the club had been looking for a project on a larger scale.
“With the fire station being such a huge project for our community, there’s a lot of positive encouragement,” Kemerer said. “Our current fire station is in such poor shape, and knowing they were getting a new building, this was one way we could have impact on our community because it was a current need.”
The $5,000 will go towards purchasing interior furnishings at the brand-new Shelby fire station on High School Avenue, including desks, filing cabinets, beds, kitchen equipment, chairs and gear racks. Thompson said the fire department has raised $65,000 of their $100,000 goal.
“I talked to Rotary and met with them on several occasions, and they thought this was such a neat project and really wanted to give back,” Thompson said.
The chief added he was very thankful to all members of the Shelby Rotary.
“It’s a big blessing, and a great help to us,” he said. “It was unbelievable and we really appreciate it.”
According to Kemerer, the purpose of a local Rotary club is to connect people who then work together to solve community problems, provide humanitarian aid, and promote goodwill and peace. Currently Shelby’s club has 32 active members.
Shelby Rotary’s other projects throughout the year include Big Red Bookshelf, delivering dictionaries to all third graders in Shelby and Plymouth School Districts, Highway Cleanup, Bike-in Movie Night during Bicycle Days, Salvation Army Ring Bell Program, and serving as the parent organization for Interact – Rotary Club at the high school.
“We’d like to encourage whoever wishes to help their community and fellow neighbor to consider joining for the camaraderie and putting service above self,” Kemerer said.
