31 Local Charities Receive Donations From Patterson Rotary

SOUTHEAST-BREWSTER, NY - The Rotary Club of Patterson: The Rotary Club of Patterson presented 31 Putnam County and area charities with cash donations totaling $30,000 - the largest amount ever donated by the Club at a Community Awards Giveaway.

The ‘Valentine’s Giveaway’ is one of two semi-annual Community Awards Giveaways held in February and June by the Rotary Club of Patterson. Different groups will receive donations in June.

Club members and award recipients gathered early Tuesday morning at the Rotary Club’s weekly meeting at the Patterson Recreation Center.

Past Club President and Presenter for the event, Anthony Molé, expressed how fortunate we are in our community, to have such organizations and charities who do their best to help those in need.

The Rotary Club of Patterson hosts three major fundraising events each year which fund the Community Awards Giveaways, beginning with Men Who Cook coming up on April 28th. The highly popular gastronomic event is helmed by amateur and professional chefs who serve a tasting, buffet-style, of their specialty ranging from appetizers to entrees, and of course, desserts! The Patterson Rotary Blues & BBQ Festival is a free must-attend two-day family/food/fun music in September. The BBQ ribs are in such high demand that they often sell out early. And finally, the Club’s newest fundraising event in October is Touch-A-Truck for Heroes, in which all funds raised go toward local veterans organizations. Kids of all ages, and kids-at-heart, get to climb up onto their favorite big trucks and maybe even honk a few horns. All three events contribute to the donations that were made to Tuesday’s recipients.

Many of the charities receiving donations are all-volunteer, meaning no overhead costs ensure that all funds raised go directly to help those in need, such as The TJ Lobraico Foundation. Foundation Director and TJ’s mom, Linda Rohatsch, noted that to date, the foundation has given $48,000 of scholarships to young adults who champion service before self.

Partnership was a dominant theme in the room. Many of the recipient charities work together to offer support to each other and those that they help. Recipient Judy Callahan of Putnam CAP (Community Action Partnership) praised “…all these partnerships and collaborations that help people in need in our community, from all walks of life…”. Rob Gallacher is on the Board of Directors for Help Our Military Heroes (HOMH), an organization that provides adaptive minivans for veterans post 9-11. Just this week HOMH gave their 95th van. Gallacher says that his organization partners with some of the other recipients such as NY Riders and Semper Fi Odyssey.

Recipient Caren Mahar of Camp Sundown, a night camp for children with Xeroderma Pigmentosum (life-threatening sun sensitivity), noted that Camp Sundown helps not just the children; their families learn from each other how to live with this rare disease.

Patterson Rotarian, Dan Horkan, summed up the 2018 Valentine’s Giveaway, “We heard from Moms and Grandmas, and lots of people who have taken a personal tragedy and turned it into hope, compassion, peace and comfort for others…The scope of people we are helping goes way beyond those in the room this morning.”

Recipients of Valentine’s Giveaway:

• Brewster High School Semper Fi Club
• Camp Herrlich
• Carmel FBLA
• CoveCare Center
• Dentistry From the Heart - Putnam Dental Associates
• George Fisher Middle School - to send 5 children to Camp Herrlich
• Friends of the Great Swamp FrOGS
• The Friends Network
• Help Our Military Heroes
• Hospice Care of Putnam/Visiting Nurses Julia's Wings Foundation
• Matthew Patterson Elementary School - to send 5 children to Camp Herrlich
• Matthew's Hearts of Hope
• My Brother Vinny
• NY Riders of Putnam
• Patterson Community Church Food Pantry
• Patterson Historical Society
• Patterson Interact Club
• Patterson Library
• Patterson Rotary Club’s Senior Committee for initiatives at Putnam Veterans Home
• PFC Joseph Dwyer Vet2Vet Program
• Putnam CAP Putnam County Humane Society
• Putnam County Sheriff's Cadets
• Putnam Family & Community Services
• Putnam Northern Westchester Women's Resource Center
• Putnam SPCA Semper Fi Odyssey - Outdoor Odyssey
• The TJ Lobraico Foundation
• Village of Brewster Film Festival
• Xeroderma Pigmentosum Society’s Camp Sundown

About The Rotary Club of Patterson: The Rotary Club of Patterson was chartered in 1987. Its community-minded members are especially dedicated to serving those in need within the Town of Patterson, as well as Putnam County, the nation, and around the world.

Rotarians develop community service projects that address many of today’s most critical issues, such as: children at risk, poverty, clean water, hunger, the environment, illiteracy and violence.

The Patterson club donated over $50,000 in cash and in-kind services to local organizations and neighbors in need last year. This included: complete Thanksgiving dinner for 30 families - appetizers to desserts; dinner for Camp Sundown where children with a genetic disorder can't go out in the sun to play; school supply collections, local food pantry assistance, and ShelterBox national and international disaster relief, just to name a few of their projects.

Rotary International is the oldest service organization in the world. It is the only non-governmental organization to have a permanent seat at the United Nations, an organization that Rotary helped to form. The Patterson Rotary Club is one of nearly 33,000 local Rotary Clubs around the world, making approximately 1.2 million Rotarian members.

Photo courtesy of The Rotary Club of Patterson