Stories

The 25th Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping the homeless restore their name. We believe that doing One Thing, One Day, One Time (#OTODOT) can make a difference. Our current focus is helping a community of unsheltered homeless in the woods of Northern Virginia by volunteering on the 25th of each month.

While we enjoy the benefits of freedom, countless men and women are serving in our armed forces in remote locations around the globe.  These brave men and women have chosen to serve our country; many of them are away from home, in harm’s way and living each day with very few modern comforts.  The members of DunnLoring-Merrifield Rotary appreciate the service of self-sacrifice of our military, especially those serving aboard ships and deployed to distant countries.  It is our club’s privilege to know a very fine navy officer who is deployed far from home.  To express our appreciation we have set up Operation Treats for Troop: A monthly care package to bring a little bit of home to our dear friend Chris and his buddies!

Thanks Chris and company for your service and dedication!!!!  We hope you enjoy our personal selection of snacks, notes and memorabilia from home!  Until we see you back home in Virginia…our care packages will be coming your way, filled with love and appreciation for all you do!   

With spectacular weather, amidst peak cherry tree blooms, members of DunnLoring-Merrifield Rotary took part in the annual Make a Wish Foundation 3 mile 'Walk for Wishes' on Sunday April 12, 2015.  We had great fun and great weather while raising money for a really great cause AND we burned a few calories along the way!  Check-out the full story on the club Facebook page....don't miss the photos of David and Ed with Redskin cheerleaders!

We Helped Build Another Bridge!  This one is for Richard…

The Mtilizisa Suspension Bridge was inaugurated this past June.  It was the first suspension bridge done in Zambia.  The matching grant by “Bridges to Prosperity” was for two bridges in Zambia...both of which now have our club’s name as a sponsor, with one dedicated to Richard Madlener.

The club wanted to dedicate this bridge to Richard, who was a founding member of our club.  He passed away during the 2012-2013 Rotary year.  Since Richard was a strong supporter of the Bridges to Prosperity program, our club felt it appropriate to have a bridge named after him.

The Kachenjais section is a collection of subsistence farming families living outside the village of Mtilizisa.   During the rainy season, the Mtilizisa river becomes impassable, cutting the population off from the rural clinic in the village and from being able to travel on to the district capital in Nyimba, where major markets and government services are located.

Title 1 schools have free or subsidized lunches during the school year, but what about the weekends?  Working through the Assistance League, we help sponsor their Weekend Food for Kids program that offers packaged food for weekend use, helping insure that at-risk kids are able to study during the weekend and to come to school ready to learn.  Our club plans on contributing $4,000 this year, and would like to do more.  We also help with the food packing effort that takes place each month of the school year.

How would you feel if you were a parent in a third world country and your child was going to die for the need of an open-heart operation?  How would you feel if people from another country that you never met, offered to transport your child and family to the United States to receive the life-saving surgery?  All at no expense to you - enabling you to return to your country with the joy of a new year filled with life’s opportunities.

The Gift of Life program, created within Rotary, is now a stand-alone charity, one that our club supports annually.  To-date our one club has saved the lives of four children, and looking for this year to save the fifth.  Come help us make the magic happen.

The premise of Rotary, founded almost 110 years ago, is that people can come together in fellowship and service to solve community and even international problems.  We work to improve the quality and dignity of life through projects that impact health, education, and vocational support.  If you have ever felt like you wanted to make a difference, to be part of the "THEY" that people speak of when defining the empowered, then perhaps Rotary is for you.  No more will you see, read about, or hear of something wrong in the world, and wonder why don't "THEY" do something.  The problems we face are many.  The THEY can't be a small group.  Rotary has grown to be over a 1.2 million people, involving more than 33,000 clubs world-wide.  Together we are solving problems, not one at a time, but thousands at a time.  But you have only to read a newspaper to know that there is still so much that needs to be done.

So What Do We Do With the Money We Get from the Above Fundraisers?  Every dollar raised goes to charities - No administrative costs are considered.  We divide our project efforts into Rotary Service categories, e.g. International, Community, Vocational, and New Generations.  A listing of our projects includes the following…

Our International Service projects include supporting “Bridges to Prosperity,” “Gift of Life,” Water Projects in Zambia, “Arlington Academy of Hope (Uganda Clinic Supplies),” Rotary’s “Polio Plus,” Jamaican Education Support projects, Haiti Medical Supplies, “Stop Hunger Now,” and “Free Syria” Humanitarian Aid.

Community Service projects include supporting “Alternative House,” “Homestretch,” “Shelter Home,” the Assistance League’s “Weekend Food for Kids" program, the “Potomac Conservancy Group,” “Children’s Hospital,” “Conservation4Youth,” and the “National Network for Domestic Violence.”

Perhaps our club’s signature source of funding support is providing college scholarships to deserving students in Fairfax County’s Adult High School (formerly focused to Pimmit Hills High School):  Over the past decade our club has offered over 80 student scholarships.  The theme of scholarship support has also been extended to include George Mason University’s College of Health & Human Services, and their School of Business, helping needy students achieve their educational goals.

How do we select the projects we support?  Opportunities are made known to our club by guest speakers, news events, our own club members, and recommendations by other Rotarians.  If you have a charity of interest, or a special event that serves the community, consider becoming a speaker or a member of our club.  Our program chair this year is Ms. Virginia Hottel, who can be reached by e-mail at wwdg@aol.com or by telephone at (703) 734-9770.  Our membership chair this year is Mr. Ed Hogg, whose e-mail address is ehogg9@gmail.com, and can also be contacted by telephone at (703) 862-8168.

Some of the projects we have supported in the past are described in the follow-on stories.

Proposing a new member is very easy.  The process is described in the "View Club Documents" section of "My ClubRunner."  Just access "Proposing a New Member" in the documents listing.  The document not only explains the process, but lays-out the information needed about the new member.  Communication is also needed with a prospective new member to inform them of what we have done, but more importantly, to ask them what they want our club to do for them.

Every year, the Rotary Club of Dunn Loring-Merrifield offers college scholarships to deserving adult high-school students of Fairfax County, Virginia.  Amounts can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars.  This past year, two students (Benjamin Lane, and Ivy Crosier) received scholarships, totaling $6,500.  Through the years, more than $80,000 has been provided to almost 70 students, often enough to pay tuition for a full year at NOVA. 

The selection process is rigorous, involving detailed applications and interviews – reviewed by school counselors, teachers, Fairfax County Adult High Schools administrator’s staff, and our Club’s Scholarship Committee.  Shown in the photograph above (from left to right) is Robert Landon (Assistant Administrator of Fairfax County Adult High School, Jeannette Nelson (School Counselor), Benjamin Lane (Scholarship Recipient), Virginia Hottel (Club Scholarship Chair), Ivy Crosier (Scholarship Recipient), Nicole Low (School Counselor), and David Eakin (Club President).

We coordinate our efforts with other Rotary Clubs (McLean and Tysons), and the Apple Federal Credit Union, who also have provided scholarships to Fairfax County Adult High School students.  For more information about our scholarship program, contact Virginia Hottel on wwdg@aol.com. 

Dunn Loring - Merrifield, in cooperation with other Rotary clubs is supporting the construction of the Henry Ngulube Msanzala River Bridge
Project # 091.  The bridge will be the first newly designed suspension bridge to be built in Africa.  Rain and other delays have delayed completion of the bridge until April or May 2012.

A slides show of the first stages of construction can be view in a slide show on the Bridges to Prosperity web site. CLICK HERE

The bridge is partially funded by Rotary Foundation.Humanatarian Grant 757444.  The grant should be open for at least three months if members would like to make a Paul Harris eligeable donation to support the bridge construnction.  This can be accomplished using the TRF Global Contribution Form which can be found under Downloads.

On April 21 the Dunn Loring Scholarship Committee awarded scholarships to six Pimmit Hill High School students in the amount of $4200.  The recipients will be presented their scholarships by Conrad Heer at the Pimmit Hills graduation ceremony which will be held at Annandale High School at 7PM on June 17. 

On January 6 the Dunn Loring Scholarship Committee awarded scholarships to four Pimmit Hill High School students in the amount of $3500.  The scholarship recipients are Nita Kumar, Abdi Mahamed, Moon Shin, and Jaime Monterroso.  The recipients were presented their scholarships at the Pimmit Hills graduation ceremony which was held at Marshall High School on February 11. 

Update & Photos: Proyecto Villa Nueva:

Founded in 2006 by a group of recent university graduates, Proyecto Villa Nueva (click here to see their informative web site) is a small U.S. based non-profit developing innovative approaches to youth leadership, information access, and health education in schools for the urban poor in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.  A update & follow-on to the earlier presentation by board member Kendall Turner, Proyecto's director Mr. Walkinshaw of the World Bank will discuss the best practices model & its successes to be shared with national government & other education-focused NGOs.

Contributions to The Rotary Foundation (TRF) are eligible for Paul Harris Fellow Recognition. TRF Global Contribution Form can be downloaded from the Download section of the web page.

You can easily donate to the Rotary Foundation Annual Fund online via the RI web page.
Click on Member Access (upper right corner of the page).  Register if you have not already registered or enter you user ID password.  To register you enter district number: 7610, club number:50266, and your membership ID: it's the seven digit number following #0 on your Rotary Magazine mailing label.  When you are in the Membership Access area click Contribute to the Rotary Foundation and contribute.

You can access the Rotary District 7610 Foundation Newsletter and the District Newsletter via links under Club Links