After a year when Bristol Rotary broke new records in donations to local charities and in increasing our membership by 25%, Paul LaFleur steps down and Mary Jo Tavares steps in as the new President for Fiscal Year 2024/2025. Paul volunteered to be President for the past 2 fiscal years, as we were coming out of the difficult Covid slump, and lead the successful return of Bristol Rotary.

 

In the collage below, at the top, Mary Jo has been inducted as President by Betty Galligan the Assistant District Governor of District# 7950.  In the middle picture, the new Board for fiscal Year 2024/2025 is sworn in.  Left to right is: Mary Almeida, Cesar DaPonte, Maria Cesario, Cid Rodrigues, Marty Roussel, Sandra Andrade, Mary Jo Tavares (new President), Bruce Cox (future President), Paul LaFleur (past President), and Ken Watkinson.

 

In the pictures at the bottom, two members receive the prestigious Paul Harris Fellow Award which is awarded in Rotary to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the Club. They were awarded by Paul LaFleur to Maria Cesario on the lower left and Marty Roussel on the lower right. Maria for excellent financial management of the funds in the Charities Foundation, and Marty for his consistent outstanding leadership and contributions to Bristol Rotary over the past 41 years.

Every year Bristol Rotary makes several donations to local and other charities from the funds it raises for that purpose throughout the year - from fundraisers and donors. In the picture below, Joanne Quinn, Executive Director of The Autism Project (TAP), sends a thank you for Bristol Rotary’s donation, which for the second year in a row, was the largest donation received for TAP’s annual “Imagine Walk.”  In addition, donations went out this week to Women’s Resource Center, Rogers Free Library, Community String Project, Linden Place, East Bay Food Pantry, St Elizabeth’s Food Pantry, The Tomorrow Fund, Christian Community Bible Church (supporting a Haitian Orphanage), Bristol Country Chorus (supporting the Joan Roth Scholarship Fund), RI Veterans Home, EB Community Dev. Corp (to go towards their eventual purchase of a van for seniors living in the Franklin Court facilities). Several others will be added in May.

 

Also, every year Bristol Rotary provides financial grants to high school students, who apply for funds to help them move to the next educational level that fits their goals. Lastly, the Club sends funds to the Rotary Foundation for the organization’s international projects: this year, Polio Plus and Disaster Response. By fiscal year end, June 30^th, Bristol Rotary will have donated over $100,000.  Almost half that sum was given out as individual donations during the year, as timing factors affected the need. “Thank you to local friends, supporters, and donors who, ‘help us help others.’”