January marks the halfway point in the Rotary year. Turning the calendar provides an excellent milestone for reviewing the successes of the first half of Mount Vernon Rotary Club's Centennial year.
Notable achievements include: the club's Roaring 20's style Anniversary Celebration in November; continuing weekly in-person meetings; and introducing Last Tuesday social gatherings. Along with the Centennial Celebration, highlighting the list of accomplishments is that we are on track to complete 100 Acts of Service commemorating our centennial year.
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Proposed by the club's Service Chair Gary Lorenz, the idea of completing 100 Acts of Service to commemorate the club's 100 years of service to the community seemed an ambitious undertaking in July of 2021. Now, nearly 75% of club members have participated in an Act of Service since kick-off.

The documented individual Acts of Service are a diverse collection of intentional acts, including donating blood, baking a cake for a non-profit, shoveling snow off neighborhood driveways, leading a Christmas concert choir, and collecting coats for a warm coat drive. As Club Service Chair, Gary has organized nearly weekly group service projects. Club member participation in projects for Boys and Girls Club, Camp Korey, Camp Kirby, Friendship House, SPARK, and Mount Vernon Downtown and Parks helped build towards the halfway mark.

The commitment to 100 Acts of Service has raised club members' understanding of community needs and focused everyone on Rotary's motto, 'Service Above Self.' Club members also note a heightened personal awareness of what we are already doing in the ordinary course of being good community citizens, helping neighbors, coaching kids, and serving the greater good.

With less than 40 projects or Acts of Service to do and document to reach the goal, we're looking forward to seeing all the good Mount Vernon Rotarians have accomplished during our Centennial Year.