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Business & Tech

Making The Right Call With The Rotary Phonebook

A fundraiser that puts thousands of dollars into the community

East Greenwich Rotary President Mike Gemma is gunning for a profit of over $50,000 on the phone book project again this year, and will guide the club as they then turn around and give it all away.

With the phone book, ALS race, citrus drive and other events, Gemma says the club annualy raises and gives away around $135,000, living up to the Rotary motto of Service Above Self.

Phone book income is distributed to several dozen projects. Most recipients are local, but Rotary is an international organization and the club supports some of larger Rotary projects as well.

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For instance, when Haiti was devastated by an earthquake in 2010, the club made a contribution to the Rotary’s Shelterbox donation to that country. The shelterbox, designed by a Rotarian, is emergency housing for use in areas hit by natural disaster. Designed as a box for easy shipping, the unit contains a tent and emergency supplies.

Another international project, with a direct local tie, is aid to LaRomana in the Dominican Republic right next to Haiti. Club members decided to support that effort to help this impoverished area with money and in some cases their time after hearing about it several years ago from Rotarians who had been making trips there with the East Greenwich Baptist Church.

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The list of organizations supported over the years can be found in the phone book.

While much of the support is to highly organized groups such as the Food Bank, RI Free Clinic, East Greenwich Summer’s End and others, many members take the most satisfaction from smaller hands-on donations.

Every year they set aside a few thousand dollars for the Rotary Emergency Action Program or REAP.  One member is designated to work with local agencies. Over the years the club has bought heating oil and helped with a rent payments when a hand was needed.

Having just one member oversee those donations means only that person ever knows the names  of the people who get aid.

Some of the stories of support include providing a stove for a mother and her two teenage children who couldn’t afford one and were eating out of cans. One year the club bought school clothes for some little girls living in a shelter with their family. When another family recently found itself in dire straits with a sick father, no income and Christmas approaching, the club made sure it was a happy holiday.

Another local effort which has produced good results with the expenditure of relatively few dollars is working quietly with the school system to make sure at-risk youngsters get supplies and clothing they need for the school year.

During June, July and August Rotarians sell advertising to local businesses, then publish the new book each fall. It is mailed to local homes and businesses, with extra copies available at the Chamber of Commerce office.

Rotarians take pride in the fact that even as communication is constantly changing in this digital age the phone book is still heavily used, said Gemma. They also take pride in providing community support for activities that might otherwise have gone unmet, or required the support of tax dollars.

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