Flagler Beach resident Roseanne Stocker handed the gavel over to the next President of the Rotary Club of Flagler Beach during the installation dinner last week, but her dedication to serving the community runs long and deep.
What inspired you to become a member of Rotary and when?
I first heard of Rotary when I applied for and was awarded a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship, during my senior year of college in 1983. Rotary paid for my year of college and expenses in Mexico City, Mexico. Rotary sponsors these programs to promote international understanding, good will and peace among peoples of all cultures. I became a member of Rotary Club of Flagler Beach in 2000. I was inspired by this local club – which was filled with outstanding citizens that wanted to give back to their community. I joined to make a positive impact, and also to give back to Rotary for the life-changing year I’d spent in Mexico.
What is your favorite project that the Flagler Beach Rotary Club oversees or takes part in?
My favorite project is “Project Share” – a two-faceted program that provides Christmas toys for over 1000 children in Flagler County and Pierson at Christmas and also sponsors a monthly food distribution in nearby Pierson – an agricultural community with many farm worker families and others living well below the poverty line.
You led the organization during a very challenging time in our community. What were some of the projects that you all worked on that were out of the ordinary?
During the Covid-19 Pandemic, Rotary Club of Flagler Beach concentrated on turning adversity into an opportunity to serve. Two projects that immediately come to mind are:
“Food for Flagler”: This project, which involved funding from our club, the two other Rotary Clubs in the county and a grant from Rotary District 6970, provided $9000 to provide food to 5,500 residents of Flagler County that were hard hit by the pandemic. We also partnered with Grace Community Food Pantry to make this happen.
“Rotary Feeding Heroes” : For this project, we partnered with the Rotary District Alumni Association and several other clubs to raise money for a successful matching grant to distribute $8000 worth of appreciation meals to frontline Covid-19 Healthcare workers in Volusia, Flagler and St. John’s County. It was wonderful to be able to support local restaurants as well as recognize our local healthcare heroes.
During your term as president, what is the one accomplishment you are the most proud of the organization achieving?
I am proud that Rotary Club of Flagler Beach stayed motivated and focused during the Pandemic, when we couldn’t meet in person, hold our usual fundraisers nor undertake some of our usual projects. The majority of our members recognized that it is in the challenging times that your true character is revealed. I am so grateful to our members who showed up for Zoom meeting after Zoom meeting. Those feelings of friendship and fellowship – checking on each other and staying in touch – that is what held us together and created opportunities to make a difference.
How has being a member of Rotary help you grow personally and professionally, and why should the next generation get involved?
Everyone should be involved in their community – young and old. You join Rotary to make a difference, but you stay in the club because of the friends you make. As human beings, we all need the social connection – that “I belong here.” Through Rotary, which brings together like-minded, caring people from virtually every country in the world, you gain that connection to your community and mankind. It starts with one or two individuals, then there’s your club, then you meet fantastic people from your district and then Rotary introduces you to new friends in other cultures. Over a million people changing the world one project at a time.
