The Rotary Club of Fanwood-Scotch Plains installed the following new officers on Wednesday, June 19th at a ceremony held at Shackamaxon Country Club in Westfield. This year’s officers are President – Maria LaMorte-Wright, Vice President – Kiran Dhaliwal, Secretary – Cathy Harris and Treasurer – Jackie Falconieri.
Rotary International is comprised of citizens from various disciplines who volunteer their time and talents to make a positive difference both locally and internationally. Rotary’s motto is “Service Above Self” and in doing so, Rotarians strive to make the world a better place. There are more than 34,000 Rotary Clubs worldwide and membership is more than 1.2 million members. The Fanwood-Scotch Plains Rotary Club currently has 45 members.
Maria LaMorte-Wright is the owner of CMIT Solutions of Central Union County, an IT Support and Services company for small businesses. Maria has been in the Fanwood-Scotch Plains Rotary for 3 years. She spoke about two key goals for the year. The first is increasing local outreach through community service and the second is getting more young people involved in Rotary. “We’ll be working closely with the Interact Club at the Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School to include them in our initiatives and to help them expand their group.”
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One of Maria’s first items of change was to eliminate one weekly luncheon per month to allow the club members to work on a monthly service project. In May a contingent of club members worked at the Community Food Bank in Hillside. The June and July service projects include a tour of Roots and Wings, a service organization that provides young adults who’ve aged out of the foster care system with safe housing, and delivery of meals to the elderly.
Outgoing District Governor, Dwight Leeper, in his final act as District Governor conducted the induction ceremony. Dwight stated that “it’s all about service. Rotarians take responsibility to solve problems.”
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Incoming District Governor, Tulsi Maharjan spoke about Rotarians having a passion for service. The theme for his term is Passion into Action. To quote Tulsi, “As Rotarians we have the resources to change the world. !”
The board of the Fanwood-Scotch Plains Rotary is made up of the four officers as well as Patty Laguna (Youth Coordinator), Dick Dobyns (Program), Andy Calamaras (Foundation), Kristy Ball (Publicity), Wayne Zuhl (Membership) and Michael Dietrich (Past President).
For more information about Rotary or if you’re interested in becoming a Rotarian, please visit the website: fsprotary.org
