Comments (0) | |

Wednesday, Oct. 08, 2008

Warner Robins Rotary schedules charity golf tournament

"Service Above Self" is a phrase frequently heard and used, but when it comes to service organizations, Rotary Clubs walk the walk. Current Rotary International President Dong Kurn Lee from South Korea has taken the lead this year "To Make Dreams Real," specifically for the world's children.

"True service gives us pure hearts," he declares in his Oct. 1 news message. "Personal integrity or a pure heart are the values shared by Rotary. I challenge all Rotarians to give children hope and a chance for the future."

Where those global challenges lie is in providing safe water to drink and the eradication of polio in the world, among other areas. The Warner Robins Rotary Club is taking on the challenge of improving literacy in Middle Georgia.

"We have added as a project the Ferst Foundation, a Georgia-based organization dedicated to improving early childhood learning." said Warner Robins Rotary President David Campbell. "The addition of this foundation is very consistent with the emphasis our club places on increasing literacy of all ages."

So committed is the club that local Rotarians recently voted to give $2,000 to the Ferst Foundation, to provide one book per month to be sent to a child.

Sixty-one percent of low-income families do not have a single piece of reading material suitable for a child. Moreover, statistics show that 41 percent of Georgia's fourth graders do not read at the proper grade level.

Economic studies show investments in quality child care and education for children in their preschool years provide a return of up to 20 percent. The Ferst Foundation strives to improve early childhood learning regardless of income, race, religion or gender.

Another project near and dear to the hearts of Warner Robins Rotarians is GANSU Inc., founded by Dr. Bill Conrad, himself a fellow Warner Robins Rotarian and grandson of missionaries who served for 32 years in China.

As founder of GANSU, Conrad escorts teams of American Board Certified Ophthalmologists, nurses and nonmedical volunteers every year to west China to teach and perform cataract surgery in rural areas.

Over the last 15 years, more than 2,400 cataract surgeries have been performed in rural China for patients who have no other access to eye care. The surgery is performed in a mobile surgical facility provided by GANSU and is, in part, supported by the Warner Robins Rotary Club.

This year the Charity Golf Tournament on Oct. 21 will benefit both the Ferst Foundation and GANSU Inc., and is open to Rotary Club members and nonmembers alike at the Landings Golf Club.

The golf package is $50 and includes a lunch buffet at noon, use of a golf cart, range balls, a prime rib dinner at 6 p.m. and all prize events, which include a two-night stay in Hilton Head and a set of Taylor-made R-7s irons. Tee time is 1 p.m. Golf prizes will be first/second/third place winners, closest to the hole and longest drive.

Sponsorships are available on four levels: Platinum $1,000 (two teams/four players each); Gold $500 (one team/four players); Silver $300 (includes two players); and Bronze $200 (one player). Other sponsorships are Drink Cart ($250), Lunch ($300) and Hole Sponsor ($50). There will be special sponsor recognition.

To sponsor or to sign up to play in the Warner Robins Rotary Charity Golf Tournament, contact Mike Hale at (478) 929-6710 or David Campbell at (478) 542-7839.

AN AFTERNOON AT THE MOVIES

Cox Communications is partnering with the City of Warner Robins Senior Activity Center for a special event Wednesday, Oct. 15.

Inspired by Hollywood's red carpet movie premieres, "An Afternoon at the Movies" is going to be a quarterly event, complete with the red carpet and the paparazzi. A Turner Classic movie will be featured, and there will be popcorn, candy, sodas and door prizes.

The event is free, but you are asked to RSVP to (478) 929-6960.

The first movie will be "Singin' in the Rain," starring Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds. The movie will begin at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 15.

Marsha Priest Buzzell can be contacted at cvb@warnerrobinsga.gov or 478-922-5100.