Local Rotary Clubs provide grants to three community projects

Press release from Rotary Clubs of Gainesville Foundation

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Rotary Clubs of Gainesville Foundation Inc., at its October 17, 2024 Board of Directors meeting, reviewed 25 community grant applications requesting funds from the 2025 Rotary Wild Game Feast. The Board is proud to announce that the recipients of the 2025 Rotary Wild Game Feast grant will be three worthy local organizations: Catholic Charities Bureau Inc. – Gainesville Regional Office; Girls Place, Inc.; and Alachua County Veteran’s Memorial Committee. The 2025 Rotary Wild Game Feast will be held March 6, 2025.

Matthew Braddy, Feast Master 2025, said, “2025 marks our 40th year of this event, and we are excited to be able to make a difference in three unique community areas of need through the 2025 Rotary Wild Game Feast. We are committing more than $100,000 to these projects, continuing our legacy of supporting our local nonprofit organizations to do good in the community. Selecting the recipients from 25 worthy grant applications was not an easy task, however our board felt Catholic Charities, Girls Place, and the Alachua County Veteran’s Memorial Committee were organizations who impact our community in three distinct ways, and we liked the diversity of the projects.”

The Gainesville Regional Office of Catholic Charities maintains an Emergency Food Pantry, providing essential shelf-stable food to those facing food insecurities. Generous donations of food often necessitate refrigeration or freezer storage. Denise Fanning, Regional Director of Catholic Charities, is thrilled to be one of the 2025 Rotary Wild Game Feast recipients and says, “The expansion of our infrastructure enhances the pantry’s ability to assist a larger segment of the community in need; we can continue to be a reliable resource for individuals and families during times of hardship”.

Benefiting over 350 girls a year, Girls Place is looking to renovate their playground to serve many more girls in the future with structures to encourage free play in the outdoors. Executive Director Christi Arrington said upon receiving the news of the 2025 Rotary Wild Game Feast grant, “Without this generosity, our girls would have to wait to have a new playground. Now we will have one in time for summer in 2025, thank you, Rotary.” Girls Place offers year-round programming for girls ages 5-14 in our community, empowering them to grow to be courageous, strong, and self-sufficient. This new play area will certainly support those goals.

The third project to be funded by the 2025 Rotary Wild Game Feast will be the installation of a 50-foot flagpole, with an appropriate large United States of America flag. Lieutenant Colonel Jason Robinson, current chair of the Alachua County Veteran’s Memorial Committee, said of this project, “Replacing the existing small flagpole will mean the flag will be visible from all parts of the Veteran’s Memorial Park and bring joy to the hearts of veterans and their families when they visit the site.” The Alachua County Veteran’s Memorial Committee is committed to providing a Veteran’s Memorial in honor of Alachua County citizens who have died in service to the United States of America.

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