Each year members from our club visit local schools in Districts 1,2,3 and 5 to give all 3^rd graders their own dictionaries. James Lindley took dictionaries to Belton Elementary School in the photo shown.

Literacy and Early Childhood Education

Mrs. Ashley Anderson's kindergarten class at Nevitt Forest Community School of Innovation, a Title 1 School, has been the focus of our early childhood efforts for the past three years.  Members have been assigned to specific children who need that extra one-on-one attention and work with them each week. The Special Person experiences help the children communicate better and builds their confidence. Of course, club members get huge benefits too -- there is nothing like the bright smiles we receive each week when we visit "our" children. In the photo shown, Mrs. Anderson's class joined us for a Christmas party. Our club has also supported the Dolly Parton Imagination Library and other literacy efforts.

Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA)

The Rotary Club of Greater Anderson also supports RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards), a week-long motivational leadership training program for rising high school juniors and seniors held at Erskine College. Students describe this as a life-changing experience. They are nominated by school guidance counselors based on their leadership potential.

Happy Bucks & Charitable Giving

A weekly feature at our club meetings is “Happy Bucks.” For a donation, each member may speak about anything over the last week that has made him or her happy! The money raised supports periodic donations to local charities.The club also raises money with a 50-50 drawing. Raffle tickets are sold each week, and the winner gets to draw a card from a deck. The joker is the winner, and the pot builds over time. One year the joker eluded us until the very last week! In the photo shown, Marlene McClain presents a donation to Carol Burdette, left, Chief Professional Officer of the United Way of Anderson County.