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Dan Coons and Edgar Martinez
Jun 07, 2023 6:00 PM
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Peoria North
Welcome to Peoria North Rotary Club
Peoria North

People of Action

We meet In Person
Wednesdays at 6:00 PM
The Links Neighborhood Grill
18823 N. Country Club Drive
Peoria, AZ 85383
United States of America
Peoria North is meeting in person with a Zoom/virtual option.
Home Page Stories
Peoria North Rotary Club recognized its Students of the Month for the second quarter during the club's May 24 meeting. The students attend Mountain Ridge High School. From left, Russell Kennedy, a senior (April); Club President Vernon Bridges and Alvira Hoffman, a freshman (May). Not pictured is March winner Priya List. Each student received a $250 award and a certificate signifying that a wheelchair has been donated in their name to a disabled person in Mexico. 
The West Valley Rotaract Club, one of our district's newest clubs, was welcomed into the world of Rotary during the April 19 meeting of the Peoria North Rotary Club.
 
Peoria North helped sponsor the new club and presented it with a $500 donation to help with organizational costs.
 
Jason Braunstein, chair of the PNRC Foundation, presented the donation to Jessica Vaupel, president of the West Valley Rotaract Club.
Several members of the Peoria North Rotary Club joined dozens of other District 5495 Rotarians on Saturday, April 15, to kick off "Arizona Rotary Week of Service" with a special project to benefit Sleep in Heavenly Peace.
 
Rotarians joined volunteers from several other organizations to build beds for children living in homeless shelters and in foster care. The special kick-off event took place in the parking lot of American Furniture Warehouse in Glendale.
 
A total of 100 beds were built from scratch. Volunteers assisted with cutting the boards, sanding, assembly, staining and more.
 
District Governor Larry Horton thanked Rotarians who participated.
 
"Imagine a child who woke up this morning sleeping on the floor actually going to sleep tonight in the comfort of a bed. That's pretty powerful," said Larry.
 
PNRC members who participated included President Vern Bridges, Bret McKeand, Donnis Deever, Jason Braunstein and Al Dixon.
 
Check out a live broadcast of the event on Channel 10, Fox news.
Joanna Conde is our newest member to be inducted into the Peoria North Rotary Club.
 
Joanna was welcomed at a recent meeting, and sworn in by Assistant Governor Lu Rotundo and President-Elect Steve Matthews.
 
Welcome to the club, Joanna!
After its first three days of the 2023 Prom Closet, the Peoria North Rotary Club has already served over 200 students from 69 schools throughout Arizona, including nearly 30 students for a school for the deaf.
 
Young boys and girls throughout the state will be able to attend their high school prom this spring without having to spend a single penny on purchasing needed attire thanks to the efforts of Arizona Rotarians.
 
This year’s Prom Closet continues for its final weekend, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. April 1-2.
 
The event takes place at the Glendale System of Care Center, 7677 W. Bethany Home Road, in Glendale.
 
Several local TV stations have visited the Prom Closet and filmed segments for broadcast. View two segments featured on Channel 10 HERE.
 
All high school teens are invited. There are no financial requirements and no application to be completed. All items are available at absolutely no cost.
 
The Prom Closet has thousands of formal prom dresses to choose from, as well as shoes and accessories. In addition to women’s clothing and accessories, items available to men include shirts, slacks and ties.
 
The program was initially created 12 years ago by Mary Ann Baker, a founding member and past president of the Peoria North Rotary Club. The Peoria club assumed total oversight of The Prom Closet six years ago and is supported by volunteer Rotarians from Sun City, Glendale, Surprise and Phoenix.
 
“It’s really grown into a community-wide project,” said Donnis Deever, a member of Peoria North Rotary Club and chair of this year’s project.
 
“Not only do we have Rotarians from throughout the Valley, but we have many other residents who have joined on as volunteers – many of whom felt the impact of the program when their sons or daughters visited The Prom Closet in the past.”
Young boys and girls throughout the state will be able to attend their high school prom this spring without having to spend a single penny on purchasing needed attire thanks to the efforts of Arizona Rotarians.
 
Beginning at the end of March and continuing the first weekend in April, The Prom Closet – a project spearheaded by the Peoria North Rotary Club -- will provide formal prom attire to boys and girls at absolutely no charge.
This year’s Prom Closet takes place 9 a.m.-2 p.m. March 25-26 and April 1-2. 
 
The event takes place at the Glendale System of Care Center, 7677 W. Bethany Home Road, in Glendale.
 
All high school teens are invited. There are no financial requirements and no application to be completed. All items are available at absolutely no cost.
 
The Prom Closet has thousands of formal prom dresses to choose from, as well as shoes and accessories. In addition to women’s clothing and accessories, items available to men include shirts, slacks and ties.
 
 
Peoria North Rotary Club is sponsoring a unique project this year meant to interest students in the world of space exploration.
 
As opportunities for innovation in the space economy continue to grow, it's important our students learn about these opportunities and begin training for future possibilities.
 
The Postcards in Space program requires each sixth-grade class in the Peoria Unified School District to design a new technology that could be used to help meet the needs of people working or living in space.
 
Students are asked to brainstorm and create ideas, then sketch those ideas on postcards distributed to the schools by the Peoria North club.
 
Club members will pick up the postcards later this month and send to the Club for the Future, where they will be sent to space and back on a Blue Origin New Shepard rocket.
 
The club's Postcards in Space project is funded by a District Designated Grant. 
 
Photo: Peoria North Rotary Club President-Elect Steve Matthews distributes Postcards in Space packets to a local school.
Peoria North Rotary Club recognized its most recent Students of the Month at its Feb. 22 meeting. Both students are from Mountain Ridge High School. Tegan Bernard, a senior, was the club's Student of the Month for January, while Apramey Akkiraju, a junior, is the February recipient. From left, Darlene Eger, the club's Youth chair, Tegan, Apramey and Club President Vernon Bridges.
Peoria North Rotary Club honored Arizona Diamondbacks organist Bobby Freeman with its highest honor, a Paul Harris Fellow, during the club's annual Wine Classic Fundraiser held Feb. 11 in Peoria. The honor recognizes all of Bobby's contributions over the years to our club, as well as all he has done to help others through his work with the Diamondbacks Foundation. Club President Vernon Bridges and District Governor Larry Horton presented the award to Bobby and Charlene Freeman.
The Rotary Club of Peoria North recently recognized club members for their support of the The Rotary Foundation by presenting them with Paul Harris Fellows.
 
Four of the members received their very first Paul Harris recognition, while Lou Rotundo received a Paul Harris plus-four pin.
 
Paul Harris Fellows recognize a Rotarian who has contributed $1,000 to The Rotary Foundation. Earning their first Paul Harris Fellow certificates and pins were Darlen Eger, Margaret Fried, Sybil Ihrig and Sharon Jarnagin.
 
Peoria North is one of the district's strongest supporters of The Rotary Foundation and Rotary's End Polio Now campaign. The club last year earned the district's top honor for per-captia contributions made to the End Polio Now campaign. Peoria North reported the highest contributions per capita among the district's 65 clubs.
Jeanne Hough was recently welcomed as the newest member of the Rotary Club of Peoria North. President Vernon Bridges, left, and Assistant Governor Lou Rotundo present Jeanne her official Rotary membership packet and Rotary pin. Jeanne is also President Verne's mother-in-law.
Peoria North Rotary Club received a Certificate of Appreciation from U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Lesko in recognition of the club's service to the community. The certificate was presented to Club President Vernon Bridges during the club's Oct. 26 meeting. The certificate was presented by Monica Yellin, outreach director for Rep. Lesko's office.
Members of Peoria North Rotary Club gathered recently to prepare for the club's annual distribution of dictionaries. Peoria North partnered with the Rotary Club of Peoria to purchase and deliver the dictionaries to every third-grade student in the Peoria Unified School District. Club members placed a sticker on the inside of each dictionary that contains the Four-Way Test, as well as a place for a student to sign his or her name.
Bret and Michelle McKeand represented Peoria North Rotary Club at MiKid's first Trunk or Treat event on Saturday, Oct. 29. The event was sponsored by the Valley of the Sun Rotary Passport Club and featured a number of organizations providing candy those children served by MiKid. Instead of candy, Peoria North allowed each child to select a book of their choice. MiKid is a Valley non-profit organization focused on serving the mental health needs of children.
The Peoria North Rotary Club sends out a special thank-you to Jackie Rose for her recent donation of 25 brand-new, full-length mirrors to be used at our club’s upcoming Prom Closet! Jackie is a member of The Rotary Club of Glendale and recently joined the committee overseeing The Prom Closet. Jackie and her father, Jack (also a member of the Glendale club), recently delivered the mirrors to The Prom Closet’s new home at the Glendale System of Care Campus.
Members of the Peoria North Rotary Club got a first-hand look at the new System of Care Campus in Glendale on Oct. 19, when the club held its weekly meeting at the campus.
 
The new campus, home to the club's Prom Closet, offers an array of family services to low-income families in the Northwest Valley. Health and mental wellness, food supplies, literacy and education programs and more are part of the System of Care Campus.
 
The campus is providing storage space for The Prom Closet. The club will hold its annual Prom Closet next spring at the campus, located at 7677 W. Bethany Home Road in Glendale. During the meeting, Club President Vern Bridges donated over two dozen brand new books to Dennis Parcells, the campus administrator. The books will be used in the campus literacy center.
District Governor Larry Horton made his official visit to Peoria North Rotary Club on September 21. Larry was welcomed by a large crowd, anxious to hear an inspiring message.
 
The theme for Rotary this year is "Imagine Rotary," and Larry encouraged Rotarians to "imagine" the good they can do in the world and in their communities. He shared the inspiring story of a man in India who personally carved a road through a mountain to make it easier for those in his village to reach medical care.
 
Larry encouraged our Rotarians to "carve" their own road to make small, but substantial positive changes in the world.
 
In recognition of DG Larry's visit to the club, Peoria North donated $1,000 in Larry's name to The Rotary Vocational Fund of Arizona.
 
Peoria Noth Rotary Club installed its newest member at the Sept. 21 meeting, the meeting that also marked the official visit of District Governor Larry Horton.
 
Kym Porreca was introduced by Membership Chair and Assistant Governor Lou Rotundo, right, while District Governor Larry Horton looks on. 
 
Welcome to the club, Kym!
Lizzie G’s Formals recently donated 200 beautiful, brand new, long dresses- all bagged in plastic and personally delivered by the owners to the club's new Prom Closet facility.
 
Several members of The Prom Closet Committee were joined by members of the Rotary Club of Sun City to help unload and organize the new donations.
 
The club's donations are now stored at the System of Care Campus, 7677 W. Bethany Home Road in Glendale. The club will meet Oct. 19 at the facility to tour the new campus and see the new storage facility first-hand.
 
Over a dozen Rotary volunteers helped Peoria North Rotary Club on July 28 move its massive Prom Closet inventory to a brand new home at the System of Care Campus in Glendale.
 
Rotarians from Sun City, Downtown Social Club and Glendale joined PNRC members to move the estimated 3,000 prom dresses and men's formal outfits from Landmark Elementary School in downtown Glendale to the new System of Care Campus (formerly Coyote Ridge Elementary School) at 7677 W. Bethany Home Road in Glendale.
 
The new home will provide expanded space for the Prom Closet, as well as year-round access to store, clean, sort and organize materials. The club will continue to open its doors for its annual spring Prom Closet, but the new facility provides an opportunity for the club to serve residents year-round.
 
The System of Care Campus will also include a number of other community services aimed at assisting lower-income families and citizens. In addition to The Prom Closet, the campus will house a number of non-profit organizations specializing in vocational training, health care, education and literacy services and much more. 
 
 
 
 
Gary Webb, right, president and founder of OCJ Kids in Arizona, was the guest speaker at the July 27 meeting of PNRC. Mr. Webb shared an update on the work of his organization, which focuses on serving the needs of children living in foster care throughout Arizona. President Vernon presents Gary with a book that will be presented to a local school library on behalf of the club. Mr. Webb's name will be inscribed in the book that is donated.
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