Participate in Rotary’s Vehicle Donation Program

How the Vehicle Donation Program works

  • Rotarians generate vehicle donations through family, friends, and associates
  • Melwood Charity Car Donation Center (District 7710’s Partner) accepts cars, trucks, motorcycles, and RV’s
    • As a rule there must be a clean vehicle title; towing is free to donor

To donate simply call the Rotary 7710’s toll-free number I- 855-527-2232, or go online to:

https://fs10.formsite.com/ccdc2/form58/index.html

  • Donor names Rotary Club to be credited for the donation
  • Melwood’s Call Center assigns the vehicle to a local towing and auction company
    • Donor provides vehicle title and keys to the tow truck operator; towing receipt left with the donor
  • Once the vehicle has been picked up, a receipt will be issued to the donor using Southwest Durham Rotary Club Foundation letterhead. Vehicle sale information recorded and reported monthly to Southwest Durham Rotary Club Foundation; club is advised by SWDR Foundation
  • Upon sale, auction proceeds are forwarded to Melwood and management fees are deducted
  • Residual forwarded to Southwest Durham Rotary Club Foundation for distribution to Club and/or beneficiary projects
  • Melwood  processes  donor acknowledgement letter along with  required  IRS  I098C tax forms
  • Melwood provides ongoing promotional support for District 7710 and participating Clubs
  • Donation files are maintained by Melwood for a period of three years

Fundraiser: Wine Raffle

It’s that time of year again! We’re holding our annual wine raffle fundraiser later in March, and we’re selling raffle tickets. Tickets are $10 each, and prizes are various bottles of wine — the grand prize is wine for a year — that’s 52 bottles of wine, donated by our fantastic sponsor, Sam’s Bottle Shop in Durham. There will be at least 10 raffle winners, with other prizes ranging from one to twelve bottles of wine per winner. The winning tickets will be drawn live at our event on March 29th, which will be held at Sam’s Bottle Shop at 6 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend.

All money from the raffle fundraiser will go to the Southwest Durham Rotary Foundation, which puts money back into projects the club members work on both locally in Durham and across the world. Help support a good cause, and you could win a fantastic wine prize! If you’d like to buy tickets, please contact us at swdrotary@gmail.com before March 22nd. 

Service Days at Urban Ministries

On February 2nd, members of SW Durham Rotary club served breakfast at Urban Ministries, a community and homeless shelter in downtown Durham. On February 24th, SWDR and members of the downtown Durham Rotary club had a day of service at Urban Ministries as part of a district grant project in which we purchased a new commercial stove and ice maker for their kitchen. We paid for the meals, prepared and served breakfast, and planned, prepared and served dinner that day. Dinner was a special cookout meal with hot dogs, hamburgers, and all the picnic fixings, plus an ice cream sundae bar. The Rotary clubs love working with Urban Ministries and hope to continue working with them for many years to come. A photo album from both days is below.

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Service Project: Urban Ministries Shelter Room Makeover With Lotta Love

On November 18, in partnership with Lotta Love, Southwest Durham Rotary, the Rotary e-club of District 7710 and other area Rotary clubs will renovate four family bedrooms and one family common room at Urban Ministries in downtown Durham. Urban Ministries is a homeless shelter that provides food, shelter and support programs to neighbors in need within the Durham community.

Lotta Love is an organization founded by Charlotta Sjoelin, an interior designer, which works to make shelters into more safe, dignified and inspiring living spaces for the residents who stay there. Lotta Love has helped make over rooms at many area homeless, women and children’s shelters in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area, and has assisted others in starting their own chapters in cities across the United States.

With the help of a district grant, we will paint all the rooms, replace all bedding and towels with brand new linens, add art, rugs, lamps, mini fridges and other home items to the bedrooms. To the common area, we will also add a breakfast bar, a new large table and seating, a new TV and a children’s play area filled with toys and games.

Volunteers are needed for painting prep, painting, light carpentry work, moving furniture and setting up beds, hanging artwork, etc. A link to sign-ups will be posted shortly. 

If you have questions or wish to make donations to this project, please contact Sara Abrons here.

Hosts Needed for Rotary Youth Exchange Student in Durham

Consider participating in Rotary’s International Youth Exchange program! You have the opportunity to bring an international experience directly into your home. By hosting an exchange student this year, you and your family can expand your world horizons and knowledge, and be an active contributor to building international peace.

Rotary International’s Youth Exchange program benefits both the exchange student and the host family, as unique insights are gained into another culture on a personal level that you cannot get any other way.  

This year, the Southwest Durham Rotary Club is hosting a great young man from Brazil, João Indi. He is a junior at Jordan High School. We are seeking two host families for 90 days each, beginning after Thanksgiving to mid-February and mid-February through the end of the school year in June 2018. It is preferable that families live in the Jordan school district, or be able to transport him to and from school each day. 

Please consider the possibility of opening up your home and sharing your life with João. You and your family can be a positive force for peace and understanding in this world and develop life-long international friendships.

Students like João are carefully selected by Rotary clubs overseas. This is an approved program through the U.S. Department of State that has been successfully operating since the mid 1950’s. 

Interested in learning more? Please contact Bill Fine with any questions you may have and to set up an interview: 410-493-9467 or wfine46@verizon.net 

Here are two YouTube links on Rotary Youth Exchange from the eyes of participants:

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Southwest Durham Rotary Club Sponsors Rotary Youth Exchange Students


Southwest Durham Rotary Club is sponsoring its first Rotary Youth Exchange Student. Grace Abels, who recently graduated from Jordan High School in Durham, is spending a year in Arequipa, Peru. She left in July, and came to speak to SWDR earlier that month to talk about her upcoming trip. She will be attending school, traveling and volunteering with other Rotary exchange students, and staying with local host families. When she returns next year, she will attend Duke University. She’s also a Rotary Youth Exchange legacy — her father Jon was an exchange student to Sweden when he was in high school. Jon is involved with the Rotary Peace Fellow program at Duke. 

Club member Bill Fine, who is very involved with the Rotary Youth Exchange Program, recently told the District 7710 newsletter, “If your club is yet to get involved with Rotary Youth Exchange, I highly suggest that you do. It is tremendously rewarding experience for the students, host families and host clubs. This is how Peace breaks out, one person at a time.” 

SWDR is also hosting an incoming student from Brazil, João Pedro Santiago Indi, who recently arrived and is now attending Jordan High School. 

Host families are needed for João for later in his year here. You do not have to be a Rotarian to apply, but you do need to live in the Jordan High School district. If interested, please contact Bill Fine by email here.

Service Project: Dental Day at Urban Ministries

On July 28th, Southwest Durham Rotary Club sponsored a free dental treatment day at Urban Ministries of Durham. Five Rotarian dentists — Dr. Linda Levin, Dr. Mike Richter, Dr. Geoff Cunningham, Dr. Jim Hoke and Dr. Brent Blaylock — and their employees provided no-cost treatment for clients of Urban Ministries, using a mobile dental truck that has been adapted for dental treatment by the North Carolina Baptist on Mission. Non-dentist volunteers also helped check in patients, take blood pressure and review medical histories. More than 30 patients were provided dental care worth more than $28,000.

Dental Day was completed in honor of Dr. Evers Airall, DDS, a longtime member of Southwest Durham Rotary Club and 20-year veteran of the U.S. Army Medical Service, who practiced dentistry for three decades. He died earlier in 2017.

The day was a huge success, and our Rotarian dentists are planning another Dental Day to take place in November.

Read a story about the project from ABC11 here , watch a video from TWC News here or watch this ABC11 New video below:

 

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