The Annual Outstanding Phoenix Youth Leader (OPYL) of the Year program is a partnership between Phoenix Rotary 100 and the City of Phoenix. This program recognizes and honors the outstanding achievements of young people, enhances the perception of youth, and raises community awareness of the positive contributions of youth. Our own members helped throughout the judging process - both reading essays from entrants and serving as judges at the in-person panel interviews to determine this year's winners. High school students were selected as council district winners and will be recognized, along with the teacher who inspired them the most, at the awards' luncheon during our Club meeting on Friday, May 3. Each of the district winners will receive a cash award. From the city's district winners, the two overall winners will be announced and each will receive an additional cash award during the luncheon! Please join us on Friday, May 3 at the Phoenix Country Club for our Annual OPYL program.
This event will be held at the Phoenix Country Club on Friday, May 3, 2024. Registration begins at 12 noon and the luncheon will be held from 12:30 - 2 pm.
The meeting registration fee is complimentary and includes lunch.
Register by clicking the "Register NOW" button in the DACdb event calendar or by clicking here.
Please register by 5pm on Monday, April 29th, 2024.
No walk-ins or late registrations cannot be accepted.
Any cancelations after this time are non-refundable.
**Due to a high number of members registering and not attending in the past, if you register and do not attend, you will be charged $60 for lunch, to your Club account.
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Outstanding Phoenix Youth Leader (OPYL) Awards
The Annual Outstanding Phoenix Youth Leader (OPYL) of the Year program is a partnership between Phoenix Rotary 100 and the City of Phoenix. This program recognizes and honors the outstanding achievements of young people, enhances the perception of youth, and raises community awareness of the positive contributions of youth. Our own members helped throughout the judging process - both reading essays from entrants and serving as judges at the in-person panel interviews to determine this year's winners. High school students were selected as council district winners and will be recognized, along with the teacher who inspired them the most, at the awards' luncheon during our Club meeting on Friday, May 3. Each of the district winners will receive a cash award. From the city's district winners, the two overall winners will be announced and each will receive an additional cash award during the luncheon! Please join us on Friday, May 3 at the Phoenix Country Club for our Annual OPYL program.
This event will be held at the Phoenix Country Club on Friday, May 3, 2024. Registration begins at 12 noon and the luncheon will be held from 12:30 - 2 pm.
The meeting registration fee is complimentary and includes lunch.
Register by clicking the "Register NOW" button in the DACdb event calendar or by clicking here.
Please register by 5pm on Monday, April 29th, 2024.
No walk-ins or late registrations cannot be accepted.
Any cancelations after this time are non-refundable.
**Due to a high number of members registering and not attending in the past, if you register and do not attend, you will be charged $60 for lunch, to your Club account.
STILL GROWING AFTER 13 YEARS
Rotary and IRC partnered 13 years ago to help refugee farmers and our community. The project is still going strong!
In 2011, the International Refugee Committee (IRC) needed a space - 1.5 acres - for a refugee farm. IRC’s purpose is to assist refugees whose lives have been shattered by conflict and disaster. This farm would be a place where recent refugees, mainly farmers from SE Asia, could grow their own food and sell the rest to provide income for their families. A local church, Cross-Connection, was willing to lease the land adjacent to the church at 39th Avenue and Dunlap.
Club member, Barry Shemer, heard about the need and brought it to the attention of his club, Phoenix Rotary 100. The board enthusiastically supported the project but worried over the projected cost of $83,000 and whether the farm could be sustainable. IRC committed to overseeing this program for the long haul, and they provided individual plots of land for refugee families along with tools and farming equipment.
With the financial help from IRC, Phoenix West Rotary, individual donors and several grants, the funds were secured, and the project was a “go”. The necessary civil engineering, earthwork, irrigation system, walls, and fencing projects commenced and in May 2011, the farm was completed. Now and for the past 13 years, refugees grow vegetables for their own consumption and the remainder is sold at CamelBackYard located at 17th Avenue and Camelback (where another Rotary project, the aquaponics greenhouse, is also located). Every 3rd Saturday there is a Farm Stand there and boxes of produce are sold every Wednesday on a subscription basis. All proceeds go to refugee farmers.
Sometimes it is just nice to know that something you were a part of continues to benefit our community.
Rotarians are leaders in their vocation, profession and community. We meet weekly to discuss improving the lives of people, both locally and globally. We need and encourage diversity of membership in order to be more effective in this task. The Rotary motto is “Service Above Self” and Rotary is an organization of over 33,000 local clubs serving their communities around the world.
Phoenix Rotary 100 was founded in 1914 as the 100th club to join Rotary. Through the years, Phoenix Rotary 100 has been at the forefront of community service in Phoenix and beyond, with a past and present membership list reading like Who’s Who in the State’s history. Mayors, governors, U.S. senators and one Supreme Court Justice have all been a part of Phoenix Rotary 100. Other famous Rotarians include: Neil Armstrong, Walt Disney, Thomas Edison, Dianne Feinstein, Gerald Ford, John F. Kennedy, Charles Mayo, J.C. Penney, Manny Pacquaio, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Charles Walgreen, Sam Walton, Woodrow Wilson and Orville Wright, to name just a few.
As Rotarian Winston Churchill once said, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
What to expect if you become a Rotarian:
• Make a Positive Difference in your Local Community
• Become part of a Global Community that is Changing the World for the better
• Make new and lasting Friendships
• Have Fun through service projects and social activities
• Expand your business and social Network
• Develop Relationships with community and government leaders
• Hear and meet Business and Community Leaders who are Guest Speakers each week
• Improve your Leadership and Public Speaking skills
• Have the opportunity to Mentor Youth and be mentored by elders in your vocation
• Show your Children and Grandchildren the importance of community service
