Author: Celeste McLaughlin

Over the past 12 months, the New Tampa Noon Rotary Club has grown quite a bit — from only about a dozen members to 21 members today. Valerie Casey has served as president over the last year and will stay in that role for the upcoming 2016-17 Rotary fiscal year. “We’re continuing to grow and we’re always looking for new members who really care about the community and who want to be hands-on to have a positive effect on the community and the world around us,” Casey says.

In addition to Casey, the leadership team for the year includes Angie Garrett, treasurer; Barry Shuman, secretary; Belvai Kudva, executive secretary/director; Scott Hileman, foundation chair; and Gary Lefebvre, club membership chair.

As Casey talks about the New Tampa Noon Rotary, she explains, “We all know each other, and support each other so much. We always say that if something is important to one member, it’s important to all of us.”

So, members who have a charity they are already involved with often find support from their Rotary Club that will allow each to do a little more for their favorite organization. Casey says the club really feels like family. And, for Casey, at least one member literally is family.

“My niece, Taylor Dumke, is one of our newest members.” Casey explains, adding that while Taylor is just 21 years old and is physically disabled, she is contributing to her community through the Noon Rotary Club.

When asked why she was interested in joining the club, Dumke says, “It’s a lot of giving back to the people in the community.” Casey says Dumke is assisting with some of the club’s secretarial job duties, and that she really likes the responsibility.

She says her niece is proof that, “Everyone can be a member of Rotary, and everyone can do something, regardless of their temporary or even permanent disabilities.

“And, we would love to have more younger members,” Casey adds. “It’s a good way for people in their 20s to give back to the world around them.”

Casey also says that’s what the mission of Rotary International is all about. On a local level, the New Tampa Noon group recently provided a check to support the Trinity Café, which feeds homeless and hungry people in downtown Tampa. The club also supports needs throughout the entire world by partnering with international Rotary clubs. Casey says one member of the club recently returned from a trip to India, supporting the charitable efforts of a Rotary Club there, including building a shelter at a bus stop and providing needed beds. Additionally, financial support was provided to a club in Nepal that was working on a water project in that area.

For the upcoming Rotary year, Casey says the club will be working hard to host its annual golf tournament to raise money for Tampa’s Fisher House, a place for families of military veterans to stay while their loved ones receive treatment at the James A. Haley Veteran’s Hospital. The 2016 date for that event is set for Friday, October 28.

The club’s signature event is its annual bike ride for veterans and first responders, which will be held next March. The 2016 ride through Flatwoods Park raised $3,500 to help benefit the Navy Seal Foundation, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, Support the Troops, and the Stay In Step Spinal Cord Injury Recovery Center. In 2017, Casey says there are plans to add a run to the event, either a 5K or 10K, or both.

New Meeting Location

One more change for the NT Noon Rotary is that the club’s meetings will no longer be held at Café Ole on Cross Creek Blvd.

“Café Ole has been wonderful,” says Casey. “But, they’re not going to be open for lunch anymore.” She says the club’s meetings will still be held Wednesdays at noon, but will now be held at Mulligan’s Irish Pub at the Pebble Creek Golf Club. For more information about the New Tampa Noon Rotary Club, visit Facebook.com/NewTampaNoonRotary or call Valerie Casey at 317-8886.