The flags are up!! See for yourself - drive past the high school on Route 601. It’s quite a visual display that will no doubt make an impact on those driving by. But the impact of this project extends well beyond the swath of field in front of the high school. And for that I am grateful to Josh Turner and the rest of the Flags For Heroes Committee who worked tirelessly to make this project a reality.
As of this column, the final numbers aren’t in just yet but the current projections put us at raising almost $25,000. This is huge since our usual fundraisers have been cancelled due to the pandemic. Given the uncertainty swirling around the economy, the results far surpassed my hope that we could raise $10,000, maybe $15,000. We are still narrowing down ideas for another fundraiser to do this Rotary year plus do the Run With Rotary in some sort of virtual fashion if the pandemic persists into next Spring. After seeing the tremendous preliminary results from the Flags For Heroes project, I am very confident that we will be able to keep next year’s Giving Budget in the $55,000 range without requiring another significant infusion from our Rotary Foundation account.
Also, kudos to the Foundation board and members of the Club who made the decision many years ago to set aside a percentage of money raised each year to be put into a “rainy day fund” which we are able to tap into this year. But it’s not a bottomless pot of money and this is why I was so pleased with the effort put into Flags For Heroes so that we don’t deplete our Foundation resources any more than is absolutely necessary.
So, thanks again to Josh and the FFH Committee. Thanks to all who solicited sponsors (see them listed on our webpage). Thanks to all who sold flags. Thanks to all who bought flags. Thanks to everyone who came out to assemble the display on 9/1. And, above all, thanks to all the heroes honored by the flag purchases!
Rotarically Yours,
Zoltan Nagy
President
Rotary Club of Montgomery/Rocky Hill (NJ)
Zoltan Nagy
President
Rotary Club of Montgomery/Rocky Hill (NJ)