The first Rotary Companion Club kick-off meeting was held on January 21 at the Historical Society and marked a strong and encouraging start. More than 30 people attended, including 13 prospective members - reflecting both interest from new participants and retention of existing traditional Rotary members - with 4 individuals committing as brand-new members. The discussion covered the proposed agenda structure, the flexibility of the Companion Club model, Rotary’s history, and its longstanding contributions to the City of Strongsville. Sarah Wingler spoke about Rotary’s impact on her life and what it means to her since becoming a member. Ashley and TJ also shared details about the Chili Open, highlighting opportunities for engagement and service. The meeting was further strengthened by the attendance of Prior District Governor and current District Membership Chair, Dale Smith, who provided valuable guidance and support for the formation of the Companion Club.
A big thank you to the City of Strongsville and the Strongsville Fire Department for donating their used turnout gear that no longer meets US safety standards, but will be invaluable to firefighters in Guyana. The gear will fill one and a half pallets, and we will fill the second pallet with school supplies, to be shipped to a rural community in Guyana. Members of our club will be packing the pallets, and driving them to New York to be loaded onto a ship going to Guyana. We are coordinating with a Rotary Club in Guyana to make sure the supplies go to those in need.
Harry Fuehrer Community Service Awards Presented
Gina DiFilippo
The City of Strongsville held a ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony for the Strongsville Town Center Initiative. The Strongsville Rotary has pledged $50,000 towards the project, and current Rotary Club of Strongsville president John Turnbull participated in the ceremony. Proceeds from 
The Rotary Club of Strongsville and Rotary Club Kraków have completed a joint project and purchased two ambulances for Ukraine.
From Warsaw to Częstochowa to Krakow, we are accomplishing our mission in Poland 
Update: Medical supplies and donations delivered to our Polish Rotary groups. The funds will be used for a much needed ambulance, medical supplies and family refugee support.
Everything here is very well organized and running smoothly. The refugees are well taken cared for and provided many of their needs. Many of whom are returning to their families in Ukraine.
Rotary Club of Strongsville sponsored the Strongsville High School's Connection Program Alumni Reward Luncheon on Feb 25th, 2022.
Thanks to Manjit and his family who organized a truck to take supplies down to Kentucky, including blankets he purchased, and CVS donated 500 first aid kits, sanitizers and 240 boxes of face masks, along with donations for the local Rotary Clubs.
After hearing about the tornados in Kentucky the Rotary Club of Strongsville immediately launched into action with a call for blankets that could be delivered to Kentucky. At our Friday meeting we collected blankets, and on Sunday member Chuck Cury loaded his truck with 110 blankets to take to Mayfield.
The Rotary Club of Strongsville once again manned the kettles at the Giant Eagle Market District in Strongsville for a day to raise money for the Salvation Army. This year there was $1,254 in the kettle, which is almost exactly the same amount raised last year, and better than prior years. Thank you to all who donated.
Art Basa, charter member of the Strongsville Rotary Club, provided an update on the artesian wells that were funded by a matching grant from Rotary International in partnership with the Western Pampanga Rotary Club. The pictures show one of the 22 artesian wells that were built.
Following our 
Mike Rodak of the Connections program at Strongsville High School reached out to us about a student who needed some help finding a car so she could get to work and to school.
The Rotary Club of Strongsville was able to provide support to ship old firefighter gear, no longer of use to Strongsville, to the firefighters in Honduras. The used equipment no longer meets US safety standards, but is priceless to the firefighters in Honduras due to their lack of funding. Read the full story at 
The Rotary Club of Strongsville worked together with the Club Rotario de Tegucigalpa and Rotary District 6630 to fund a computer lab and school library to serve the Zambrano community about 40km north of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. This will be used to aid in the education of young women of integrity to break the cycle of poverty.
