Fundraising
Fundraising
Fundraising
The Rotary Club of Petoskey has always worked diligently to develop fundraising projects to support it's charitable giving to local and international projects. Listed below are just some of the fundraising efforts which we have developed over the years. In total we have gifted hundreds of thousands of dollars to many worthwhile endeavors. Without local support none of this would be possible.Calendar Sales
One of the more successful projects for our club is the raffle calendar. Doubling as a raffle ticket, calendars are sold for $25.00. During the course of a year thousands of dollars in prizes are awarded. Our Grand Prize winner is always announced at the last Rotary meeting of the year. At this time a lucky winner will receive a check in the amount of $5,000.
Spaghetti Dinner
In the 1950's we held a pancake dinner in the St. Francis Church basement. The following year we tried a fish fry, and the next year it was a spaghetti dinner. The Annual Spaghetti Dinner is still a tradition and 2017 was our 65th year of providing the event while securing revenue to share within our community. It continues to be hugely supported and attended by faithful attendees from the community, who come back year after year.
Kid Approved
Sidewalk Sales / Downtown Street Sales
With the start of Sidewalk Sales in Petoskey in the 1960's came the Bizarre Bazaar. Food and other items were sold on the street downtown. This evolved into a Brat & Corn tent. Today Brats and French fries are sold during Friday of the two day event.
Ric Loyd and Tim Dykstra with Jim Wibby in the background
at the Sidewalk Day Sales.
Pedaling for Polio
The Rotary Club of Petoskey and the Petoskey Sunrise Rotary Club will join forces this fall to sponsor a fundraising event to assist in polio eradication efforts worldwide. The event, Pedaling for Polio, occurs each fall.
Local Rotarians and their families will be riding a distance of their choice, mostly along the Little Traverse Wheelway, and seeking sponsorships for their participation. Each club has their sights set on raising $2,000 during the course of the ride.
Pedaling for Polio demonstrates the the local Rotary club’s commitment to eradicating polio, said John Scholten, event organizer for the Rotary Club of Petoskey. “We are fortunate to have our health and live in such a wonderful part of the world where we can enjoy recreational activities, such as riding our bikes along the Little Traverse Wheelway,” he said. “Pedaling for Polio is one way our clubs can help those less fortunate who are dealing with life-threatening diseases, such as polio.”
Rotary International and the local Rotary Clubs in Petoskey have a long history of commitment to eradicating polio. In 1985, Rotary International created PolioPlus, a program to immunize all the worlds children against polio. Since 1985, Rotary has contributed $700 million and countless volunteer hours to the protection of more than two billion children in 122 countries against polio. Since its inception, PolioPlus has reduced the number of cases of polio by more than 99 percent and the number of polio-endemic countries has fallen from 125 to 3.
Rotarians John Scholten, Terry Newton, Nick White and Dianne Litzenburger Pedaling for Polio
Diamonds & Denim
Our largest fundraiser to date has been the new Diamonds & Denim event; designed to fund a large project locally. This event would be similar to the idea and activities which raised money for the Winter Sports Park several years ago.
1. Our first Diamonds & Denim event was very successful and raised a large sum of money which went towards the new athletic sports complex at the Petoskey High School. The Rotary Club of Petoskey was responsible for turning a previous "no vote" to a "yes vote" as, local citizens went from opposing a millage request to, a large margin of support for the millage request necessary to build the updated athletic complex. We also presented a check in excess of $100,000 towards the athletic complex.
2. 2015 Diamonds & Denim event partner was a Top of Michigan Trails Council project. They proposed the purchase of the stone house on M-119 which would become home to the Trails Council’s headquarters. Diamonds & Denim 2015 was a smashing success, a complete sell out again and far exceeded our monetary expectations. We raised over $55,000 and gave an additional $25,000 from the Rotary Park Fund to the Top of Michigan Trails Council.
3. 2016 saw the partnership of the Rotary Club of Petoskey and Great Lakes Center for the Arts. They received a check in the amount of $52,500 for their project and increased awareness of their organization throughout our community.
4. Our 2017 partner was the Petoskey Band Boosters in which our Diamonds & Denim event was held at Bay Harbor Yacht Club on September 30th due to the growing popularity of the event and the growing support of the annual event in the community. Our event exceeded all expectations and was a huge sell out. We presented a check to the Petoskey Band Boosters in the amount of $60,000.00
5. Our 2018 Diamonds & Denim partner was McLaren Northern Michigan Foundation where the proceeds will be used towards their expansion efforts. We presented a check to McLaren Northern Michigan in the amount of $45,000
6. Our 2019 Diamonds & Denim partner was the YMCA of Northern Michigan. A portion of the proceeds from the sixth annual event will provide the YMCA of Northern Michigan resources to support further expansion. We presented a check to the YMCA in the amount of $55,000.
We did not hold an event for 2020 because of COVID though we are planning a large campaign for 2021 which will be our Centennial Year for our Rotary Club. Stay tuned for further information.