Rotary Club Brings Linden Citizens Together for the Common Good
In the back room of Screamer’s Restaurant, you will find a small group of people crowded around a long picnic table. At first glance, this is an ordinary sight in the small town of Linden, Alabama. You may assume they are just old friends meeting at their favorite gathering spot. However, this group is far from ordinary.
Rotary Club member Luke Hallmark explains, “If this was just a weekly sit-down lunch group, it would die out quickly.” On Thursdays, this group gathers to not only eat good food and “catch up” like best friends always do, but this meeting has a higher purpose.
Rotary Club, as defined by the Rotary International website, is an organization composed of “neighbors, community leaders, and global citizens united for the common good.” The organization supports a vast number of causes from providing clean water in Ghana to bringing technology to students in Fiji. Rotary Club’s main global cause is eradicating polio worldwide.
Linden’s Luke Hallmark joined Rotary Club because of the organization’s mission of helping those in need. As superintendent of Marengo County Schools, he lives by the motto, “we are here to serve others.” Rotary Club is an opportunity to live out that motto.
Local chapters of Rotary Club support causes in their community, as well as Rotary International’s global missions. The Linden chapter donates to prison ministries and awards scholarships for local students to attend RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership in Action) and ASCCA (Alabama’s Special Camp for Children and Adults) camps.
Aside from the club’s philanthropic endeavors, members enjoy the fellowship. It is a rare opportunity to bring together different facets of Linden. Some of Linden’s Rotary Club members include school superintendent Luke Hallmark, Marengo Nursing Home administrator Alison Glass, Economic Development Authority director Brenda Tuck, and Goodloe Sutton, owner of Linden’s local newspaper, The Democrat-Reporter.
Tuck said, “Rotary is a great networking opportunity for business people.” At last week’s lunch meeting, Tuck informed the group of a government website that listed all the grants available to various business sectors. This information was useful to members Luke Hallmark and Alison Glass, who work in the education and healthcare fields. “Without Rotary Club,” Tuck said, “this information could not have been passed along.”
Rotary Club attracts people who can identify problems, but they also are not afraid to search for a solution. When an organization such as this brings together such determined people, it can spark change in a community---and the world.
To find more information about Rotary Club and what they are doing in your community, visit https://www.rotary.org
Tags: Linden