- About FSP Rotary
- Rotary in the News
- Members and Organization
- Activity Archives
- Volunteer of the Year
- Links of Interest
- For Members, Mostly
Scholarship Programs
Rotary-Garbe Foundation Scholarship
Over the years, Rotary-Garbe scholarship awards to local high school graduates have provided more than a million dollars of support to a total of 332 students.
William Garbe was a Fanwood-Scotch Plains Rotarian, a district governor of Rotary for a time and a long-time resident of Scotch Plains. In 1955 to assist students with college tuition, he founded the Garbe Foundation. Upon his death in 1969 the supervision of the foundation passed to his wife Merle, and then in 1981 at Merle Garbe’s request, FSP Rotary took over the foundation’s administration. It was renamed Rotary-Garbe Foundation.
Today Rotary-Garbe works hand in hand with the Fanwood-Scotch Plains Scholarship Foundation, led by its president Ellie Kramps. Ellie each year organizes and manages selection for a wide variety of scholarships for local graduates, including those to be awarded in the name of the Rotary-Garbe Foundation.
Each year five local high school seniors receive awards of $1,000 per year renewable three additional years. Consideration for award begins when a student applies generally by March 1 of each year.
Trustees of the Rotary-Garbe Foundation are Bob Scalera, Andy Calamaras, Sean Duffy, Pat Plante and Joe Qutub.
Recently a generous client of FSP Rotary member Neil Schembre, CPA, on behalf of a deceased client provided a bequest that vastly extends the potential for scholarship donations from Rotary-Garbe. In the photo attached, Schembre, left, presented to Dr. Robert V. Scalera, Chairman of the Rotary-Garbe Foundation, a check for $450,000.
Rotary 'Turnaround Award'
Awarded to a Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School senior whose life in high school exemplifies the most dramatic growth.
Application for this scholarship is made informally, perhaps with an inquiry to a student's high school guidance counselor, teacher or other school leader. In contrast to other local awards, the Rotary Turnaround Award is based on perceptions and discussion among the SPFY high school educational leaders.
David E. Ringle Memorial Scholarship
Awarded annually in memory of F-SP Rotarian, Dave Ringle.
Robert H Kraus Memorial Scholarship
This scholarship was created to honor the memory of Bob Kraus, a long time Rotarian and respected member of the community. The Fanwood-Scotch Plains Rotary Club began the scholarship in 2010, with the first scholarship awarded in June 2011. The Robert H Kraus Memorial Scholarship is awarded to a Scotch Plains Fanwood High School graduating senior who will be attending Rutgers University, has been involved in extra-curricular activities or volunteerism, and has maintained minimum grade point average of 3.0.
Community Projects and Fund-raising Events
Community Share Raffle
A major annual raffle with proceeds earmarked for the local community. Half the proceeds from the raffle are disbursed among non-profit, community organizations and programs such as Resolve Community Counseling, Scotch Plains Fanwood YMCA, Scotch Plains Fanwood High School Student Leadership Program, Fanwood Community Foundation, and others.
Dictionary Project
Free dictionaries to all of the 3rd grade students in Fanwood-Scotch Plains, including St. Bartholomew’s elementary school. The distribution of the dictionaries each November is keenly anticipated and provides a morning of excitement for more than 400 children every year as club members visit classrooms with cartons of dictionaries to bestow.
Linking Leaders
Club members share their work days and business environments with students from Scotch Plains Fanwood High School to provide an early insight assisting students to ponder and select a career.
Frazee House Restoration Project
A long term project to restore the historic Betty and Gershom Frazee House at the intersection of Raritan Road and Terrill Road. (Area residents may recall the site as the home of the one-time Terry Lou Zoo). This is the club’s Centennial project, inspired by a directive of Rotary International in 2004. By restoring the house (detailed plans currently under deliberation), the club hopes to turn the house and adjacent one acre into a resource for the community and state, further distinguishing New Jersey as a key site in the American Revolutionary War. Progress to date includes the shoring and stabilization of the house.
Luminary Project
Luminaries have long been a popular holiday tradition in Fanwood and Scotch Plains. The club sells kits of candles and bags, making the display of luminaries convenient for thousands of townspeople by enabling them to purchase them at the Fanwood Public Works garage in December each year. Funds generated are a major source of the club’s ability to support community activities such as the foregoing.
The Robert H. Kraus Memorial Golf Outing
The proceeds of the Robert H Kraus Memorial golf outing fund the Robert H Kraus Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship was created to honor the memory of Bob Kraus, a long time Rotarian and respected member of the community. The Fanwood-Scotch Plains Rotary Club began the scholarship in 2010, with the first scholarship awarded in June 2011. The first annual golf outing was held in October 2011.
Annual Woof Walk
The first annual Woof Walk was held in May 2011. The Woof Walk is a 1.5 mile fundraiser that starts and ends at the Alan M. Augustine Park, adjacent to the Scotch Plains Municipal Building. The event features music, refreshments and contests including “Look-a-like,” “Face Only a Mother Could Love,” “Best Dressed.” This is a wonderful social event for our 4-legged friends.
The Woof Walk fundraiser benefits The Scotch Plains Police Department’s K-9 Unit, the Fanwood Police Department’s Bike Patrol and other Rotary charities.
International Projects
Sponsored by
the Fanwood-Scotch Plains Rotary
Beads of Hope
The Beads of Hope project supports Set Her Free, a non-profit group working to remove young girls in Uganda from child labor and prostitution by providing them with shelter and education. The Fanwood-Scotch Plains Rotary launched the project in late 2010, and before year-end 2011 had already raised $15,000 for food, shelter and medical expenses. Much of the funds are raised through the sale of bead bracelets, necklaces and earrings made by the Ugandan girls. In Uganda, bead making is an art form. The beads are created out of recycled paper like newspapers and calendars and then cut into thin strips with a paper cutter and dyed. Once dyed, they spin the paper on looms to make different shapes and sizes.
Various events are held throughout the year to sell the beads and to raise community awareness. The largest of these events was the Beads of Hope Benefit Concert in November 2011. Numerous volunteers came together to make the event a great success.
www.setherfree.orgInternational Projects
Sponsored by Rotary International
Polio Plus Program
Rotary International has targeted a goal to eliminate polio worldwide. All local clubs support this.
Pure Water for the World
A New Jersey regional project that the club supports, we help provide water filtration kits to communities beset with the ills of untreated water – billions of people worldwide.
Homes of Hope
This child sponsorship program aims at providing a better life for underprivileged people in developing regions of the world, notably San Pablo, Ecuador by building homes, schools, community centers and health clinics.
Gift of Life
An activity to bring children in need of advanced-world surgery to the United States for treatment.
