Lee Hollmann (left), Dearborn Rotary scholarship chairman, introduces the 2018 recipients of the Hugh Archer scholarship, Layla Jawad and Joseph Wendzinski.
Marking 100 years of community service – including support for youth
By MARGARET BLOHM
For the Times-Herald
DEARBORN – Celebrating 100 years of “Service Above Self” in 2023, the Rotary Club of Dearborn will award more than $76,000 in scholarships to students in Dearborn.
The majority of scholarships, which include academic and vocational awards, will be offered to graduating seniors in public and private schools in Dearborn. The deadline for applying for the high school scholarships is Feb. 1, 2023.
Additional scholarships are made available to students in partnership with the University of Michigan-Dearborn, Henry Ford College and the 19th District Court. Deadlines to apply vary.
“We encourage anyone interested in specific information about these scholarship programs to visit our website at www.DearbornRotary.org/scholarships,” said Lee Hollmann, Dearborn Rotary’s scholarship chairman.
Prior to 2023, club records indicate the Dearborn Rotary Foundation has awarded approximately $720,000 to area students since 1999.
Hollmann along with Dearborn Rotarians David Anderson and Bob Ziolkowski are actively collecting historical information about the club’s service projects – many of which are focused on youth.
Madeline Hnatiuk (left), who participated in the Rotary Youth Exchange program in Germany, was welcomed by Eric Rader, Rotary Club of Dearborn past president 2019-20, at a club meeting.
“As early as 1923 to 1932, Dearborn Rotary sponsored a Boys Camp for more than 100 boys each summer at locations from Vineyard Lake to Lakeside Park near Brighton,” said Ziolkowski, who described how the club’s commitment to youth has remained strong through a variety of programs.
In addition to annual scholarships, Dearborn Rotarians host students from seven local high schools to attend Rotary meetings during “Youth Month,” typically in February, to meet Rotarians and learn about Rotary.
Other programs include a youth exchange program for high school students to spend a year in a foreign country while hosting a youth from another country to study and live with a Dearborn family; sponsorship of Interact and Rotaract clubs at area high schools and colleges; My Potential Mentoring Program to pair high school upper-class mentors with freshmen mentees, who are having a difficult time assimilating into high school; sponsorship of the 19th District Court essay content for elementary grade students; supplying Coats for Kids in partnership with other Rotary clubs; financial support to renovate a building in Inkster to house a science, technology, engineering, arts, and math program program for girls; and financial support and resources for a school in Chinandega, Nicaragua, that has rescued children who were living off salvaging from the city dump.
“Perhaps little known to many people is that Dearborn Rotarians established a treatment clinic in 1926 at the Dearborn Public Library for children with physical disabilities,” Ziolkowski said. “For many years, we’ve donated funds to purchase children’s books for the library. It is appropriate that we selected renovation of the auditorium at the Henry Ford Centennial Library for our 100th anniversary project.”
On March 18, 2023, the Rotary Club of Dearborn will host an “Extraordinary Evening for an Extraordinary Cause” at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center to include a strolling dinner with music provided by Henry Ford College, and a concert featuring Thornetta Davis and the Dennis Edwards’ Temptations Review.
Funds raised at this event will be used, in collaboration with the city of Dearborn, to renovate the HFCL auditorium, meet current Americans with Disabilities Act standards for accessible seating and design, and upgrade technology.
Sponsorships and tickets for the fundraising event are available at www.DearbornRotary.org.
Founded in 1923, the Rotary Club of Dearborn is the city’s oldest service organization and is a member of Rotary International, bringing more than 1.4 million members in over 46,000 clubs together to live the motto of “Service Above Self.”
Found in Dearborn Historical Museum archives was a photo of Campfire Girls at a ceremony taken in a Campfire Girls building in Dearborn’s Hemlock Park. Dearborn Rotarians contributed to the funding and construction of the building that was completed and dedicated in 1948.