Rotary Club of Darien Finalizes Grant-in-Aid Recipient List

With the help of the Rotary Club of Darien and its Grant-in-Aid program, individuals and organizations in the community will have a chance to fund their projects.

Last Tuesday the club finalized their picks for the grant winners and notified their recipients.

This year the club disbursed a total of $16,500, with about $500 to $1,500 going toward each grant. According to President Chris Gerrib, the club had more money to give out as a result of earning a higher amount through the its . The club granted about $12,000 last year. The highest amount the program had in the past five years was $20,000 in 2008.

"We've had a lot of popular interest in it," Gerrib said. "It's one of our biggest expenditures and it's been very successful for us."

As for the recipients, a total of 43 applications were sent in to the Rotary Club, with 30 of the organizations receiving grants. Gerrib said that the club looks at the financial needs of the applicant and makes sure that the money will be used for a worthy project.

The Grant-in-Aid program used the money earned through earlier this year. On June 14 candidates were presented to the full board, which then chose the final recipients.

The 30 recipients this year included individual Eagle Scout projects and college expenses, with the Grant-in-Aid program disbursing seven grants totaling $2,450. Local schools looking to fund new technology and updated libraries received 11 grants totaling $7,150.

Of these schools, the  in Lemont received $1,400 from the program to provide MIMIO technology in their classrooms, transforming regular dry erase boards into Smartboards that interact with computers.

"We're thrilled," said Debra Lynch, principal of the River Valley School. "It's imperative that our kids stay up to date with our technology so they are prepared for the future."

Lynch said the Grant-in-Aid program has alleviated the cost of updating the school by covering the cost of outfitting one room with the new technology.

"Right now we're having a lot of financial difficulties," she said. "The Darien Rotary financially supporting us has really helped us move forward and helped our kids."

The last $6,900 disbursed went to organizations and charities, such as the Humanitarian Service Project, an organization that has received grants from the program in the past few years.

"Every year we have new organizations that apply," Gerrib said. "There's lots of different people trying to help out the Darien area, and they need resources to do that, so this is a way to give back to our community."

Although the Grant-in-Aid program is a large project for the Rotary Club, the club also works on many other community service projects, providing funding and aid for those who need it.

"I think it's an important service for the community," Gerrib said. "Members of our Rotary Club are very successful individuals and this is a way to help out the people in the area where we live."