Our Club

Rotary Club of Essex

Founded in 1905, Rotary International has a broad and diverse global reach with 1.2 million Rotarians belonging to more than 32,000 clubs in over 200 countries. The Rotary Club of Essex was chartered in 1955 and currently has 38 active members. Money for our mission to support local, national and worldwide needs is raised mostly through local fundraising events, primarily our nationally famous Shad Bake. In 2014 we initiated a joint venture with the CRM which provided a wonderful new venue for the Bake. Local businesses also provide support at some of our events, and private contributions help sustain our activities. Major donors at our Shad Bake this year include A.J. Shea Construction, Guilford Savings Bank, Essex Savings Bank and Financial Services, The JECM Foundation, Gallagher Buick GMC, Middlesex Hospital, and Norm Needleman and Jacqueline Hubbard.

International: We have partnered with Rotary Clubs in the U.S. and the Rotary Foundation in a worldwide campaign to raise funds for clean drinking water, fighting disease (including elimination of polio), promoting peace, supporting education and growing local economies.

Local: Support for our local community during the last year includes Essex Court, Essex Cub Scouts, FISH, Ivoryton Alliance, Shelter Box USA, Valley Regional Soccer Club, Scholarships and many others.

The Essex Rotary Scholarship Foundation annually awards a $10,000.00 scholarship to graduating seniors pursuing a college level education. This year three scholarships were awarded. Each student receives $2,500 per year for four years subject to normal academic progress. Qualified applicants are members of non-Rotarian families, living in Centerbrook, Essex or Ivoryton. The application is available for download on our website, www.essexrotary.com.

We meet every Tuesday at 6:00PM at the Scotch Plains Tavern, unless we have a special event elsewhere. The fellowship created through spending time together, locally and around the world, strengthens our organization and expands the reach of the services we provide.