HOULTON, Maine — The Houlton Rotary Club met for its Monday luncheon meeting on Nov. 27, and learned of two projects that recently received funding from the club.
The Cary Library received $4,000 as one of the projects, along with another $650 raised during the Rotary Auction. Rotarian Linda Faucher, who is the librarian at the Cary Library, received the funds from Rotary President Matthew Nightingale.
The other presentation involved Backpack for Kids as Rotarian Jerry Wilson received a check for $2,500 to continue the work of sending students home with a backpack filled with supplies for the weekend.
Many children only have balanced meals when they attend school during the week. Backpack for Kids provides food and other items for the weekend. Thirty-six students were given backpacks for the weekend in Houlton, Hodgdon and at ACAP this year.
Wilson estimated the cause probably affects between 70 to 100 children as the recipients often share with their siblings at home.
The rest of the meeting was spent analyzing the success of the 62nd annual Rotary Auction and also evaluating how the event could be improved next year. A total of $40,040 was raised by the auction this year for club projects.
Rotarian Nate Bodenstab presented statistics gathered over the years of the auction. Credit card payments were used for the first time this year with the fees being donated by Katahdin Trust Company. With live streaming, radio broadcasting and the online site, Bodenstab figured that around 14,000 people were reached during the auction.
The Facebook page auction was working in the background and gathered 37 new likes. The live streaming went on for 5,800 minutes and reached 1,700 viewers. The WHOU Facebook page had approximately 4,000 on Monday night, 2,000 Tuesday night and 1,300 on Wednesday night.
The raffle of Dead River products brought in $902. The Auction Committee will take the feedback from the group and evaluate the ideas for another successful auction in 2018.
-
- Rotarian Jerry Wilson, left, receives a check for $2,500 from Rotary President Matthew Nightingale during a Nov. 27 meeting. The funds will be used for the Backpack for Kids program. (Courtesy of Nate Bodenstab)
