WHO WE ARE
ROTARY CLUB OF WHEELING
The Rotary Club of Wheeling meets every Tuesday at lunchtime at WesBanco Arena and provides an opportunity for our members to share a meal and hear well-respected speakers present on a wide variety of topics.
Founded in 1915, we are part of Rotary International, which brings together a global network of active citizens dedicated to tackling the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges. Rotary connects 1.2 million members through more than 35,000 Rotary clubs in over 200 countries and geographical areas.
The Rotary Club of Wheeling has been connecting neighbors, friends, and problem-solvers to learn, exchange ideas, and take action to transform our communities by solving critical problems both locally and beyond. We inspire our members to create a better future by impacting lives through service, education, and fellowship.
Past Wheeling Rotary Presidents Michael Hires, Daniel Young, and Rabbi Joshua Lief.
Rotary is dedicated to causes that build local and international relationships, improve lives, and create a better world to support peace efforts.
7 ROTARY INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES
4 AREAS WHERE WE CONCENTRATE LOCALLY
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1. BASIC EDUCATION & LITERACY
The Rotary Club of Wheeling is dedicated to strengthening our community through Basic Education and Literacy. We feel our greatest impact in this area is our Rotary Readers program. Wheeling Rotarian, Peter Holloway, is quoted with a lighthearted comment about the program and then describes his deeper feelings in a 2016 West Virginia Executive cover article.
“Having a discussion with second graders as to whether they would invite the Cat in the Hat into their house—let alone Thing One and Thing Two—is more fun than most of my discussions with adults,” He went on to say, “A professional’s success comes from the community, and giving back should be a natural consequence of that. Besides, these experiences are terrific. They allow me to hopefully have a positive impact on the organizations and my neighbors.”
The Rotary Readers program was initially organized and run by Wheeling Rotarian, Robert DeFrancis, which led DeFrancis to become involved with the state Education Alliance’s Read Aloud program where he worked with others in Charleston who were vastly engaged in the important work of reading to children. In August 2023, beloved Wheeling Rotarian Suff. Bishop Darrell Cummings, encouraged members of the club to restart the program after Covid shut it down in 2020. By 2024 we hope to have monthly Rotary Readers in a kindergarten and/or 1st grade classroom in every Ohio County elementary school, with the exception of Ritchie who has their own volunteer group. We welcome you to join us so you too can foster a love of reading and shape the lives of our community’s youth.
2. MATERNAL & CHILD HEALTH
The Rotary Club of Wheeling is committed to nurturing the mental health and well-being of children in Ohio Valley. We recently donated $ 23,000 from our Taste of the Market fundraiser to the Orchard Park Hospital, a long-awaited return of acute psychiatric care for youth in the Ohio Valley. Renovations of the former Robert C. Byrd Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health Center took nearly two years to complete. Orchard Park Hospital is now comprised of 30 beds for in-home care; 13 beds for children ages 5-12, 13 beds for adolescents ages 13-18, and one special care unit with 4 beds for children with autism or other severe social issues.
You can help too by simply attending our fundraisers. Proceeds are donated directly to a local organization that specializes in an area in which we focus, in Wheeling, within the Rotary International Initiatives. We always welcome you to join the fun and support us from the inside as well. Attend one of our meetings on Tuesdays at WesBanco Arena and meet our dedicated members.
3. COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Our meetings provide a weekly forum for business owners, operators, or directors to present their businesses, organizations, and technologies to a diverse group of community leaders. Chef N Company caters an optional lunch while we network before and after presentations. This is a place where ideas are exchanged, collaborations are formed and potential opportunities arise.
There is an incredible amount of activity going on in Wheeling. Come see the economic growth and development firsthand, as it changes each week. Hear from business leaders about how they are making a difference, and how we can too.
4. PEACE BUILDING & CONFLICT PREVENTION
The Four-Way Test is a nonpartisan and nonsectarian ethical guide for Rotarians to use for their personal and professional relationships. The test can be applied to almost any aspect of life. The test has been translated into more than 100 languages and is recited at club meetings.
Of the things we think, say or do
- Is it the TRUTH?
- Is it FAIR to all concerned?
- Will it build GOODWILL and better FRIENDSHIPS?
- Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
More information about The Rotary Club of Wheeling
OUR OBJECTIVE
The Objective of Rotary is to encourage and facilitate the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise, in particular, Rotary strives to foster:
- FIRST: The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;
- SECOND: High ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; and the dignifying of each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve society;
- THIRD: The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s personal, business, and community life;
- FOURTH: The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.
OUR DISTRICT 7535
Rotary started with the vision of one man — Paul Harris. The Chicago attorney formed the Rotary Club of Chicago in 1905. The Rotary Club of Wheeling belongs to District 7545, which was formed in July 2019 by merging former District 7550, established in 1915 (covering southern West Virginia from Huntington and Kenova on the Kentucky border on the west, through Charleston, south to Bluefield on the Virginia border, then east through White Sulfur Springs). and former District 7530, covering the complete northern half of West Virginia.
With the consolidation of our two districts, we are now nearly 2,000 members strong. We strive to embody “Service Above Self” and connect community leaders, not just from our own communities across West Virginia, and in our district, but to communities on all continents, spanning worldwide.
OUR ZONE 33/34
District 7545 is one of over 500 Rotary districts worldwide in 200+ countries. Rotary districts are organized into Zones and Zones into Zone pairs, each pair having a Zone Director that is a member of the Rotary International Board of Directors. Our Zone, Zone 33, covers an area from northern Pennsylvania through South Carolina. Our Zone pair, Zones 33/34, includes 31 districts and stretches all the way through the countries of the Caribbean.
Over time, Rotary’s reach and vision gradually extended to humanitarian service establishing it as the world’s first service club. Members have a long track record of addressing challenges in their communities and around the world. Only 16 years after being founded, Rotary had clubs on six continents. Our members now span the globe, working to solve some of our world’s most challenging problems.
