By Gail Pelto
I want to share with you the joy of being involved in making our community, and the world, a better place. Years ago, when I started my career, I heard about Rotary Clubs and thought, I want to know these people, they’re business leaders! I’d like to join! It did not happen back then. Fast forward to my family moving to Destin in 2007. I was starting my business, networking and meeting people who had businesses that I knew my clients would need. One day, I wandered into an insurance agency, Ryland Morrow, and was lucky enough to meet with Dave Morrow. He spoke about Rotary, and then invited me to a Destin Rotary Club breakfast meeting as his guest. My response was, “Isn’t that a ‘men’s only’ club?” He responded, “No, not anymore. We have some of the best businesswomen in our club and we’ve realized just how important they are.” (Smart man, that Dave!) I took him up on his offer and several weeks later, I was extended an invitation to join, which I accepted.
Lots of folks don’t know exactly what Rotary is or what we do (no, we don’t do the hokey pokey and rotate ourselves around). Rotary is a service club; our motto is “Service Above Self.” It’s been around since 1905 and today, the club has more than 1.2 million members around the world. The Destin Rotary Club is comprised of some of the most influential entrepreneurs and business leaders in our community who want to give back. Below is a sampling of just some of the service projects we’re involved in:
We contribute to the Global humanitarian efforts of Rotary International. In fact, with small quarterly donations, I and my fellow Rotarians are helping, and succeeding, in eradicating polio off the face of the earth. I couldn’t do that by myself.
Our Club’s Scholarship Committee selects a local high school student each year to bestow a $10,000, 4-year scholarship in order to help them get through college with less debt, which means we have four students who receive these contributions annually.
The club’s strategic plan is focused on eradicating hunger and assisting with children’s education in our area; our primary charities are Harvest House, who helps the less fortunate in our community to eat; Food for Thought, who packs weekly backpacks with food for the elementary school children who don’t have enough to eat at home on the weekends and during school recesses; The Boys and Girls Club of the Emerald Coast, who enables all young people, especially those who need it most, reach their full potential as productive, caring responsible citizens; and The Mattie Kelly Arts Foundation, whose community outreach programs provide Children’s Art Camps, Arts for folks with Special Needs, a Veterans arts program for Wounded Warriors and more!
Since Hurricane Michael, our club members have rallied, along with other Panhandle Rotary Clubs, to help our neighbors get back on their feet, through labor and financial contributions.
We support the Destin Middle School Interact Club, which has a long list of charitable events and projects throughout the school year in our community to make it better.
We donate individually as members to our local and international charities and we hold fundraising events that are open to everyone, including YOU, and whose proceeds help with all the above efforts and more! Be an attendee at our annual Crawfish Bash (May 2, 2020). Purchase one or more of the absolute BEST smoked pork butts when we sell them a few times a year. We’ve even won food competitions with them! Participate in Smoke on the Coast (Destin Commons, July 3rd). Come to Eggs on the Beach (September 28th). Visit our Facebook page, Rotary Club of Destin, and our website, www.destinrotary.com. You can see what we’ve done, what we’re doing, and buy tickets for upcoming events.
Rotary has done more for me than I can tell you. Besides the ability to work together with others in “service,” I’ve learned and continue to learn about what’s going on in our city and state through the speakers we have at our weekly meetings. And I have the privilege of knowing who, I believe, are some of the greatest people in our community who happen to be business leaders, too. Join a service organization or participate in local service organizations’ efforts. Give where you live; it’s important to the health of our community!
Gail Pelto is a full-time real estate agent with Keller Williams, a board member with the Mattie Kelly Arts Foundation and The Rotary Club of Destin. You can contact Gail at 850.374.0454 or email Gail.Pelto@KW.com.
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