Meriwether Co Rotary Club awarded a $6350 Community Grant

The Rotary Club of Meriwether County was awarded a $6350 grant from the Rotary Foundation and Rotary District 6900 Competitive Grant for 2024-2025 to support the Meriwether County School System Wraparound Care Centers located within the schools. 

The Wraparound CARE Centers within the Meriwether County School System provide effective school and community-based services to enhance the student's ability to succeed, lessening the complex barriers of out-of-school obstacles that affect in-school learning.

The Wraparound CARE Centers aim to ensure equitable access to shelf-stable food, hygiene products, school supplies, clothing, laundry centers, health services, counseling services, computer centers, academic support, and mentor services for all grades (K-12). The schools are a natural center for the community, and it makes sense for them to be a hub for community support services.

The Centers are also practical for families who benefit from the convenience of the centers within the schools and for the local taxpayers to understand that the school facilities serve more than one purpose. Student access to the Center's resources can empower students to improve family and student relationships, help enhance students' understanding of belonging, and make connections to resources.

One of the most significant benefits of the school centers is the improvement of student attendance, behavior, academic achievement, and graduation rate. By providing support services, students' needs can be addressed, and the school has a better chance of keeping students in class and engaged in academic learning.

The Wraparound CARE Centers are in Manchester High School and Greenville Middle/High School. The high school CARE Centers provide access to hygiene and personal products, a food pantry, health services, school supplies, a clothes closet, laundry facilities, college and career counseling, a computer center, mental health services, and a student mentor program. Manchester Middle School, Unity Elementary School, and Mountain View Elementary School houses Care Closets. Care Closest offers a clothes closet, hygiene and personal products, school supplies, and counseling services.

The gifted money will be used to purchase School Supplies, food for the Food Pantry, various personal products, including feminine products, and shirts, pants, shoes, socks, and other personal items for the clothes closet.

The Rotary Foundation offers grants supporting various projects, scholarships, and training Rotary members are doing worldwide. Participating in district grants gives Rotarians a sense of ownership and the knowledge that they made a difference in someone's life. Rotary District grants can be like building blocks; they can allow clubs to start small and then go larger with their projects, meeting the community's needs.