The Leechburg Rotary Club has been serving Leechburg and neighboring communities for 100 years, and it continues to do so.
Established in 1925, the club has been serving the community through a slew of volunteer activities and fundraisers since its founding, with more planned.
“It’s an organization made up of people who share a passion for commitment to enhancing communities and improving lives around the world and our community,” Rotary president Janie Borsh-Symons said in an email.
The club has 18 members, eight of whom are active. Borsh-Symons said members participate in annual activities including donating to the Leechburg Volunteer Fire Department, Leechburg Food Bank, local nonprofit Semper Gratus and local ambulance services.
Group members also collect donations for veterans each Christmas, act as bell ringers for Salvation Army, help with the annual Pink Day and put up signage at Leechburg Cemetery.
They’ve also funded community bike racks and purchased benches in honor of deceased Rotary members.
“In the past, we had a dictionary project, and to date we’ve given about 7,100 dictionaries to local third grade students,” Borsh-Symons said.
The club also offers community service scholarships for high school seniors and supports the Leechburg Area Backpack Program.
To commemorate the landmark year, the group is raising money to put a century clock somewhere in town. Borsh-Symons said she has been working with the borough council and Mayor Doreen Smeal to get the plans for the clock approved while fundraising.
Borsh-Symons said the clock will have an “antique style,” stand about 10 feet tall and will be double-faced. Its location has yet to be decided, she said.
“It’s going to be a beautiful addition to the community,” she said.
The group is aiming to raise the $14,000 needed by the end of the year while maintaining their normally scheduled service projects.
Annual events include the club’s pancake breakfast; pajama project; a collection hosted for Haven, a women’s shelter in Kittanning; and donations to nonprofits Progressive Workshop in Leechburg and Shelter Box.
“We want to raise these funds while being able to continue our regular donations,” Borsh-Symons said.