Welcome to the Rotary Club of Naperville - Downtown!

The Rotary Club of Naperville Downtown is the newest of three Rotary Clubs serving Naperville, Illinois.

The Rotary Club of Naperville was chartered in February, 2007, and is a member of Rotary International, District 6450.

The Club meets weekly on Wednesday, at 4:44 p.m. at Tessa's Restaurant, 2nd Floor, Naperville.

For information about upcoming meetings, see our Meetings page.

To see past programs and photos, see Past Programs and our Fun Photos page.

To learn more about our club, please visit our Club Information page and our Club Documents page.

To learn more about Rotary, visit Rotary International's web page, or check out our links page.

Club News:

2008 Rotary Club of Naperville/Downtown Matching Grants

Thanks to Mrs. Federhofer's Second Grade Bake Sale on May 15 and a Rotary Club of Naperville/ Downtown Matching Grant, Naperville CARES will receive more than $2,000.

"I am very excited to tell you that we raised $1,090.00 today," said Federhofer, one of four second grade teachers at Brookdale Elementary School. "So with the Rotary's generous match we will be able to donate over $2,000.00 to CARES! This is huge, especially since we're a small class of 21 kids. I am very lucky to be working with such a wonderful group of kids and parents at Brookdale. We were all in this together and so happy to be helping our community. I look forward to meeting Pat (Benton)."

Pat Benton is a Board member of Naperville CARES and member of Rotary/Downtown.

Since the matching grants first became available this year, the Rotary Club of Naperville/Downtown also has matched fundraising initiatives at Waubonsie Valley High School for the Warriors Reaching Out Cultural Exchange to South Africa and at Naperville Central High School Interact Club effort to collect recyclable ink cartridges to benefit the American Red Cross.

Matching grants for up to $1,000 are available that target youth charities and causes, disadvantaged homeless causes, education, cures for diseases/disabilities and the arts, in that order. Grants must be applied for prior to any fundraiser.

The Rotary Club of Naperville/Downtown marked it first anniversary on February 20, 2008.

Naperville’s third Rotary club was chartered with 27 members in February 2007. On Wednesday, February 20, the Rotary Club of Naperville/ Downtown celebrated its first anniversary during a Paul Harris Fellow Recognition Dinner at Tessa's, the location where the club meets at 4:44 p.m. every Wednesday.

“The timing also is significant because Chicago attorney Paul Harris founded Rotary on February 23, 1905,” said Gary Baumgartner, Past President, who coordinates Rotary Foundation donations. “As the story goes, Harris called three business associates to a meeting with a goal to start a club that would develop fellowship by ‘rotating’ from business to business.”

Today, Rotary, an international service organization comprised of more than 1.2 million members, has 32,000 clubs in 200 countries. Rotarians meet weekly to build friendships, goodwill and peace worldwide with a motto of “Service above Self.”

Paul Harris Fellowships denote contributions to the Rotary Foundation, an endowment established in 1917. Anyone who contributes $1,000 or more over time to The Rotary Foundation Annual Programs Fund may become a Paul Harris Fellow. Typically, clubs recognize Paul Harris awards once a year.

Baumgartner and Rotary District 6450 Governor Art Davis recognized 14 new Paul Harris Fellows.

The evening’s festivities also included presentations about international Rotary projects. Naperville Sunrise Rotarian Rick Quackenbush recounted his recent trip to Nigeria where he helped vaccinate children during a PolioPlus National Immunization Day. Since 1985 as Rotary’s largest initiative, “PolioPlus” has made great strides toward its goal to eradicate polio worldwide.

Pat Merryweather, Vice-President of the Rotary Club of Naperville, presented an update on Upendo Village in Kenya, funded in part by matching grants of local Rotary clubs.

Nicki Scott, Vice-President of Rotary/Sunrise, has been connected with educational projects in Tikondane, Zambia, Africa. After Nicki brief overview, Rotary/Downtown presented a check to help with matching grants for that project. “It's our first matching grant working with another Rotary!” exclaimed Scott.

During its first year, Rotary/Downtown has allocated grants to Waubonsie Valley High School Warriors Reaching Out, a cultural exchange with Cape Town, South Africa; Petra’s Education Project in Kosovo; and The Gear Up Foundation, firefighters helping firefighters worldwide.

Closer to home, grants went to the DuPage Symphony Orchestra; Naperville CARES; Carpenter’s Place/Aurora and the North Central College Wentz Concert Hall and Fine Arts Center.

Four scholarships of $1,250 each were set up equally at College of DuPage and Waubonsee Community College.

The Club recently approved its board of directors for 2008-09: Jim Boyajian, president; Ron Nyberg, president-elect; Chuck Corrigan, vice-president; Pat Benton and Lynda Reilly, treasurers; Nancy Quigley and Karen Helm, secretaries; Allison DeBoer, sergeant at arms; Stephanie Penick, immediate past president; and Ed Fey, Neal Cerne, Erin Christianson and Jeffry Knuckles, directors. The new board will be installed on July 1, 2008.


Club President Stephanie Penick welcomes members and guests to the Paul Harris Fellow Recognition Dinner at Tessa's on February 20, 2008.	Some of the new Paul Harris Fellows pose for their photo with District Governor Art Davis.