Over 1,600 students and their parents attended the Ballantyne Rotary Club’s (BRC) second annual Teacher’s Cup Volleyball event was held last Friday evening March 2nd at the Audrey Kell High School. This year’s winner of the prized Teacher’s Cup was the dedicated teachers from Ballantyne Elementary.

The event, which was sponsored by Howell Insurance Consulting Group, Gregory P. Duckworth of UBS Financial Services and the State Farm Insurance agent Tom Harmon, featured teachers from the area schools competing in a double elimination format. In addition, COSTCO Warehouse located on Tyvola Road provided free soft drinks and bottled water for those who attended.  Attendees were also offered free hot dogs and could purchase from a Smoothie from the Smoothie King located at 7510 Pineville Matthews Road, in Charlotte. A portion of the proceeds of the smoothie sales was donated to the BRC to help fund its various service projects

Through the efforts of the students and staff of Community House Middle, Audrey Kell, Ballantyne, Endhaven, Hawkridge and Polo Ridge Approximately $2,250 was raised from advance tickets sales. The proceeds from these sales were returned to the respective schools to fund their various programs.

All the proceeds from tickets sold at the door and the money raised from sponsorships will be used to provide funds to match a $3,000 grant the Ballantyne Rotary Club received form Rotary District 7680. The combined funds of $6,000 will be used to purchase LCD projectors, smart boards and supplies for Francis Marion Elementary School.  The money will also be used by BRC in its ongoing efforts to support area schools.

September 10-15, 2012

Help District 7680 Reach The Summit In Fundraising To End Polio Now
Be a Part of the FIRST US Rotary Team to Raise the Rotary Flag on Top of Mt. Kilimanjaro!

Join Us In Making History On The Climb: Participation Limited to 15

The cost is about $3,000 per climber
($1,566 to Zara and ~$1,500 travel) and that each climber must commit to fundraising activities.

Click here to download a climber's packing list.

In Your Club:
$ 250 Contribution
We will put your club’s name on the Rotary Banner on the tallest free standing mountain in the world

Reserve Your Space Now: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

We are very excited to announce that 32 Rotarians are currently signed up to participate in wonderful event to help rid the world of Polio.  Each climber has committed to raise at least $3,000 toward Rotary’s signature project to End Polio Now.  In all, our District hopes to raise $100,000 for this cause.  In addition to the September 10-15 climb, Macon has added another climb on September 24-29, 2012, to accommodate Rotarians outside of District 7680 and other friends and family; there are openings for climbers.
 
Please contact Janet Newton at 704.616.0908 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to add your name to the list of climbers or for questions about these events.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is included in the estimate of the trip costs? What additional costs can I expect?
Park Fees
Two nights of accommodations at Springland’s Hotel
All food on the mountain

Not included:
Porters and guide tips, estimate of $300.00 per climber
Lunches and dinners at Springland’s Hotel
Transfer to and from airport, estimate of $20.00 

2. What organization is acting as guide?
The outfitter is Zara Tours.  

3. What medical assistance can they provide?
Evacuation insurance (off Kilimanjaro) is included in the park fees

4. How many days are being devoted to the entire climb, including acclimatization, return, recovery, etc.
10 days

5. I have basic hiking gear, but not for the cold temperatures of this climb. Is clothing and other gear provided, available to rent, or the responsibility of the participant?
All gear is the climber’s responsibility except for tents and matts, which are provided by Zara Tours.

6. Does the climber carry a pack?
Climbers to carry a backpack..with water/small snack/poncho and camera.

7. Are climbers assisted by Sherpas to set up shelter and cook meals, etc.
Porter's and guides put up and take down tents and cook all meals and are very helpful in answering questions as well as assisting with all aspects of the climb.

8. Are climbers required to get an OK from their doctor before confirming?
All climbers are to talk with their personal physician about climbing Kilimanjaro and discuss necessary shots involved with traveling to Tanzania.

Clubs in Rotary District 7680 are ordering these backpacks to fill with school supplies, books and/or food, then distributing them to children in need in their communities.  The cost is only $13 per backpack and your club decides who needs them in your community and what to put in them.

Please join in this District Community Service Project by contacting the district community service chair at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it no later than 3/31/11.

Rotarians in Union County are continuing their efforts to give every child the most vital tool in learning how to read — a dictionary.

Again this school year, the five Union County Rotary clubs gave a dictionary to all 3,262 third graders in the 25 local elementary schools. It was the third year of the effort.

Caroline Twiggs, community service chair of the Monroe breakfast club coordinated the program. It was a logical assignment, given her day job at community service director at Wingate University. Other clubs involved were Monroe lunch, Marshville, Waxhaw and Union West.

The five clubs split the $3,500 cost of the project. That covered the total cost of books, each of which was emblozned with a Rotary sticker. About 100 Rotarians representing all five clubs took part in a coordinated presentation of the dictionaries last November 16. The volunteers received a script to conduct a 15-minute program in each third grade classroom. They explained the structure of the dictionary and its use, played a word finding game, and talked about Rotary. Student were instructed to write their names in the front of the book and to take it home to use when reading away from school.

The clubs involved hope their effort will reinforce the importance of studying language and spelling, and thereby improve the relatively low literacy rate in Union County. The county Literacy Council reports that residents include more than 20,000 illiterate and low-literate adults. In addition, the Union County Public Schools’ Home Language Survey revealed that nearly 4,000 of the district’s students reported speaking one of 43 non-English languages in their homes.

Twiggs noted that school children often express their appreciation for the program with letters to the clubs. She said, “Our club received dozens of handwritten thank you notes from the students, each stating that they will use the dictionaries every day! One student wrote, ‘I have already used this dictionary for this thank you note!’”