Community Service
The West Seneca Rotary Club is active in a variety of community outreaches and activities. Some involve financial support, some involve hands on activity but all are oriented toward "Service Above Self" in the West Seneca community:
Boy Scouts of America - Troop 430.
The Boy Scouts of America provides a program for young people that builds character, trains them in the responsibilities of participating citizenship and develops personal fitness. The West Seneca Rotary Club acts as Troop 430's sponsoring organization.
The Buffalo City Mission.
The Buffalo City Mission is a privately funded Christian ministry that provides programs and services to meet the spiritual, physical and emotional needs of men, women and children throughout Western New York. For over 90 years, the mission has ministered to the least and the lost in the Western New York community.
The Franciscan Center.
The Franciscan Center in South Buffalo provides a supported residence and transitional independent living program for young men aged 16 through 20 who are runaway or homeless. The center provides shelter, food, clothing and case management. Uniquely, it provides its services without government grant support, relying solely on investment from organizations like the West Seneca Rotary Club to maintain its operation.
The Gospel Expansion Foundation.
Rev. Otis and Mrs.Geraldine Tillman continue to provide food and educational services to over 400 families in the inner city of Buffalo as they have for over 60 years.
Harvest House.
Run by the dedicated Linda and Gary Tatu, South Buffalo's Harvest House provides meeting space for non-profit and community organizations. Up to 2000 people use the building each month for activities such as support meetings, block clubs, bible study, scouting and spiritual retreats. Through the Baby and Children's Outreach program Harvest House is the largest supplier of FREE baby items, baby and children's clothing in the tri-county area. Their Ministry Center on Jefferson Ave. is the site of Good Neighbors Health Care, a free health facility offering primary medical care, sonograms, mental and spiritual counseling, eye exams and prescription eyeglasses, chiropractic care and Dental. Their New Hope Education Center offers adult education and job training.
Urban Christian Ministries.
For over forty years, this inner city organization has focused on the youth of Buffalo, working to attack drugs and violence with "on-the-streets" programs and activities.
VALOR.
Valor is an organization whose goal is to ensure that needy veterans and their families have food available when they need it. These veterans are often in a position where they encounter great difficulty in securing assistance due to bureaucratic delays and red tape. Valor's goal is to make food available on an immediate basis so that no veteran and/or his or her family will go hungry for even a day.
The West Seneca Community Food Pantry.
The food pantry serves over 250 families in the West Seneca area with fresh food throughout the year.
The West Seneca Central School District.
Through our partnership with the West Seneca Central School District, the West Seneca Rotary Club has invested in district literacy programs on an annual basis. Past programs have included establishing a fiction/fact matching book program in the elementary level classes, provision of Newbury award books for a program to help strengthen the district's sixth grade reading literacy program and provision of books for individual summer school students involved in the "Drop Everything And Read" program. Additionally, the Club provides scholarships to graduating seniors from both town high schools.
West Seneca Rotarians, through Erie County's Adopt-a-highway program, do an annual spring cleanup of Union Road in West Seneca, for the four mile stretch within the town limits.
Our club provided a primary drop-off point and actively participated in the Gowanda Police Department's Cops, Kids and Christmas program, providing a van full of new toys and clothing for children whose homes have been destroyed by the 2009 floods there. Some club members participated in a hands-on project to help rebuild churches and non-governmental public buildings in that area in January of 2010.
Members of the West Seneca Rotary Club deliver Meals on Wheels every Thursday to residents of Seneca Manor senior living apartments.
WANT MORE INFORMATION???? COME TO ONE OF OUR MEETINGS (DETAILS BELOW).
Raymond Weimer
