In 2018, Sunrise Rotary provided financial support to The Adirondack Engineers, a local 4-H club of 7-12 graders, to help the club compete in the annual FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) robotics competition and to educate, expose, and interest our regional youth in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).Who We Help - Community Service
Building Stronger Communities — Locally and Globally
Since its founding in 1987, the Plattsburgh Sunrise Rotary Club has invested thousands of volunteer hours and significant funds into projects that strengthen our community and extend compassion worldwide.
Local Impact
Our service is visible throughout the Plattsburgh area. Sunrise Rotary has:
Donated materials and labor to build the Gazebo at the Riverwalk, the Healthy Lung Trail, and the Sunrise Rotary Pavilion at Wilcox Dock.
Raised over $25,000 for the universally accessible Max Moore Memorial Treehouse on the Saranac River Trail.
Supported the City’s revitalization with Outdoor Art projects.
Contributed to Red Cross disaster relief following local flooding.
Provided funding for the universally accessible LaPierre Lane Park Boardwalk on the Saranac River Trail Greenway in Morrisonville (opened in 2018).
Global Reach
Our commitment to service extends beyond our region. Sunrise Rotary has:
Supported the Kakinada Eye Clinic in India, helping expand affordable eye care.
Partnered with the North Country Mission of Hope and the Jamaican Mission.
Contributed to ShelterBox, providing emergency shelter and disaster relief worldwide.
Looking Ahead
Do you have an idea for a project or organization that Sunrise Rotary should consider supporting? We’d love to hear from you — together, we can build stronger communities here at home and around the world. Contact our club at rotaryclub1982@gmail.com
In 2018, Sunrise Rotary provided financial support to The Adirondack Engineers, a local 4-H club of 7-12 graders, to help the club compete in the annual FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) robotics competition and to educate, expose, and interest our regional youth in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).
Relay For Life is a community-based fundraising event for the American Cancer Society. Sunrise Rotarians volunteered to help with the Plattsburgh Relay For Life event at the Clinton County Fairgrounds on June 14, 2019. Rotarians worked at the Survivor’s and Caregiver’s check-in and at the Survivor’s dinner. The event raised over $87,000 for the American Cancer Society. Joan Sterling, the Community Manager for the Plattsburgh Relay For Life, is a Sunrise Rotarian.
Sunrise Rotary Contact: Joan Sterling
Plattsburgh Relay for Life on Facebook
Members of the Sunrise Rotary Club of Plattsburgh joined together each year to help give back to the community by volunteering at several annual holiday events. In November, Sunrise Rotarians trimmed a holiday tree, sponsored by the club, to help support the Advocacy Resource Center of Clinton County NY (ARC).Currently over 500 individuals and their families benefit from the wide variety of services provided by ARC, such as vocational programs, community integration, therapeutic intervention and residential options. In 2018, the theme for Rotary’s tree this year was 'Happy Harvest' and was awarded third place by the judges for creativity.
Sunrise Rotary Contact: Allison Hulbert-Bruce
The Twin Rivers Council prov
ides the varied programs of the Boy Scouts of America to youth and volunteer leaders in thirteen counties in northeastern New York including Albany, Clinton, Columbia, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Warren, and Washington counties. The Council provides service to more than 9,000 youth and 6,000 registered adult volunteers.
ides the varied programs of the Boy Scouts of America to youth and volunteer leaders in thirteen counties in northeastern New York including Albany, Clinton, Columbia, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Warren, and Washington counties. The Council provides service to more than 9,000 youth and 6,000 registered adult volunteers.Sunrise Rotary’s donation to the Twin Rivers Council supported the fundraising ”Good Scout” Dinner, to create opportunities for youth to gain memorable experiences and become instilled with values, principles, and skills that will help them develop into the future leaders of our nation.
Sunrise Rotary Contact: Victoria Duley
CCCCNC is a non-profit agency working to support and strengthen families and child care professionals throughout the North County area.Sunrise Rotary was a sponsor of the CCCNC’s second annual Trick or Treat for Books on October 26, 2019 at the Champlain Centre Mall in Plattsburgh. Children, some dressed as their favorite storybook character, enjoyed story book reading centers, literacy games and crafts, and received a book as their "treat" along with the opportunity to win other cool prizes. Sunrise Rotarians attended the event along with one of our member’s therapy dog, Brison, who also joined in the fun as the “reader” dog.
Sunrise Rotary Contact: Victoria Duley
The North Country Honor Flight recognizes veterans with a trip to several war memorials in Washington D.C. Each trip costs about $12,000, so this year seventh graders from Beekmantown Middle School wanted to help by setting up a 5K run and walk. The student-run effort contacted local businesses for sponsorship and took community donations. Students say it's important to honor veterans who made our communities safe.
"I feel like it's a great thing because we should give back to the people that gave everything to us. They risked their lives to help us," said Liam Christenson, a 7th grade organizer. "It felt really, really, good because I knew I was giving back to the community and the community was helping us too. And just letting the veterans know they are appreciated," said Julianna Vagi, a 7th grade organizer.
Girl Scouts of Northeastern New York is committed to encouraging over 9,700 girls in the 15-county geography to discover, connect, and take action to become our next community leaders. Donations such as the one from Sunrise Rotary, helps ensure that ALL girls are able to develop courage, confidence, and character through Girl Scouts of Northeastern New York.Sunrise Rotary sponsored a local Girl Scout who received a Silver Award, one the Girl Scouting’s most prestigious service awards.
Sunrise Rotary Contact: Victoria Duley
Hospice is about caring for those who are facing the challenges at the end-of-life. Those challenges may be physical, emotional, psychosocial, and spiritual. Hospice cares for the whole person and their loved ones, supporting them with skilled nursing, family services, spiritual support, volunteer services and bereavement and grief support.It is the goal of Hospice of the North Country, Inc. to provide the highest level of Hospice care to the residents of Clinton and northern Franklin Counties. The physical, psychosocial and spiritual needs of each patient/family will be addressed to maximize the quality of life and death and to support the bereaved as they continue their lives.
Sunrise Rotary’s donation helps families and friends to treasure their loved ones in the comforts of home, until the last moment, specifically targeted to an improved referral management program for the organization.
Sunrise Rotary Contact: Victoria Duley
Literacy Volunteers of Clinton County provided over 2,500 hours of literacy education to 98 students in 2018 with the help of 175 volunteers.The Literacy Challenge is the biggest fundraiser Literacy Volunteers hosts each year (March 2, 2019). Sunrise Rotary is a long-time co-sponsor of this event and volunteers helped with event logistics, including having a team participating in the competition.
Sunrise Rotary Contact: Maxine Perry
Sunrise Rotary is proud to be a sponsor of the 2019 Plattsburgh Half Marathon Relay/10k/5k and to provide funds in support of Team Fox and Parkinson's Disease Research. And, Rotarians came out in style on Sunday, May 5, 2019 to provide refreshments and encouragement to all the runners at Mile Marker 12!
Sunrise Rotary Contact: Joanne Dahlen
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The Plattsburgh Housing Authority was established in 1951 to ensure safe, adequate, decent and affordable housing, and to promote opportunities for residents’ self-sufficiency and economic independence. The Ted K. Center was founded in the late 1970s when instances of vandalism and crime within Plattsburgh Housing Authority (PHA) family developments occurred at an alarming rate while the number of unsupervised youth also increased. The community center program focuses on education and constructive leisure time activities for youth. 
Throughout the day on December 15, 2018, seventeen Sunrise Rotarians, along with their friends and family, helped ring the bell for donations for The Salvation Army at the Champlain Centre Mall. Sunrise Rotarians helped to raise over $900 for The Salvation Army.Sunrise Rotary Contact: Randy Giltz
“Soup kitchens aren’t just vehicles geared towards nourishing the body; they also fill the minds, hearts and souls of the people gathered there,” is a quote from a 2019 article in the Press-Republican.Sunrise Rotary is proud of its support of the St. Peter's Soup Kitchen. In addition to financial support, Sunrise Rotarians volunteer 4 times a year to help serve dinners and clean up the facility afterwards. In addition to volunteering throughout the year, Sunrise also provided a financial donation to provide for special assistance to families in need over the holidays in December.
Sunrise Rotary Contact: Kjell Dahlen
The Elmore SPCA's mission is to provide shelter and comfort to animals in need that are on their path to finding loving lifetime homes. To care for the homeless, to defend the abused, cherish the elderly and disabled and to fight with unrelenting diligence for recognition of the integrity of all animals.Sunrise Rotary’s donation is in support of Elmore SPCA’s new spay/neuter assistance program call “STOP” (stop the over population). Its main goal is to prevent overpopulation by spaying female cats but also finding homes for litters of kittens currently in lower income homes that cannot afford the care.
Sunrise Rotary Contact: Victoria Duley
The coalition, which has established Volunteer Income Tax Assistance sites throughout Clinton, Essex and Franklin counties to provide free tax preparation to individuals and families with low or moderate incomes, also provides information and education about asset building, including banking and savings.Since the coalition started doing free tax preparation in 2004, the Volunteer Tax sites have done approximately 49,000 federal tax returns with a yield of approximately $57 million in federal tax refunds, returned to Clinton, Essex and Franklin counties.
Sunrise Rotary’s donation in 2018/2019 supported purchasing computers to assist with this tax filing assistance.
Sunrise Rotary Contact: Victoria Duley