“Service above self” isn’t just a Rotary motto in Brooksville — on June 11, it came with checks. The Rotary Club of Brooksville held its annual Day of Giving at Southern Hills Plantation Club, handing out more than $25,000 in donations to local organizations in a single afternoon.
The largest single grant, $15,000, went to Premier Community Healthcare’s “Mammograms for MANY” initiative (Mothers, Aunts, Nieces, and You), which funds breast cancer screenings for underserved women countywide. Community Engagement Manager Yvonne Grant put the program’s reach in real numbers: year-to-date, Premier has seen 1,137 female residents in Hernando County, 621 of whom completed a mammogram — 237 of those were uninsured, low-income women who’d have struggled to get that care without the assistance.
The rest of the day’s donations went just as directly to specific needs: $2,000 to Pasco-Hernando State College’s Dr. Richard Trump Endowment for local students’ higher education, $1,000 to Hernando County 4-H, $1,500 to a recent Hernando High School graduate headed to Florida Institute of Technology, $1,000 combined to the Dawn Center for domestic violence survivors, $1,000 to the Children’s Advocacy Center, $1,000 to Jericho Road Ministries’ work feeding and sheltering the homeless, and $1,000 to the YMCA — whose FLOAT infant and toddler swim-safety program taught 51 kids water safety in May and had already reached 41 more in the first ten days of June alone.
“Today is one of the most rewarding days on our Rotary calendar because it represents the beautiful, full circle of service,” said Ashley Council, president of the Rotary Club of Brooksville. “We are here today to celebrate impact, but more importantly, we are here to celebrate partnerships. … We know that we cannot do this work alone, and it is your dedication that helps keep our communities thriving.”
The Day of Giving is the visible, once-a-year moment, but Rotary’s ongoing work in the county runs quieter: sponsoring football helmets for Hernando High School, working with the Humane Society, running education initiatives at Brooksville Main Street trunk-or-treat events, and putting a dictionary in the hands of every third grader in the county.
Good to know: Women interested in Premier Community Healthcare’s Mammograms for MANY program should contact Premier Community Healthcare or the Rotary Club of Brooksville directly for eligibility and scheduling.