Liberty NY Rotary Club

18/06/2026

At last night's Liberty Rotary Club meeting, guest speaker Denise Lombardi shared information about SPARK for Autism, a groundbreaking autism research initiative dedicated to advancing the understanding of autism and improving the lives of autistic individuals and their families.

SPARK is the largest autism research study in the world, bringing together more than 415,000 participants, including autistic individuals, family members, and researchers. Its mission is to identify the causes of autism and help inform more effective therapies, treatments, services, and supports.

The program is focused solely on research and does not provide direct treatment, services, or advocacy. Participation is free, and much of the data collection can be completed remotely, making it accessible to families across the country.

As a long-term research study, SPARK seeks to better understand the complexities of autism, including why people have autism, what characteristics they share, how they differ, and how autism changes over time. Participation is simple: individuals can sign up, complete a saliva collection kit, or simply become part of the research community. Genetic testing is performed, and approximately 10 percent of participants receive genetic results that may be relevant to their families.

All participant information is kept confidential.

The Liberty Rotary Club thanks Denise for her informative presentation and for highlighting the important work being done through SPARK for Autism. We hope that this research will continue to provide answers to the many questions surrounding autism and contribute to improved understanding and solutions for individuals and families affected by autism.

17/06/2026

Members of our Scholarship Committee had the pleasure of presenting Community Service Awards to graduating seniors at the Liberty High School Senior Assembly. Over the past 70 years our club has awarded hundreds of thousand of dollars in scholarship and award. This year we will be awarding close to $15,000 to LHS Seniors, RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award) Students, and BOCES Students. All the recipients will be honored at our weekly meeting on June 24th in the Charlie Topper Pavilion at Hanofee Park.

10/06/2026

09/06/2026

The Rotary District 7210 Conference at Hunter Mountain was a wonderful celebration of service, fellowship, and achievement. Attendees enjoyed an outstanding lineup of speakers and presenters whose inspiring messages made the event both informative and memorable.

Congratulations and thanks to all who served Rotary during the past year. Your dedication and leadership have made a positive impact throughout our district. Best wishes also to the newly inducted officers and leaders as they begin their terms.

The conference featured delightful entertainment, including talented and adorable Irish Step Dancers who captivated the audience. Another highlight was the outstanding musical performance by members of the Liberty Rotary Club Band. The band, featuring Liberty Rotary's own talented vocalists, delivered a wonderful selection of music that was enjoyed by all. Thanks to everyone in our club and our musician friends for making a memorable music experience.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this conference such a success. The weekend was a fitting celebration of Rotary's spirit of service and fellowship.

08/06/2026

Please join us for this fun event that raises funds for The Liberty Rotary Club Scholarship Fund and A Single Bite! Great food, tastings of impressive potent potables and live music by D'evil'ish!
Get you tickets early at https://secure.qgiv.com/for/asbscrfh/event/davethompsonspiritbeerwinetasting2026/

For more information or sponsorship opportunities, contact [email protected]

30/05/2026

This week, the Liberty Rotary Club welcomed guest speaker Stefanie Donahue, who shared information about the Camp Invention program and its impact on Liberty students. She highlighted how the program helps children develop critical STEM skills while fostering creativity, persistence, adaptability, and problem-solving. She explained that Camp Invention has been shown to support long-term academic success and offers leadership opportunities through its Leaders-in-Training and Leadership Intern programs, where older students mentor younger participants and gain valuable leadership experience. Through grants and scholarship opportunities, the program also works to ensure that students from underserved communities like Liberty can benefit from these engaging and inspiring STEM experiences.
We thank Ms. Donahue for her presentation and appreciate her dedication to bringing hands-on learning opportunities to Liberty Students.

26/05/2026

The Liberty Rotary Club was honored to be part of yesterday’s Memorial Day Parade in Liberty. It was a meaningful day of remembrance and community as residents and dignitaries gathered to pay tribute to the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country. The moving ceremony served as a powerful reminder of the courage, dedication, and selflessness of our fallen heroes, and the club was proud to stand alongside the community in honoring their memory.

24/05/2026

We are thrilled to congratulate everyone involved in this year’s Thunder 102 Country Cares 2026 Radiothon benefiting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which raised an amazing $133,129 to help fight childhood cancer!

It is truly inspiring to see a local business like Bold Gold Media / Thunder 102 so deeply committed to supporting the children and families served by St. Jude. Their dedication helps fund groundbreaking research and life-saving treatments that not only benefit children battling cancer today, but also help develop protocols that improve care for cancer patients around the world.

The Liberty Rotary Club was also pleased to assist in this important fundraising effort by manning the table at Resorts World Catskills, distributing and collecting boot cards at area businesses, and hosting a coin drop. More than $6,400 was raised through donations collected at Resorts World, while the coin drop generated another $1,042 in support of St. Jude’s mission.

Congratulations to everyone who served on the committee, organized fundraising events, sold or distributed cards, or made donations. It is always amazing to see what our small community can accomplish when we come together to do good.

22/05/2026

This week’s Liberty Rotary Club guest speaker was our own Lina Ledvin, who spoke about this year’s Leadership Sullivan class project.
This project focuses on assisting schools throughout the county by supporting and creating comfort and hygiene closets. These closets provide essential personal care items to students who may not otherwise have access to them, helping ensure dignity, comfort, and confidence throughout the school year. Schools that already have comfort closets will receive additional supplies to help maintain them.
Funds for the project have been raised in several ways, including a Bingo Night, two movie nights at HPAC, and the Spirit Day Dinner, which will be held on June 12.
The project’s fundraising goal is nearly $10,000, which will help schools maintain their closets and continue providing essential items to students in need. Additional funding opportunities may continue beyond the end of this year’s class term, which concludes on June 16.
Anyone interested in donating to one of the comfort closets is encouraged to check out the following link: https://www.catskills.com/leadership-sullivan/
Thanks to Lina and the Leadership Sullivan Class of 2026 for all the good work they do.

21/05/2026

The Liberty Rotary Club is delighted to welcome our newest member, Melanie Karkos. Melanie serves as Deposit Operations Manager at Jeff Bank, where she has been employed since 1999. Sponsored by Barbi Neumann-Marty, Melanie is enthusiastic about serving our community through Rotary.
Although she is new to the club, Melanie has already attended a number of meetings and contributed valuable insights to our planning efforts. We are excited to work alongside her as we continue our mission of fostering a better world and strengthening our community.
Melanie, we are delighted that you are now a Liberty Rotarian!
(Photo is of Barbi(left) officially pinning Melanie at her induction.)