North Suffolk Rotary

08/28/2026

Another month done and dusted!

At today’s meeting we closed the book on August by hosting Tage Counts from Volunteer Hampton Roads. Tage serves as President and CEO of VOLUNTEER Hampton Roads, where he leads the organization’s mission to strengthen Hampton Roads through volunteerism and civic engagement.

VOLUNTEER Hampton Roads connects businesses and community organizations with volunteers to create a more engaged and resilient region. Tage’s informative presentation made it clear to us why he’s perfectly suited to serve as a leader and collaborator across Hampton Roads.

Please click the links below for more information about VOLUNTEER Hampton Roads’ important mission.

https://www.volunteerhr.org/
https://www.facebook.com/volunteerhr

Many thanks, Tage, come back and join us any time!

PS. A special shoutout to Meadow and the team at Cedar Point Club for the awesome breakfast this morning! It was delicious!

08/25/2026

At last week's meeting we held our first Club Assembly meeting of the Rotary year, where we heard updates on Membership, Finance, and Service Projects. Ryan also gave a demonstration on how to use the Ignite App on our smartphones. It's a handy way to log our service hours, pay club dues, check the Rotary calendar, and do lots of other cool stuff!

On the horizon we have a busy month planned, so watch this space for more announcements and updates about the Suffolk First Citizen event on September 17th, as well as the Walk for Alzheimer's on September 26th.

As always, our website has a full calendar with links to all of our activities as we .

https://www.northsuffolkrotary.com/

08/15/2026

We'll be talking about this week’s meeting for a long time!

On August 14th, the North Suffolk Rotary Club had the honor of hosting the great folks from the Roc Solid Foundation who helped us hold a Ready Bag Packing Party. We had so much fun working for a great cause!

The Roc Solid Foundation is a national organization based out of Chesapeake, VA, with the mission to build hope for every child and family facing pediatric cancer. One of the ways they do this important work is to provide Ready Bags to the 16,000 kids and families in the U.S. who a diagnosed with pediatric cancer each year.

Very often they begin treatment so quickly there's no time to grab supplies from home. The Ready Bag contain toiletries and essential items such as phone chargers and cords, drink tumblers, a warm fleece, and a blank journal. It’s one of the ways Roc Solid helps build hope in a situation that often feels overwhelming and hopeless.

Our members worked together to put together 60 Ready Bags, each containing a handwritten note from one of our members offering words of comfort and encouragement to kids and their families.

We also had the pleasure of making a financial contribution to the Roc Solid Foundation on behalf of the North Suffolk Rotary Club.

Many thanks to Lauren, Roc Solid’s Community Events Coordinator, and her team for leading us through this important service project for our club.

If you couldn’t join us there’s still plenty of ways to help. On September 18th, you can join the Ready Bag Rally at the Norfolk Scope Arena, where you can help build 16,000 Ready Bags. Signup information is at the link below, where you’ll also see a “Dontate” button to contribute if you can’t make the rally.

https://www.facebook.com/rocsolidfoundation

https://rocsolidfoundation.org/

07/14/2026

Congratulations to our newest Paul Harris Fellow Recipients!

The North Suffolk Rotary Club is proud to recognize two outstanding Rotarians who have been named Paul Harris Fellows—one of the highest honors bestowed upon an individual through Rotary International. Our newest recipients are Margaret Little and Hannah Arnold, Realtor.

This prestigious recognition celebrates their unwavering commitment, generosity, and countless hours of service supporting our community.

Their dedication truly exemplifies Rotary’s pledge to “Create Lasting Impact.”

Please join us in celebrating these remarkable leaders whose service continues to strengthen our club and transform lives.

https://www.rotary.org/who-we-are/paul-harris-society

07/11/2026

We had a strong start to the 2026-2027 Rotary year! This year’s theme is Create Lasting Impact, and our first guest speaker truly embraces that idea.

This week we were honored to host Sarah Wray, Executive Director of Tidewater Youth Services. TYS helps provide at-risk youth with housing as well as provides rides to school, education programs, and cultural arts enrichment. TYS serves a wide area in Hampton Roads, and our club President Ryan Avril and his wife have been working with them for several years.

Ryan selected Tidewater Youth Services to receive the President’s Fund for this Rotary year, so expect to see more about TYS in the months ahead.

Many thanks to Ms Wray for sharing the TYS mission with us!

https://www.facebook.com/TYSFoundation
https://www.tysfoundation.org/

Ps. We had 34 members attend the meeting and have room for more. Join us next week!

07/01/2026

That’s a wrap! Last Friday’s meeting closed out another outstanding year for the North Suffolk Rotary Club!

For his final time as Club President, Cam Harper rang the meeting bell to start the meeting, and then took time to highlight all the amazing things the club and our members have achieved over the past year. And what a year it was! If you follow our page, you’ve seen what the last year has brought us. Amazing stuff!

Under Cam’s leadership we met our goals and made significant contributions to our club’s charities and supported activities. And true to form, Cam gave all the credit to our past presidents, committee chairs, and highly motivated members for our successful year.

Thank you, Cam, for a great year! Heartfelt appreciation goes to Cam’s wife Mary who was by his side every step of the way. Thank you, Mary, for your support to Cam and to our club!

Now, as we begin a new Rotary Year, we welcome Ryan Avril as our Club President. Ryan has great things in store for us in the year ahead, and we look forward to his leadership in the next year! Congratulations, Ryan!

Please note there will be no meeting this week (July 3rd) as we observe our 250th Independence Day. Stay cool and we’ll see you on July 10th!

06/20/2026

We needed yesterday’s rain, but sadly, we have no sunrise photos to share.

However, at this week’s meeting all the sunshine was INSIDE the Cedar Point Country Club!

This week's speaker was Cusi Hamlin, founder and CEO of Kalamoo Community Outreach. Kalamoo is the recipient of this year's North Suffolk Rotary Presidents fund. All proceeds from our Happy Dollars go to Kalamoo activities. Kalamoo is a Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM) focused learning program right here in Suffolk, serving kids from elementary to high school age. They focus on teaching the kids robotics, computer programming, team building, and problem-solving.
Our funds have helped them buy equipment, laptops and attend statewide competition.

Cusi provided us with an overview of all the great things they’ve been doing. We also presented Cusi and Kalamoo with a check to support their continued service with the Suffolk STEAM program.

Heartfelt thanks to all our North Suffolk Rotary members who contribute to the Happy Dollars fund. Your generosity really helps programs like these, and we enjoy hearing all the Happy things going on in our lives!

Hope to see you next week!

https://www.kalamoo.org/

05/11/2026

At last week’s meeting we had the honor of welcoming Ms Audra Bullock from Tidewater Friends of Foster Care. The Friends of Foster Care is a nonprofit dedicated to making life better for children in foster care. Founded in 2016 by foster parents Richard Litton and Audra Bullock, they serve over 2,500 foster and at-risk youth each year across Hampton Roads and Richmond, Virginia.

Funded entirely by private donations and grants, they work alongside local social services, businesses, and nonprofits to connect kids with the support they need to thrive.

Many thanks to Audra for a wonderful presentation on the great work of Tidewater Friends of Foster Care!
https://friendsoffostercare.org/our-mission/

05/04/2026

That’s April done and dusted! We kicked off May with a great meeting on a beautiful morning!

Last week we had the honor of learning about Mercy Chefs. Mercy Chefs is a faith-based, non-profit disaster and humanitarian relief organization. They exist to provide professionally prepared, restaurant-quality meals to victims, volunteers, and first responders in natural disasters and emergencies. They partner with existing like-minded organizations to further their mission by providing food service in underserved communities across the country and around the globe.

Mercy Chefs is headquartered in Portsmouth, VA in the Hampton Roads area, and our club has previously donated time helping prepare meals.

Many thanks to Mercy Chefs for joining us and teaching us about your important mission! Learn more at the link: https://mercychefs.com

04/27/2026

First citizen nomination for 2026 will be held soon. Is it the website to read about 2025 recipient Joyce Trump 

Nominations will be open soon!

The Suffolk First Citizen Award is the city’s most prestigious civic honor, presented annually to an individual whose leadership, service, and commitment to community have made a lasting impact on the lives of others. Since its founding in 1956, the award has recognized residents who exemplify the highest ideals of citizenship and who work to make Suffolk a stronger, more compassionate place to live.

The Suffolk First Citizen Award not only celebrates individual achievement but also serves as a reminder of the power of service, the importance of community leadership, and the enduring legacy of those who give generously of their time and talents. The annual Suffolk First Citizen ceremony brings together residents, leaders, and supporters to honor the recipient and to inspire others to lead with purpose and serve with heart.

Read more about the 2025 nominee here:
https://www.suffolkfirstcitizen.com/joyce-trump