Woodridge Rotary

07/25/2026

07/16/2026

Woodridge Rotary welcomes Shanahan's as a "Presenting Sponsor"

As the Woodridge Rotary gets ready for their 2nd annual Back To School Duck Dash, our "Presenting Sponsor" Shanahan's (Owner, Rich and Ruth Moore, and daughter Meagan Plass) presented a check to our Co-Presidents, Mark Samel and Mary Onorad in the amount of $2500.

Shanahan's has been a major sponsor for the last four Holiday Gala's the Woodridge Rotary Club has hosted.

Shanahan's as a small family business, are strong advocates of the community and believe that when we work together, we can make a difference. Their dedication to supporting many local causes and fundraisers is unsurpassed.

Shanahan's is simply "A Neighborhood Place" . Always great food, great music and great friends!

06/12/2026

The Woodridge Rotary Club was honored to present three Woodridge high school graduates with $2000 scholarships. The first two received our Service Above self Scholarship, which is awarded to students that in their high school careers have volunteered to help where needed in the communities that they live in and beyond, those winners are, Kristin Bowers, and Winona Vanorny.
Our next award is our Music Award that is given to a student that uses their talent in music to help make a better world. that winner is Carly Bleau, a singer with a beautiful voice, she also treated us by singing for us

PS the picture of the 3 of them is L-R Kristin, Carly,Winona

06/12/2026

The Woodridge Rotary Club is proud to announce the winners of our 4 Way Test to 2 St Scholastica 8th graders for their essays about how the 4Way Test effects their lives. they each receive $100 and the school also recieves $100.
The winners are: Colin Jacob, and Bosco Kwong

We also awarded $100 to two Jefferson Junior High students that were picked by the teaching staff as the outstanding students of the year. $100 also went to the school. They are: Evelyn Smith, and Marek Cooper ( both are not pictured)

04/12/2026

The Woodridge Rotary Club is pleased to announce the 2nd annual "Back to School Duck Dash" to be held on Saturday August 15th in the Lazy River at Cypress Cove Family Aquatic Park 8301 Janes Ave. Woodridge.
Check out the video of last years event , and go to [email protected] to adopt a duck

https://youtu.be/Wvh0ANriQrE

01/19/2026

Henry Ristic is named a "Paul Harris Fellow" in appreciation for his outstanding community relations by the Woodridge Rotary Club

The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International named Henry Ristic a "Paul Harris Fellow" in appreciation of tangible and significant assistance given for the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world.

This award was presented by Rich Moore at the Woodridge Rotary social on Tuesday, January 13, 2026. Mr. Ristic has been a community leader in many events and was recently instrumental in the December 2025 Rotary Holiday Gala which provided a $15,000 donation to the DayBreak ministry of St. Scholastica Parish. These funds that Daybreak received will enable them to take on a third family in support of their transitional housing ministry.

01/19/2026

Woodridge Rotary Club Presents
$15,000 Holiday Gala Check to
Woodridge DayBreak Ministry
This Donation will Help Families Facing
Homelessness with Safe, Stable Housing and
Support Services
On January 13, 2026, the Woodridge Rotary Club gathered at
Shanahan's Food & Spirits to kick off another year of generosity
and giving. Rotary's President, Debbie Mascitti and Fundraising
Chair, Rich Moore presented the check to DayBreak's chairperson
Elevene Bryant.
DayBreak partners with Bridge Communities to provide
transitional housing, financial literacy, mentorship and emotional
support to families facing homelessness. Each year they assist 2-3
families by providing transitional housing and rent support to help
break the cycle of homelessness one family at a time. Because of
this check, DayBreak of Woodridge is able to help 3 families in
2026!
"This check was possible because of the tremendous generosity
of our community who supported The Woodridge Rotary Club's
2025 Holiday Gala. We had over 300 attendees who purchased
tickets and participated in raffles," said Debbie Mascitti.
"In
addition, this year we had tremendous generosity by
our
Sponsors as well as generous gifts of music from The
CoverGirls Violin Show and Robert Kramer. The CoverGirls Violin
Show is recognized as world-class musicians
and will be playing
with the band Chicago in Las Vegas in February and Robert
Kramer is a renowned songwriter and musician. We are truly
grateful for how everyone came together to make this Gala our
most successful fundraiser yet," continued Rich Moore.
The Gold
Ticket winner was Lydia Ferrigan from Woodridge. Congratulations to
Lydia and her husband Mike.
​
"We'd also like to extend our extreme gratitude to the Holiday
Gala Committee who worked tirelessly to make this event a great
success. The committee was made up of members of the
Woodridge Rotary Club and DayBreak of St. Scholastica Parish,"
continued Debbie.
Marine Captain Lamar presented the Flag Colors on behalf of the
U.S. Marine Corps 250
th
Anniversary along with Veterans of
Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 1578.

12/20/2025

Woodridge Rotary Thanks Sponsors for the 2025 Holiday Gala
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Main article image for story titled 'Woodridge Rotary Thanks Sponsors for the 2025 Holiday Gala'
The Woodridge Rotary Club extends a heartfelt THANK YOU!!! to all our sponsors contributing to the success of our 2025 Holiday Gala held on December 3, 2025 at Bobaks Signature Room in Woodridge.

Platinum
Shanahan's Food & Spirits

Silver
Old National Bank
Home Run Inn Pizza
Paolucci Jewelers
T - Fiber

Cocktail Hour
V3 Companies

Table Dessert
Com Ed
Prologis

Rotary Sponsorship
Darien Rotary Club

In Kind
Lenny Richie- Nuvision Video Services Inc.

12/20/2025

The Woodridge Rotary Club again held a successful Holiday Gala on December 3, 2025 at Bobak's Signature room in Woodridge. This year our focus was on Daybreak an organization with The Bridge Communities and sponsored thriugh St. Scholastica Parish in Woodridge. Daybreak partners with Bridge Communities to provide transitional housing, financial literacy,mentorship, and emotional support to families facing homelessnes.