People have asked me the question many times: “What exactly does Rotary do?”

And almost every time these words pop out: “We do a lot of things.”

And then a few more words follow, words like these… “Rotary brings together people from all walks of life, people who live in our community to make our community better. We help community organizations with their priorities. We support our schools, such as Ridgedale, our Partner In Education school, plus Farragut and Hardin Valley high schools.

“Rotary is the oldest civic organization in the world. We are part of Rotary’s priority project, to eradicate polio worldwide. That project began in 1979. And we have fundraisers to help fund these projects.”

As our Rotary theme this year makes clear, “Create Hope in the World” and we work on that in all we think, say or do! Another popular Rotary theme is “Service Above Self.”

Here’s a laundry list of what Farragut Rotary has planned to do in the next few months:

Our goal is to raise $18,000 on Wednesday, March 6, at a big fundraiser at our Top Golf Tournament. The tournament will be held between 1-4 p.m. This event will benefit Sleep In Heavenly Peace (SHP), which builds and distributes beds for children who have no beds. The entry fee for a team of six is $750 and the fee for a single player is $150. The presenting sponsor ($5,000) – known as the “ACE” – is the Knox Fox Real Estate Group (PE Teri Jo Fox).

If you have questions about this event, call or text Vicki Williams — 865-742-4505. You can also email her at this LINK

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On Saturday, April 13, our club again will partner with Sleep In Heavenly Peace for a “Build Day” to build beds for children in Knoxville, Knox County and other counties. The number of kids impacted by this would surprise you! This non-profit builds bunk beds and single beds for children who sleep on floors, mattresses and anything else they can find.

SHP has a simple yet practical motto: “No kid sleeps on the floor in our town!” The beds will be delivered on April 20 and the delivery also will include new mattresses, bedding and pillows. It’s a true labor of love!

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And in May our next event and fundraiser is Saturday, May 4, at the Farragut Community Center. We will have the talented students from the School of Rock leading in a fun night of music and dancing and hopefully some good food. Tom Marsh and Andrew Vollman are focused on making this a successful fundraiser. More details as we progress toward this event.

Tom King is a career journalist and a past president of the Rotary Club of Farragut, which meets each Wednesday at 12:15 p.m. at the Farragut Community Center, 239 Jamestown Blvd. If you want more information about Rotary or are interested in attending a meeting or joining, please email Tom or text him at 865-659-3562.