The Ellensburg Morning Rotary Club members view their role in the community as centered on “service above self,” says Ginny, Co-Chair of the Literacy Committee. The literacy committee is one of the many service activities the Morning Rotary Club performs as a means to strengthen the local community.
The committee supports literacy across different age groups, including pre-readers. It does this by sponsoring a summer bookmobile that serves neighborhoods and maintains 15 little free libraries around town. Members of the committee act as volunteer librarians, stocking the libraries with donated or low-cost books and ensuring they include both English and Spanish materials to serve the whole community.
One of the key activities they lead is providing bookcases and books for new Habitat SKKC homeowners moving into Habitat homes in Ellensburg. The donation of bookshelves and books was begun 15 years ago by former club president and original Chair of the Literacy Committee, Judy Backlund. Since launching the program, the Rotary has placed books in 20 homes. The committee surveys new homeowners, assembles a collection of books based on their interests, and places a bookcase stocked with those books into each home before the homeowners move in. The club has completed this effort for all homes at Stuart Meadows and plans to do it again later this summer for the next phase of completed homes.
Rotary members also interact with Habitat SKKC beyond their donations. They attend home dedications and have also helped direct donations to the local Habitat Store.
The Ellensburg Morning Rotary Club organization views affordable housing as essential to creating a strong and healthy community, aligning with its broader mission. The Ellensburg Morning Rotary Club frequently partners with other local organizations, including the food bank and arts groups, to support community needs. The members see themselves as helpers who make the community stronger.