Interlachen Rotarians present $5,000 check for local school football program and band.
Interlachen, Florida – The Rotary Club of Interlachen and Lakes Area meets each Thursday morning at 7:30 AM for fellowship and planning of their next service project, but there were a few extra guests on February 3rd . A special breakfast was held to officially hand over $5,000 to the Interlachen High School football and band programs and also to thank several community partners for their help in raising the funds.
“We really could not have done this without our local business partners who really stepped up and stepped in with their sleeves rolled up,” stated club president Buddy Goddard.
(Pictured: Del Pearson, Mary Rich, Larry Harvey, Buddy Goddard, Danny Hemphill, Steve Alexander, Coach Erik Gibson, Kris Hilliard, Superintendent Rick Surrency, Leah Lundy)
The Interlachen Rotarians have taken over food concessions at Thompson-Baker stadium for three full football seasons now. It started in the 2016-2017 season with just two games as a way to help out the band parents, who previously manned the events, so they could see their own kids out on the field during the homecoming and senior night games.
Ahead of the 2019-2020 season, I.H.S. Athletic Director Ron Whitehurst approached the Rotary Club with the idea of taking over the stands for all of the varsity home games. A deal was worked out to split the profits from the food and beverage sales among the football and band programs as well as a portion for the Rotary Club scholarship fund (going back to I.H.S. seniors each year).
Local business partners have come in to “sponsor” certain games throughout the seasons, bringing in office staff and others to help cook, dish up, and sell the fan favorites alongside the Rotarians. For the 2021-2022 season, members from Sentry Termite and Pest Control, T.D. Bank of Palatka, and Windstream/Kinetic came out to help in both Varsity and JV games.
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