Soon after, Harris, with two colleagues in the law profession and a business client, gathered at a downtown Chicago office on February 23,1905 for what would become the first professional Rotary club meeting. Harris’s desire to create an atmosphere to exchange ideas and foster fellowship quickly evolved to include community service, and expanded Rotary’s work into the the world of service projects. The Chicago club’s first service initiative led to the establishment of public restrooms in Chicago in 1907.

A form of the Rotary motto “Service Above Self” was first adopted in 1911. With the chartering of the Rotary Club of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada several years later, Rotary expanded its boundaries into international territory and by 1922 adopted the name Rotary International.

Today, Rotary International encompasses over 35,000 clubs worldwide, covering six continents, with over 1.4 million individuals known as Rotarians. I am one of them – a member of the Rotary E-Club of District 7545, DBA, Mountain State Rotary E-Club, the only E-club in West Virginia. The Rotary International Board in 2001 approved the first E-club charter. My club was chartered in 2012, with Richard Phalunas of Morgantown as charter president. E-clubs are similar to what we call “terra clubs”, only our meetings are held online. Our core values are the same, our service is the same.

During the mid-20th Century (1930s-1980s) when Rotary saw not only growth into a global membership, but also growth into gender inclusion of women in 1989, the organization recognized the importance of leadership development. Thus Rotary clubs are structured: Board of Directors, president, vice president, treasurer and so forth. I served as president of my club from 2019-2021. All presidents, and the club members and communities they work with, like to leave a legacy of service. Mine was simple.

Rachel Caprio, Emergency Services Director of Heart and Hand, is shown accepting a delivery.

A successful community service project needs only a few ingredients. We worked with two local non-profits to create community engagement, threw in 100 percent Rotary club support to raise funds, which in turn, produced an end result of a lot of happy kids.

I met now retired executive director, Brenda Hunt, at Heart and Hand House, Inc., based in Philippi, Barbour County, West Virginia. Heart and Hand House, Inc. (HHH) is a non-profit mission project affiliated with the United Methodist Church that exists for the clear Christian mandate to minister to the physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional needs of in-crisis, low-income people of Barbour County. As part of their mission, they have for years administered a Backpack program in several Barbour County public elementary schools. The Backpack program is part of the national network, Feeding America, a non-profit that helps battle food insecurity in the United States. Backpack programs ensure children deemed food insecure have food for the weekends and for special break periods.

Hunt agreed to work with our Rotary E-Club in what we would call the Barbour County Backpack program. We now had our non-profit recipient (HHH), now we needed a fundraising source. Enter the Tucker Community Foundation and its annual “Run For It” event.

The Tucker Community Foundation (TCF) was founded over 35 years ago by a dedicated group of forward-looking and philanthropic-minded volunteers who recognized a need and set out to address it. What started as a group of “Tucker people helping Tucker people,” — spurred by the aftermath of the Killer Floods of 1985 — grew to become a regional organization of “people helping people” on a much broader scale. This humble beginning helped the local community rebuild, and also established the philanthropic organization that continues to this day. Through various fundraisers and regional communities support, the TCF is now a formidable economic and community development organization.

In 2024, the organization awarded over $3.2 million in grant awards to over 79 nonprofits and distributed over $109,399 in scholarship awards to 71 students within a service region that encompasses nine West Virginia counties (Barbour, Grant, Mineral, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Preston, Randolph, Tucker, and Upshur counties) and one county in Maryland (Garrett County).

The Foundation created an event in 2007 that incorporated fundraising with a wellness activity that would highland the beauty of the region. Since then, the annual event, “Run For It” has grown exponentially. Last year 1,4005 registrants representing 79 community causes participated in the 2K walk and USATF-certified 5K run around the scenic mountaintop town of Davis in Tucker County during the annual Leaf Peepers Festival held the last Saturday in September. Nearly $315,000 was raised for local charities.

Although the 2025 “Run For It” kicked off on April 1, teams may join anytime up to the August 31 deadline. The TCF challenges participants to form teams to support the community cause of their choice during the length of the campaign. Cash awards are given to the teams raising the most awareness and support for their charity, along with demonstrating the best effort. Additionally, half of the entry fees, 100 percent of team sponsor donations, and 100 percent of race day awards are distributed to the cause represented.

To offset the 2020 pandemic and its affect on so many outdoor group activities, the TCF created a virtual “Run For It”. Virtual participation is perfect for clubs like ours where membership is widespread, and where groups of people are unable to complete the physical event on a hilly mountaintop still have the opportunity to participate at their own pace and in their own space.

In the six years our Rotary E-club has participated in this fundraiser, we have raised approximately $20,000 for kids in Barbour County. Of this amount raised, our Rotary International District 7545 granted us $5,500.00 throughout the six year period, which has been very much appreciated.

According to Heart and Hand House Emergency Services Director, Rachel Caprio, the total number of food insecure children in the county public school system increases yearly. During the 2024-25 school year, the organization fed 420 students every weekend and during holiday periods. In 2018-19, the year we initiated the project, we fed 150 kids. 2025-26 will see an increase, as well.

If you are interested in joining our team or participating, contact the Mountain State Rotary E-Club: mtn.state.rotary.eclub@gmail.com