The Mullica Hill Rotary Club welcomed a new president as the former stepped down, and now, Roxine Horner is eager to begin new, and old, initiatives for the Rotary.
Horner was formally inducted as the club’s president on June 19 with a “laid back” ceremony consisting of barbecue, family, spouses and friends.
While she’s only been a part of Rotary for a little over a year, Horner said she loved taking part in the Survivors Tent dinner at the recent Gloucester County Relay for Life, Josh the Otter, Harrison Township Day and other community programs and events.
“Five years ago, I did Dancing with the Gloucester County Stars, and I raised over $56,000 for the Boys and Girls Club,” she said. “I would love to be able to raise a lot of money for the Rotary. I do have an idea in mind on what I want to do.”
She added another program she wants to start as the Rotary’s president is to provide Mullica Hill kids with meals.
“You hear so often that they don’t have food when they go home,” Horner said. “It’s hard to believe in our town, but it does (happen). A lot of schools are serving breakfast to the children because they know that unless they do that, the kids might not eat.”
According to Feeding America, a nonprofit organization the state receives statistics from, one in eight kids in New Jersey “struggles with hunger.”
“My motto is ‘beyond the lunch table, bridging the gap between school and home,’” she added. “Participating with Bullock Garden, farmers and restaurants and the schools so we can gather together and make sure children have substantial food.”
She hopes to start a program that supplies children with meals throughout the year to “make a little bit of a difference, even if it’s just one child’s life.”
With membership down, Horner said she also looks to boost membership by informing others what the rotary is and to get Clearview students involved in the organization. The Rotary works with Kingsway Regional’s Interact Club.
“If you take five minutes out of your time to help somebody, it makes an impact on everyone’s lives,” she said. “If we start with the younger people, it’s important. Our club is small and we have an older population.”
The Rotary, she added, hopes to get students involved through the various events they participate in. They also offer scholarships to students.
“We’re a service-oriented organization to raise funds to better the community, different organizations and individuals in their ventures,” she said.
For those wanting to join the Rotary, memberships are $200 for the year and meetings are held at Harrison House Diner from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. every Wednesday. On the last Wednesday of the month, the club meets at Chianti’s Restaurant (in the same plaza as McDonald’s) at 6:30 p.m.
