Home Page | Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley

The Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley is a diverse, action-oriented, fun-loving club that serves the youth, the seniors, and the needy in our communities, often partnering with others. While focusing our service in the communities of Bolton, Lancaster, and Stow, Massachusetts, our club acts upon service opportunities wherever there is a need – regionally, nationally, and globally. Join us!

We are meeting virtually through Zoom

on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Thursdays

of each month from 7:30 - 8:30 AM.

When we can meet in person again:

Emma's Cafe

Stow Shopping Center
117 Great Road (Route 117)
Stow, MA 01775

Check our Calendar for Social and Service Events!

District Site

Emma's Cafe

Rotary Site

Packaging 23,500 Meals for Those in Need

The Rotary Clubs of Nashoba Valley, Littleton, Acton-Boxborough, and Wachusetts Area, along with the Nashoba Regional High School Interact Club, The Maynard High School Interact Club, the Littleton High School Community Service Club, the Littleton High School Interact Club, and Workers Credit Union, sponsored the eighth annual Rise Against Hunger food packaging event on May 15, 2021. The goal was to package 20,000 meals in a couple of hours and for shipment to feed the hungry around the world. The group actually packaged 23,500 meals over several hours due to generous fundraising.

The event took place at Littleton High School in Littleton, MA, held in the school cafeteria with windows open for maximum ventilation. See members of the Nashoba Regional High School Interact Club at work!

Keeping in Touch and Still Going Strong: Week 48!

To reach out to those who are more confined at this time, members of the Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley have been sending cards and letters to the residents of the River Terrace Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center in Lancaster, MA since June 2020. Every week, members send hand-written messages, sharing their own pandemic activities, musings and stories, and notes of inspiration to the more than 65 residents who have been confined during the pandemic. Many of the messages include jokes, riddles, puzzles, and activities to help entertain the residents. The envelopes are sterilized before being given to the residents. In a note from the Diane Sevigney-Staples, Life Enrichment Director, "Thank you all so much for the letters and cards you have been sending to our residents and patients. It is much appreciated and thoughtful." The club intends to continue until the pandemic ends or the center no longer needs the community outreach.

Additionally, the club sends cards and letters to the residents at the Bolton Country Manor, which offers supportive housing to residents in Bolton, MA. Many residents are trapped in isolation amid coronavirus. Cards and letters are brightening their days!

Need Masks? Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley Participates in the Million Mask Challenge Tour

Members of the Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley have been delivering masks to local organizations, including public safety offices and nursing homes, and as far as Kenya as part of the Rotary Million Mask Challenge Tour. Several thousand masks have been delivered with plans to deliver four thousand more. If you or your organization needs masks, please contact info@nashobarotary.org.

To date, we have delivered masks to:

Guidewire in Springfield (4000)
Consortium in Holyoke (2000)
Cultivate Counseling in Bolton (200)
Our Father's House in Fitchburg (400)
Athol Orange Rotary (2000)
Boston Medical Center, Boston (100)
Sullivan Optometry, Hudson (50)
Dr. Padma Jonnavithula, North Acton Dental (125)
Seth Barron, Barron Chiropractic in Acton (70)
Belknap House Homeless Shelter (200)
Habitat for Humanity NCM (400)
Comfort Zone Home Care (150)
BCF Member for refugee camp (700)
Open Table in Maynard (1000)
Bolton COA (100)
Maynard Neighborhood Brigade
Leaving the Streets Ministry in Haverhill (1000)
Stow COA
BostonSight (500)
Minuteman Arc (500)
Worcester Fellowship (400)
Integrative Family Medicine (50)
Hope for the Children (400)
WHEAT (500)

About the Rotary Million Mask Challenge Tour

In the early morning hours of October 1, 2020, a cargo ship carrying 800,000 face masks arrived at the Port of Boston as part of a Million Mask Challenge. Over the course of the next 14 days, those masks were delivered to first responders, healthcare providers, and frontline workers in cities, towns, and villages from Boston to Maine, from Massachusetts to Connecticut. This effort is a story of service and leadership. It’s a story about answering the call, working together, and saving lives. It is the story of Rotary. A tractor-trailer, emblazoned with the Rotary Million Mask Challenge Tour story, will distribute face masks to Rotary clubs throughout New England and nine major city center distribution points in six states for those in need in their communities. To date, over 200,000 masks have been delivered across central Massachusetts by numerous Rotary clubs.

Stuff a Cruiser Food Drive: A Ton of Fun and Two Tons of Food!

The Police departments of Bolton, Stow, and Lancaster, along with the Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley, participated in a Stuff a Cruiser Food Drive on Saturday March 27, 2021, collecting over 4000 pounds of food and personal care items and raising more than $250 in additional donations!

Donations benefit WHEAT Community Connections in Clinton, MA. Rotary volunteers are helping WHEAT sort through and organize all of the donations. Many thanks to the police departments, Shaws and Emma's Cafe in Stow, various town organizations and community developments, and to our volunteers. It was a beautiful day to stuff all of the police cruisers and more! Check out the photos on our Facebook page!

Rotary Offers Youth Leadership Conference Opportunity for High School Sophomores

The Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley seeks qualified candidates to apply for this year’s Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) conference to be held online during the weekend of June 25, 26, and 27. The program will offer an action- packed and interactive learning environment, designed to challenge participants to use and improve their leadership skills. Best of all, there is no charge to students who participate. The Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley will sponsor eight students at this year’s conference. Applications are due March 30, 2021 and are available from the Download Files section of this home page.

Robert Johnson, local Committee Chairperson, said that participants will be selected from students who have exhibited leadership potential and are currently in their sophomore year of high school. The Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley is contacting high school principals, guidance counselors, youth organizations, and other sources for nominations and welcomes applications and recommendations from the public.

The conference will feature thought-provoking events, including interactive Leadership Labs, exciting guest speakers, and challenging mental and physical activities. Topics will include decision-making, critical thinking, communicating effectively, ethics, and public service.

For more information, contact Robert Johnson at johnson@itesafety.com, 978-875-3143. Visit www.ryla7910.org for the latest information about RYLA.

Flowers for Seniors!

The Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley purchased potted mums and decorated them for delivery as part of a Saint Patrick's Day celebration for senior citizens in Bolton, MA. The Bolton Council on Aging was very appreciative, as many of these seniors are house-bound and alone. The flowers are not only a lovely gesture, but they send a message that we thought of the recipients, who often feel forgotten.

#1 Club in Annual Giving toThe Rotary Foundation

The Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley was recognized on November 17, 2020 as the club that contributed the most in annual giving to The Rotary Foundation from District 7910 in the 2019-2020 Rotary year. Rotary District 7910 consists of 49 clubs across central and Metreowest Massachusetts, spanning from Brookline to Athol-Orange.

The club was also recognized as one the top three contributors to End Polio Now, the Polio eradication campaign of Rotary International and the World Health Organization. In 2019, donations were collected from students at all of the schools in the Nashoba Regional School District. Although this year was more challenging to support polio eradication, students from Mary Rowlandson Elementary School in Lancaster, MA participated in a 2020 "Purple Pinky Drive," raising more than $300. We thank them for their donations as well as the support from Workers Credit Union. We will continue to accept donations: Contact info@nashobarotary.org for more information.

The Rotary Foundation is a non-profit corporation that supports the efforts of Rotary International to achieve world understanding and peace through international humanitarian, educational, and cultural exchange programs. It is supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotarians and friends of the Foundation who share its vision of a better world.

Dictionaries for Third Graders

Recently, third graders at Mary Rowlandson Elementary School in Lancaster, MA received dictionaries of their own, complete with personalized book plates! The donation was part of The Dictionary Project, a nonprofit organization whose goal is to assist all students in becoming good writers, active readers, creative thinkers, and resourceful learners by providing them with their own personal dictionary.

So far this school year, The Dictionary Project has reached an estimated 484,948 students for a total of more than 33 million students. The Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley has participated in the program since its inception, providing 1,056 students in Lancaster, MA with personal dictionaries over the past years!

Backpacks for Stow and Lancaster Students

About 100 students in Stow and Lancaster, MA are starting the school year off fully equipped with a backpack, lunchbox, and supplies. Working with Warm Hearts of Stow and the Lancaster Recreation Committee, the Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley ordered and delivered the needed school items to the partner organizations, who assembled the backpacks with their supplies with limited handling. The completed backpacks were safely distributed to students and their families, working with the local elementary and middle schools. Laura Friend, Principal of Luther Burbank Middle School, shared her delight with the project, "This is just wonderful news. We are so grateful!!!"

The backpack project was co-funded through a Rotary district grant from District 7910. District grants fund small-scale, short-term activities that address needs in our community and communities abroad.