The Rotary International President, Stephanie Urchick, visited The Nell Bank Centre in Ilkley last week whilst on a flying visit from the US.
Ms Urchick from the Rotary Club of McMurray, Pennsylvania, met Rotarians from across Yorkshire & North Lincolnshire in a showcase event where a few of the 88 clubs shared their activities with her.
Rotary across Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire provides in excess of £250,000 worth of volunteer hours for community development and youth empowerment.
Known as Rotary District 1040 of which Ilkley Wharfedale Rotary Club and Ilkley Rotary Club are part.
The Ilkley Clubs have supported the Nell Bank Centre over the years and, more recently, sponsoring 400 assisted places, indoor benches and outdoor picnic tables as well as actively working on social cohesion from activities such as Accessible Games events.
Local charities benefit also from the Skipton Craven Rotary Club’s Santa Fun Runs and Ilkley Wharfedale RC’s Duck Races as well as many other events from around the Region. Fundraising efforts also support other local, national and international projects and disaster help, for example funds for Shelterbox and Aquabox. All of the money raised less some small out-of-pocket expenses go to the stated charities.
A Rotary member since 1991, Stephanie has participated in a variety of international service projects, including National Immunization Days in India and Nigeria. In Vietnam, she worked with clubs to help build a primary school and travelled to the Dominican Republic to install water filters. A student of several Slavic languages, she has mentored new Rotary members in Ukraine and coordinated a Rotary Foundation grant for a mammography equipment and a biopsy unit for a hospital in Poland. In its commemorative book, the Rotary Club of Krakow, Poland, noted Stephanie as a key figure for helping the re-birth of Rotary in post-Communist Poland.
Stephanie’s professional background is in the higher education, consulting, and entertainment industries. She received her doctorate degree in Leadership Studies from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and has been recognized and awarded by The Rotary Foundation and numerous community and international organisations.