FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Rotary Club of Prior Lake Announces their Dollars @ Work
Local Donations and Projects Account for the Majority
Prior Lake, Minn. – On Monday, August 17, 2020, the Rotary Club of Prior Lake released their charitable giving for the Rotary year 2019-2020, which runs from July 1-June 30. The Club, known for their largest fundraiser, the regional event, Prior Lake Rotary’s Lakefront Music Fest, uses the funds raised for the Prior Lake Rotary Foundation to do good in the community and throughout the world. The good is through projects the Club participates in and/or funds, and worthy non-profit organizations the Club contributes to. In total, the charitable giving for the year was $220,767. The chart below breaks down the giving by category. For a full list of the Club’s giving, go to
Besides the monetary giving, Club members donate countless hours to projects such as being mentors for the S.T.R.I.V.E. program at Bridges Area Learning Center, teaching Junior Achievement in Prior Lake-Savage Area elementary schools, performing cleanup and maintenance in City parks and streets, participating in Cooking for Kids, and assisting with Breakfast with Santa, besides planning and operating the Lakefront Music Fest, which alone requires countless member hours. Said 2019-2020 Club President Dan Stanley, "Club members put in thousands of hours throughout the year for our Music Fest, our major fundraiser, so it is very rewarding when we can see those efforts translated into doing good and making a positive impact in our community and beyond."
This year, amid COVID-19, the Prior Lake Rotary Club responded significantly by contributing $27,000 to the following organizations to address food insecurity, child care assistance, and technology: CAP Agency ($5,000), Reaching our Community’s Kids or R.O.C.K. ($5,000), River Valley YMCA ($5,000), and Independent School District 719 through distance learning technology and Kids Company scholarships ($12,000). Community partnerships are vital to Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools. Stated Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools Superintendent Dr. Teri Staloch, “Groups like the Prior Lake Rotary Club have been instrumental in lending their time, talents and financial resources to help ensure all students in our community reach their full potential.”
Beyond the Club, members are extremely generous giving to Rotary International’s programs. For the 7th year in a row, the Rotary Club of Prior Lake was #1 in the 5960 Rotary District for contributing to PolioPlus, Rotary International’s initiative to end polio. Individual members gave $33,938. And the Club and its members are perennially #1 in the District in total and per capita giving on an individual basis to The Rotary Foundation, the body that is the engine for all the good done worldwide. The total in 2019-2020 was $48,992, and all Club members contributed to the number. The members know it is not the money given, but the difference those monies make with positively impacting our community and communities across the world.
