As President of the Rotary Club of Belleville, Karen Baker considered it a privilege and pleasure to welcome into membership Amanda Smith and Julia Ross. Amanda currently works with Tim McKinney Realtor group and has already jumped in to assist with the Rotary Loves Kids promotion and golf tournament and has expressed interest in other areas. Amanda's classification is that of Real Estate. Julia Ross is the current co-owner to New Hope Surrogacy and Egg Donation and has a vast amount of volunteer experience in the community. Julia connected with the Club online. Both have been invited to membership and the Rotary Club of Belleville has accepted them as persons of good character, high ethical standards, who exemplify the ideal of service in their actions and words and are leaders in their vocation and the community. They have agreed to accept the obligations of membership in the Club and to follow the Club's Constitution and By-Laws and have become part of a worldwide organization dedicated to encouraging and fostering the ideal of service. President Karen was unable to present each with a Rotary Pin, recognized around the world as an invitation to attend Rotary meetings and functions wherever they may be, but will do that as soon as the pins come in, they are on order.. The Rotary wheel on the pin signifies friendship (inward) and service in the community and around the world (outward). Each new member was also presented with their red lunch badge. The badge will be replaced with a blue one once the new members have presented their classification talk to the membership. And with that, President Karen delared both Amanda and Julia duly inducted as the newest members of the Rotary Club of Belleville and welcomed their strong arms and strong heart for service as we are People of Action who, in 2024-2025 share the Magic of Rotary. (Pictured L to R are District Governor Virginia O'Reilly, new member Julia Ross, President Karen Baker, new member Amanda Smith, Tracey Vandervoort Membership Chair, Assistant District Governor Sandi Ramsey).
The Rotary Club of Belleville is known for its great work with youth and has been involved in projects such as Camp Merrywood, the Quinte Rotary Music Festival, Kids Against Hunger, Amarok Society for literacy in Bangladesh and academic scholarships. These are just a small sample of the many local and international projects the Club is involved with.