HR0307 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0307 LRB096 12466 GRL 25480 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to congratulate the members of the Rotary Club of Illinois Beach Sunrise on the occasion of the organization's 10th anniversary; and

WHEREAS, The Rotary Club of Illinois Beach Sunrise was chartered on March 31, 1999; in the past 10 years, the organization has been involved in many different activities; and

WHEREAS, The Rotary Club of Illinois Beach Sunrise has devoted great amounts of time and effort to its youth exchange program; the organization has hosted inbound students from Japan, Mexico, Sweden, Venezuela, South Africa, Taiwan, Germany, and Columbia; the group has also sent students from Zion and Benton to other countries, including Denmark, France, Germany, Brazil, and Taiwan, to experience other cultures; and

WHEREAS, The Rotary Club of Illinois Beach Sunrise offers scholarship opportunities to graduating seniors, including two 4-year sustaining scholarships of $1,000 per year, a $2,000 vocational scholarship, and two $1,000 academic scholarships; each year, the club awards a $100 savings bond to middle school students who show leadership and volunteerism skills; and

WHEREAS, To promote reading in its community, the Rotary Club of Illinois Beach Sunrise placed a book rack at the Zion train station, where paperback books are available to commuters; the club also have provided funding to assist with many local projects, including Boys & Girls Club, Children's Dental Clinic, A Safe Place, African American Achievement, Coalition for Healthy Communities, OLH Youth Ministries, Methodist Church Appalachian Project, Rebuilding Together, Partners in Reading, and Wounded Heroes, among many others; and

WHEREAS, The Rotary Club of Illinois Beach Sunrise has sponsored numerous international projects, including a project with a partner club in Baroda, India, where the club sent $10,000 to make limb replacements available to children who otherwise could not afford them; the clinic in Baroda also helped a school for severely handicapped children with limb replacements; some of the money was used to purchase sewing machines to teach the local women a skill they could use to feed their families; the club also helped to furnish a computer lab in a township school in Khayelitsha, South Africa; and

WHEREAS, The Rotary Club of Illinois Beach Sunrise is currently working with the Rotary Club of Helderberg to assist the Eagles Rising Bridging School project in establishing a computer lab; the project takes young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who have completed high school and provides them with a full bridging year away from their destructive environments; and

WHEREAS, The members of the Rotary Club of Illinois Beach Sunrise serve as models of hard work, integrity, and dedication for the people of the State of Illinois; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the members of the Rotary Club of Illinois Beach Sunrise on the occasion of the organization's 10th anniversary and wish them continued success and happiness in the future; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the Rotary Club of Illinois Beach Sunrise as a symbol of our esteem and respect.