Champaign Rotary

On Saturday, Dec. 13, Rotarians and friends braved the cold, snowy weather as part of our club’s annual day of service for the Salvation Army Champaign County IL! To donate online, visit champaignredkettle.org. #rotaryinternational

Thank you to Amanda Olszevski, inbound 2025-26 Rotary Youth Exchange Student from Brazil to Champaign-Urbana, and Tiffani Henry, Outbound Coordinator for District 6490 Youth Exchange, for speaking about the program and Olszevski's experiences at our regular meeting on Dec. 8!

Thank you to the U of I student social entrepreneurs representing the Affix project that spoke to our club at our meeting on Dec. 8! Their mission is to alleviate declining pollinator populations and lack of green spaces in urban areas by creating attachable modular planters.

Thank you to Rachael Schott, Manager of the Carle Health Guest House, for speaking at our regular meeting on Monday, Dec. 1, to talk about how this essential service supports families receiving care in Carle's most critical units! #uniteforgood #rotaryinternational

At the Dec. 8 regular meeting, our club recognized Students of the Quarter from Centennial High School for second quarter including Riti Bhosale for Academics, Rebekah Kim for Athletics and Safa Thameeem for Activities. Great job, students! #rotaryinternational #uniteforgood

Thank you to Gerri Kirchner, Executive Director of the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra, for sharing highlights of the 66th season and history about the CUSO at our regular meeting on Monday, Nov. 24! #rotaryinternational #uniteforgood #music

At our meeting on Nov. 17, we recognized the following students from Judah Christian School for the Student of the Quarter Awards for the second quarter: Dominic Mortenson for Academics, Olivia Daily for Athletics and Zoey McClellon for Activities. Great job, students! #rotary

Thank you to Professor Scott Althaus, Director of Cline Center, for speaking at our meeting Nov. 17 about work being done at the Cline Center for Advanced Social Research at the University of Illinois! #rotaryinternational #uniteforgood

We recognized the Students of the Quarter from Champaign Central High School at our meeting Monday, Nov. 10 including Brady Hong for Activities, Halle Youse for Athletics and Lynn Kim for Academics for second quarter. Great job, students! #rotaryinternational #uniteforgood

Rotary President Chris Randles recently gave out Rotarian of the Month awards for exceptional service to the club to Jared White and John Kelley for July, Gina Scarpetta, Dean Cavey and Sam Banks for August and Katie Blakeman and Kent Brown for September. Thank you!

Happy Veterans Day and thank you to Garrett Anderson, Jr. (Ret. Sgt. U.S Army) for speaking to our club at our meeting on Nov. 10! Anderson is the Outreach Coordinator and Student Recruiter at the Chez Veterans Center at the U of I.

We recognized Students of the Quarter from Champaign Central High School at our regular meeting on Monday, Nov. 3 including Reese Baumann for Activities, Malak Halabya for Academics and Landon West for Athletics. Great job, students! #rotaryinternational #uniteforgood #education

Thanks to Brian Barnhart, Voice of the Illini, for sharing accounts of his experiences as a play-by-play football and basketball announcer, as the host of the "Penny for Your Thoughts" current affairs radio show and podcast, and as a News-Gazette columnist at our meeting Nov. 3!

The Rotary Club of Champaign opened nominations for its 2026 Vocational Service Awards, honoring remarkable individuals who demonstrate professional excellence and a deep commitment to serving others through their chosen vocations in the Champaign area. champaignrotary.info

Club members helped with the fall clean-up of the Randolph Street Garden in Champaign on Saturday, Oct. 25. We're happy to be a community partner with this great project! #rotaryinternational #serviceaboveself #uniteforgood #volunteering

At our regular club meeting on Monday, Oct. 27, we recognized the following Centennial High School students for Students of the Quarter: Delfruna Mangele for Academics, Nehemie Mbangi for Athletics and Kennedy Borden for Activities. Great job, students! #rotaryinternational

Thank you to Matthew Fletcher, interim Executive Director of Courage Connection, for describing the wide range of services they currently provide, including community education for those from middle school through adulthood, at our regular meeting on Monday, Oct. 27! #rotary

Congratulations to Rotarian Kenyon Sivels of the Salvation Army of Champaign County IL for being a recipient of Central Illinois Business Magazine’s Class of 2025 Forty Under 40 Award! We had a great group of fellow club Rotarians there to help celebrate the honor!! #rotary

Congratulations to the CU @ the Rotary Club on its transition to a stand alone Rotary club! On Oct. 6, Rotary District 6490 leaders held a Charter Celebration for the new club, which began as a satellite club of the Rotary Club of Champaign in July 2024. #rotaryinternational

Rotary Club of Champaign members handed out Student of the Quarter Awards to Jackson Dalbey for Academics, Avoni Kelly for Athletics and Liza Carder for Service from Judah Christian School at the Oct. 20th regular meeting. Great job, students! #rotaryinternational #uniteforgood