Rotary Club of Sycamore Donates $25,000 to “Leaf a Legacy”

At its meeting on May 11, the Rotary Club of Sycamore presented a $25,000 donation to the Sycamore Park District’s “Leaf a Legacy” fundraising campaign. Leaf a Legacy supports the District’s long-range plan, ACTION 2020, to bring this fast-growing and diversifying community the recreational facilities it needs, seeks and deserves. In its commitment to serve the community, Rotarians identified the opportunity to make a financial contribution as a return on investment that will prove to be invaluable to generations of residents for many years to come.

This is an exciting time for Sycamore. The Park Board is leading the community towards a new era of recreation in our community. “The Rotary Club is proud to join this legacy that will serve this great community today and into the future,” said Rotary Club President Dr. Russell Bishop.

The Park District has received strong support from the Rotary Club in the past as evidenced by Rotary Park at Sycamore Lake and the group’s annual participation in the community-wide Park Pride Day cleanup event. The Rotary Club has made this annual cleanup a part of its yearly Rotarians at Work Day, in which members lend their assistance to various not-for-profit agencies throughout the community.

“We find that our community’s service clubs have been longtime supporters of the great programs and facilities the Park District provides to children and adults in Sycamore. We are truly grateful to the Rotary Club of Sycamore for this great gift and for all they do” says Michelle Schulz, Vice President of the Park Board.

An exciting component of Leaf a Legacy is an anonymous donor’s pledge to match all donations and commitments made in 2016 by 50%, up to $300,000; “Rotary’s donation will grow fast! For that we are excited,” said Ted Strack, President of the Park Board. “In addition to Rotary’s gift, we have raised nearly $140,000 toward that goal, but have a ways to go. We hope other community groups and individuals will help, as well.”

Leaf a Legacy’s fundraising goal of $1.1 million is only a fraction of the total $13 million needed to complete all of the Park District’s ACTION 2020 plan. As Daniel Gibble, Executive Director of the Park District and Sycamore Rotarian explains, “we promised our community that we would not fund all of our projects with just property taxes.” Since last spring, Park Board members have been reaching out to potential private donors. Their efforts have given Leaf a Legacy the kick start it needs.
The ACTION 2020 projects that Leaf a Legacy will help fund include a recreation campus with a new community center, dog park, splashpad and sled hill as well as trail expansion and connections, Sports Complex expansion and a new irrigation system for the Sycamore Park District Golf Club.

For more information about ACTION 2020 and Leaf a Legacy, visit sycamoreparkdistrict.com.
For more about the Rotary Club of Sycamore, go to www.sycamorerotary.org .