Submitted by the Rotary Club of Bedford
With its long history of community service, the Rotary Club of Bedford will embark on a bold step for identifying new projects this fall. In September, Jacquelin Apsler, Bedford Rotary Club president, will roll out the program that will be known as BRIC2, Bedford Rotary Ideas Challenge. The new community service program will be open to students, citizens, and workers in town including Middlesex Community College.
BRIC2 draws on the experiences of Rotarian Victor Tom (MIT ‘72), Sze-Wen Kuo (MIT ’73), and Rotarian Ralph Hammond who adapted MIT’s Ideas Global Challenge, a positive and effective community service model with a 20-year history of creating innovative projects throughout the world.
Through BRIC2, local groups will propose community development and improvement projects for Rotary’s review and, if necessary, possible funding. Complete details will be available during the formal roll out in September. Students working on BRIC2 projects will receive community service recognition and credit for specific time on task related to their team effort. Completed projects will be showcased and compete for awards in a spring BRIC2 Exposition.
BRIC2 will expand upon a program piloted in the spring of 2017 at Bedford TV (Video Production Classes for Lane and Middle School). Participants created public service announcements for Stranger Danger, Preventing Bullying, and Texting While Driving and Why Bike? Videos were also created for the Job Lane House Colonial Days Kids Camp and for items from Bedford Historic Society’s collection.
Rotary projects, just this past year alone have included: 1) the Lane School greenhouse; 2) food booth for the Pan Mass Challenge Kids Ride; 3) meal packing for schools in Zambia; 4) RYLA Scholarships (Rotary Youth Leadership Award); 5) Project Delta Dogs for service to returning veterans; 6) Eagle Scout kiosk at the boat ramp; 7) bike helmets for children; 8) furnishing the family room at the Concord Court House; and 9) a video editing station for Bedford TV.
While most of the funds raised by the Bedford Rotary Club go to projects here in town, over the years, we have done projects in 43 countries around the world. Since 1971 the Bedford club has contributed over one million dollars to community and international health, education and community improvement projects.
Watch for more information on the Bedford Rotary Ideas Challenge, BRIC2 , as our club goal for the years ahead is to partner with the broader Bedford community in order to build a better Bedford BRIC by BRIC.
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