Greater Jamestown AM Rotary President Gregory Leonard, Fundraising Co-Chairs Sarah Gilbert and Scott Johnson present a donation to TCC Pediatrician Paul Robbins, DO, and TWF Director of Fundraising and Community Relations Stephanie Buvoltz-Brown.

The Greater Jamestown AM Rotary is supporting The Waterfront Foundation’s effort to support local youth and literacy programs.

For two years in a row, the club has sponsored The Waterfront Foundation effort to provide free backpacks, school supplies and books to children in need. The foundation is a 501c3 not-for-profit corporation established in 2019 to raise funds that support the mission, services, and programs of The Chautauqua Center.

This year, The Waterfront Foundation received a $2,000 donation for backpacks and $1,500 for books from the Greater Jamestown AM Rotary club. The books will be given to Jamestown pediatric patients through the Read to Me TCC program that helps make doctor appointments more enjoyable and supplements the lack of reading materials at home. At appointments, TCC pediatricians model reading aloud to parents and use books to assess fine motor skills and development. As a bonus, the children are growing their own library as they get to take a new book home following each appointment. The donation from Greater Jamestown AM Rotary will provide about six months’ worth of books in both Spanish and English for TCC Jamestown patients.

In August, The Waterfront Foundation is hosting free family events to celebrate National Health Center Week. The TCC Community Picnics are one of the largest backpack and school supply giveaways in the county, providing hundreds of local students with supplies for the school year. The 10th annual events will be held in Dunkirk at The Salvation Army from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 8; and in Jamestown at Jackson/Taylor Park from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 10. In addition, backpacks are offered to every school district in the county so that students from all areas have the chance to benefit.

The Greater Jamestown AM Rotary has provided on-going support for the backpack distribution and has helped to stuff backpacks in preparation for the events. For more information on the events, visit tcchealth.org/tcc-community-picnics. To learn more about The Greater Jamestown AM Rotary, or to become a member, visit jamestownnyamrotary.org.