Backpack Buddies Packing Party
Stories
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August 18, 2025 Club Meeting The Rotary Club of Gulfport Orange Grove had the pleasure of hosting Bill Lavers and Collin Caranna from the Harrison County Development Commission at today’s membership meeting.They shared exciting updates on growth and opportunities shaping Harrison County’s future. Thank you for joining us and investing in our community! |
August 4, 2025 Club Meeting Rotary Club of Gulfport Orange Grove Today’s meeting spotlighted youth leadership in action!  We welcomed Cooper Cross, a Boy Scout from Troop 245, who shared his Eagle Scout project benefiting the Family Justice Center in Gulfport.  During the meeting, Cooper donated $300 to Lillian, the Forensic Program Coordinator for the Gulf Coast Center for Nonviolence, Inc. to support their work with survivors and families.  In support of his efforts, our club proudly presented a $500 donation to the Gulf Coast Center for Nonviolence to help bring his vision to life. It was a powerful reminder of what happens when generations come together to serve our community.          |
RCGOG SocialGreat time was had by all our Rotarians tonight! Huge trivia event by Angie Crawford . Many winners and many great prizes! Thank you for a great event tonight hosted by Heather Rowley Porter and Angie!  |
District 6840 Zone Training |
Children's Health FairLeslie Bucklar at Edgewater Rotary Club of Edgewater #6840 Children's Health Fair today at Edgewater Mall.  |
July 21, 2025
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July 7, 2025 Club MeetingToday was a jam packed meeting! Happy Rotary New Year! Thank you now Past President R. Lee Flowers for your leadership in RY2024-2025! Looking forward to President Angie Crawford leading the team in RY2025-2026 to continue doing the good work for our community! Thank you also to our board members RY2024-2025: Stephen Howard, James Davis, Heather Porter, Harry Piascik, Regina Lawrence, and Richard Kosloski! We also recognized the Rotarians of the last 2 Quarters and THE Rotarian of the Year! 3rd Quarter - Harry Piascik 4th Quarter - Heather Porter Rotarian of the Year - Angie Crawford Todays' installation of Club Officers and Board of Directors for RY2025-2026 President Angie Crawford Vice President Heather Porter Immediate Past President R. Lee Flowers Secretary Heather Porter Executive Secretary/Director Stephen H. Howard Treasurer Harry Piascik Sergeant of Arms Richard Kosloski Board of Directors: Bobby McCauley, Leslie Bucklar, James Davis, Regina Lawrence One more thing today at our meeting - Honored R. Lee Flowers with Paul Harris Fellow recognition!                  |
July 23, 2025 Blood DriveSave the date!! Let's keep the supply afloat!  |
June 16, 2025 Rotary Club Meeting with Starr ChapmanA huge Rotary thank you to our guest speaker today Starr Chapman! She is the Constituent Outreach Officer for the State of Mississippi Office of the Attorney General, Lynn Fitch. She did an amazing presentation on current on going spams targeting our youth and elderly citizens via texts, phone calls, and social media. She is pictured here with our Club President RLee Flowers  |
June 2, 2025 Rotary Club Meeting with Joshua Dibble and Amy WeaverA huge Rotary thank you to Dr. Joshua Dibble, DO and Amy Weaver from Singing River Hospital Gulfport who spoke to us today on Chronic Pain Intervention and the hospital's detox program. They are pictured here with our club President RLee Flowers.  |
The Rotary Club of Gulfport-Orange Grove celebrates their 40 year anniversary today!                          |
May is Youth Services MonthMay is Youth Services Month and we celebrated with the next generation leaders at Harrison Central High School Gulfport, MS and Interact Club leaders with Donut Appreication Day! President RLee Flowers and President-elect Angie Crawford visited the Club early this AM to take them a treat from our Rotary Club of Gulfport-Orange Grove    |
Rotary Club of Gulfport Orange Grove to celebrate 40 years of servicePresident RLee Flowers and President Elect Angie Crawford joined Jennifer Lott on WLOX-TV 4 o’clock Show to discuss some of the many ways our club helps in our community. The Rotary Club of Gulfport-Orange Grove will be celebrating 40 years of service to the community. The club will host its 40th anniversary luncheon on May 19. The event will be held at the Coast Electric Auditorium in Gulfport. During the luncheon, Rotary will showcase numerous service projects that have benefited the community over the last four decades, including its long-standing partnership with the Harrison County School District MS. That collaboration received state recognition in 2023 when the Harrison County School District was honored with the Governor’s Award from the Mississippi Association of Partners in Education. Below are some of those Rotary service projects:
The event will also include an awards presentation. |
May 5, 2025 Rotary Club Meeting with John PoulosWe were grateful to have Troopers Johnny Poulos and Kevin Barnett share about MHP’s efforts to require Drivers’ Ed in all high schools which would also include training on what drivers should do during a traffic stop. Also, MHP has a major new initiative to bolster the mental health of their officers. More law enforcement officers take their own lives due to the stresses of the job than lose their lives in the line of duty.  |
April 21, 2025 Rotary Club Meeting with Rebecca PowersA huge thank you to our guest speaker Rebecca Powers! Rebecca is pictured here with Club President, RLee Flowers !  |
Backpack Buddies April 16, 2025With spring break coming up soon, Rotary Club of Gulfport-Orange Grove members spent the noon hour today packing hundreds of bags of food to support students in need in HCSD! The Rotary sponsors the Backpack Buddies program at Harrison Central Elementary, Crossroads Elementary, and River Oaks Elementary. We can’t thank the Rotary members enough for caring so much for our school children!   |
Green Egg Raffle 2025Congratulations to this year's winner of the Green Egg, Sharon Dedeaux! This raffle provides funds for our many community projects such as Backpack Buddies, Comfort Closets, and Christmas for Kids just to name a few! Thanks to all who bought tickets! Your support for our community is greatly appreciated!!  |
April 7, 2025 Rotary Club Meeting with Christen DuhéFrom left are Tiffany D Bell, director of Donor Relations; Dr. Christen H. Duhé, president and executive director of GCCF; and R. Lee Flowers, Rotary Club president.  |
Backpack Buddies March 19, 2025Backpack Buddie Bag Packing today 12 Noon, Coast Electric 14082 Highway 49 North, Gulfport, Mississippi.    |
March 17, 2025 Rotary Club Meeting with Jeff ClarkA St. Patrick's Day presentation at the Rotary Club of Gulfport-Orange Grove today by Jeff Clark, Executive Director of the Harrison County Senior Resources Agency. A huge thank you for an amazing presentation! RLee Flowers Club President presented Jeff with the club gift!   |
President Elect Training SeminarOle Man River PETS 2025 with Rotary District 6840 President-elects, DGE Keith Clayton, Brian Hall, RI Trustee-elect and President-elect Angie Crawford RCGOG posing with Rotary International President-Elect: Mário César Martins de Camargo. #United for Good!  |
March 3, 2025 Rotary Club Meeting with Nathan BarrettA huge Rotary thank you to @Nathan Barrett Harrison County Supervisor District 5 for being our guest speaker today and talking about all things Harrison County. Pictured here with Past President Stephen H. Howard. Thank you so much!   |
Comfort Closet ProjectDelivering the second round of supplies for Comfort Closets this week at Crossroads Elementary, Harrison Central Elementary, West Harrison High School - Gulfport, MS , and Harrison Central High School Gulfport, MS . Here we are at Crossroads with Ms.Fitts Asst Principal, Leslie Bateaste, School Social Worker, and Steve Howard, Rotarian. The supplies are provided through Rotary grants and club fundraisers. This was a $2500 project at five schools in Harrison County School District.  |
February 17, 2025 Rotary Club Meeting with Rebecca HillEnjoyed having Rebecca Hill of Legacy Hospice speak to us today about facts and myths of hospice and volunteer opportunities.  |
Backpack Buddies February 12, 2025Backpack Buddies Service Project! Making it happen for the kids in the Harrison County School District for the month of March....Rotarians bagging 270 weekend lunches! Thank you for your service work!
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February 3, 2025 Rotary Club Meeting with Ronnie Matthews Harris |
Rotarians of the QuarterBig day! Recognized Angie Crawford as Rotarian of the Quarter for Q1 2024-2025 and Steve Howard as Rotarian of the Quarter for Q2 2024-2025.    |
January 20, 2025 Rotary Club Meeting with Vigilant HealthIt was a full day: Inauguration Day, MLK Jr. Day, Preparing for Snow Day. Yet, Rotarians still do what we do. We enjoyed a presentation from Stephanie Clark and Cindy McDougal, NP, with Vigilant Health and Lori Banks with Ambetter about health insurance offerings for small businesses.  |
Mid Year Check    |
Goals Met!Goals met!!! Thank you to all the members that made this happen!  |
Christmas for Kids Thank YOUs!When students who benefited from our Christmas for Kids effort send thank yous, Rotarians renew our commitment to do it again…bigger and better. You’re welcome, River Oaks Elementary.  |
January 6, 2025 Rotary Club Meeting with Harrison Co Supervisor Kent JonesGreat presentation by Supervisor Kent Jones about how Harrison County is dealing with growth and development while addressing the needs of our youth and seniors.  |
December 16 Rotary Club Meeting with Sean TindellA great meeting to wrap up 2024 in Rotary: Two neighbors who pick up lost money as they walk around their neighborhood for exercise made a donation to our Backpack Buddies project today. They and their friends match their annual findings and donate it to a worthy cause. Their donation was more than $500. Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell shared advancements he’s made within the Department of Public Safety including scheduling driver’s licenses renewals, MS Mobile ID app (https://apps.apple.com/app/id1588419578), and overcoming a 10-year backlog of autopsies.   |
Christmas for Kids 2024 The 2024 35th Annual Christmas for Kids fundraiser is here. See below a letter explaining our projects funded by the event and the levels of sponsorship. We need your help! Click Read more... button below for letter and information. Donate with Venmo HERE or contact one of our members!
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November 4 Rotary Club Meeting with Gulfport Code Enforcement Manager Travis JohnsonHad more questions than usual at today’s meeting for Travis Johnson, City of Gulfport Code Enforcement manager. Good to hear people passionate about making our city beautiful and clean throughout every community.  |
Comfort Closet Project @ West Harrison High SchoolWest Harrison High received a wonderful donation today!   Mr. Harry Piascik from the Rotary Club of Gulfport-Orange Grove delivered three large boxes of brand new clothing and personal hygiene products to support the school’s Comfort Closet! The program came about after WHHS counselor Jamie Rhodes was a guest speaker at a Rotary meeting and explained how the Comfort Closet provides assistance to students in need. The Rotary decided to sponsor the Comfort Closet at WHHS, then added Harrison Central Elementary, River Oaks Elementary, and Crossroads Elementary! Each school will receive $500 per semester to order clothes and other necessities for students. We are immensely grateful for the Rotary’s kindness, generosity, and commitment to supporting our school district!    |
Polio Plus Awareness Day @ Harrison Central High SchoolHarrison Central High School Gulfport, MS Interact Club and it's members celebrated PolioPlusAwareness Day in the school's courtyard today. They brought awareness to the Interact Club and Rotary's number 1 cause the elimination of Polio!           |
Backpack Buddies October 30, 2024Packing lunches for November for the Backpack Buddies program. WLOX-TV with reporter Austin Johnson was in the house to do a feature on our program! Watch here:      |
Comfort Closet Project @ Crossroads ElementaryHarry Piascik delivers items for the Comfort Closet at Crossroads Elementary today!  |
Interact Club @ Harrison Central High SchoolThe Harrison Central High School Interact club prepping for PolioPlus Day October 24! They will have a special display set up in their courtyard to not only educate other students about Polio, but also Interact and Rotary! Thank you to our Interact members! And their advisor Greg Crosby!  |
October 21 Rotary Club Meeting with HCSD Superintendent William BentzHCSD Superintendent William Bentz served as the guest speaker at today’s Rotary Club of Gulfport-Orange Grove meeting. Mr. Bentz focused on a variety of topics, including academic achievements, enrollment growth, safety & security upgrades, new bus communication technology, teacher recruitment & retention, community partnerships, athletics, and current and upcoming construction projects. Many thanks to the Rotary for always supporting our students and staff in HCSD and for inviting Mr. Bentz to share all the great things happening in the district!  |
Comfort Closet Project @ Crossroads Elementary SchoolHarrison Central Elementary received a wonderful donation this morning from the Rotary Club of Gulfport-Orange Grove! Rotary representative Stephen Howard dropped off brand-new clothing to support the school’s Comfort Closet. This year, the Rotary launched the Comfort Closet Project at HCE, Crossroads Elementary, River Oaks Elementary, and West Harrison High. Each school received $500 for this semester and another $500 for next semester to shop for clothing, personal hygiene products, and other necessities for students in need. Funding for the program comes from a Rotary District 6840 Grant and the Christmas for Kids Project annual fundraiser. We are truly grateful for the Rotary’s ongoing partnership to assist our students and their families!  |
Comfort Closet Project @ River Oaks ElementaryFrom Harrison County School District MS: We are proud of our partnership with the Rotary Club of Gulfport-Orange Grove, and here’s another excellent example of how much the Rotary cares about our HCSD students! Today, Rotary representative Stephen Howard dropped off several large bags of brand-new clothing items at River Oaks Elementary. This year, the Rotary launched the Comfort Closet Project at River Oaks and three other schools in HCSD. Funding for the program comes from a Rotary District 6840 Grant and the Christmas for Kids Project annual fundraiser. River Oaks, Crossroads Elementary, Harrison Central Elementary, and West Harrison High each received $500 this semester to shop for clothing and supplies for students in need. Each school will receive another $500 next semester. We cannot thank the Rotary members enough for their kindness, generosity, and dedication to ensuring our students have clothing, personal hygiene products, and other necessities to learn and thrive.   |
October 7 Rotary Club Meeting with Gulfport Fire Chief Billy KelleyA huge thank you to Gulfport Fire Chief Billy Kelley for coming to our meeting today to be our guest speaker. Did you know the Gulfport Fire Department will provide smoke/fire alarms and install at no cost? Give them a call for details! Fire Chief Kelley is pictured with our Club President R.Lee Flowers! Thank you Chief Kelley!  |
Backpack Buddies September 25, 2024Rotary Club of Gulfport-Orange Grove Rotarians at work, prepping 240 Backpack Buddy lunch bags for the month of October. #harrisoncountyschooldistrict thank you for your help!  |
September 16 Rotary Club Meeting with Joe Nicholson, Congressman Mike Ezell's Chief of StaffA huge thank you to Joe Nicholson, Congressman Mike Ezell's Chief of Staff for visiting our club today and presenting on current activities in the U. S. Congress! President-elect Angie Crawford presents Joe a gift from the club. Thank you Joe!  |
August 19 Rotary Club Meeting with Sarah Cortell VandersypenPleasure to have Sarah Cortell Vandersypen, Executive Director of United MSD Foundation speak to our club. The foundation is based in Ocean Springs, MS and was begun by a Rotarian. For more information about the effort, visit curemsd.org.  |
End of Year 2023-2024 Banquet |
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District 6840 Conference Food Fest - Orange JuliusServing our famous Orange Julius at District 6840 Conference food fest!  |
Rotary District 6840 2024 District ConferenceRotary District 6840 2024 District Conference. District Rotarians wirh 25 years or more of Service were recognized. Steve Howard honored for 36 years of Rotary Service. Rotary Club of Gulfport-Orange Grove celebrates 39 years of service on May 10, 2024!    |
Backpack Buddies April 24, 2024Packing bags and celebrating Ralph Anderson's April 25 birthday! Let's just say he has has had a few! Happy Birthday, Ralph! Thank you for your service today! Service and fellowship!      |
Rotary District 6840 Spring Team TrainingRotary District 6840 Spring Team Training with Angie Crawford Richard Kosloski, Harry Piascik and Stephen H. Howard in Kiln, Mississippi! Doin the Rotary Club of Gulfport-Orange Grove Deal!     |
Ces mammiferes marins qui peuplent nos pertuisBonjour! Please enjoy this press article about the rotary club île de ré and the association "Ré Nature Environnement" and sea mammals, in French! RCGOG has connected with the Rotary club Ile de Ré as partners financially in favor of marine mammals (dolphins, seals....) who spend some time around the Ré island coasts and are found sometimes dead or wounded on the beaches. The "Ré Nature Environnement" association is specially dedicated to the sea animals rescue on the island of Ré, to save them.   |
Ben Burnett, Guest speaker on April 16, 2024We were honored to have William Carey University's President Ben Burnett to share the history and the vision for Carey!  |
Backpack Buddies March 2024   Huge shout out and thank you to all of our volunteers today for their assistance in assembling 300 plus weekend lunch bags for the children at three Harrison County School District MS schools! Our Backpack Buddie program is a huge success, serving over 3000 meals this Rotary Year alone. We love to be of service! And our projects allows us to give back to those in need. |
Rotary District 6840 District Team Training Rotary District 6840 District Team Training on March 23, 2024! RCGOG President Steve Howard was present and accounted! |
Alix Dearing, Guest speaker on March 18, 2024
On March 18, 2024, our guest speaker was Alix Dearing, Executive Director of Coastal Operations of the Pine Belt Mental Health Association. Mrs. Dearing has worked in mental health and social services on the coast for several years where she served in a variety of positions including Program Manager, Clinical Director, and Patient Advocate of Social Services. She has also served as a Liaison to the Chancery Court, Therapist, and Gero Psych Social Worker. She previously worked for PBMHR as a day treatment specialist, clinician, and a member of the on-call team. Thank you Mrs. Dearing for sharing your expertise with us! |
West Harrison High School's Jamie Rhodes visits with RCGOGGuest speaker Jamie Rhodes shares topics that some high school students face, including bullying, homelessness, and other mental health related issues at March 4 Rotary meeting. Thank you for sharing with us, but thank you more for your work with these students!  |
Read Across AmericaMembers Nicole Roberts Faubare and R. Lee Flowers reading to students at local elementary schools in recognition of Read Across America!   |
President Elect Training SeminarAngie Crawford representing at President Elect Training Seminar (PETS) in Natchez, MS!  |
Rotarian of the Second QuarterThe Rotary Club of Gulfport-Orange Grove's Rotarian of the Second Quarter was presented to Heather Rowley at the February 5, 2024 meeting! Heather is the Administrator at Singing River Gulfport Hospital and Secretary-elect 2024-2025 for our club! Congratulations and thank you so much for all you do!  |
