Who We Are
Rotary is where neighbors, friends, and problem-solvers share ideas, join leaders, and take action to create lasting change.
The Rotary Club of Boca Raton consists of 80+ community-minded business leaders from the greater Boca Raton area. Our members focus on making our community a better place to live, work, and play by inspiring and uplifting today’s youth to become tomorrow’s leaders by sharing our virtues and values. Some of our community service projects include: Providing college scholarships for high school seniors, fostering the performing arts in today’s youth, promoting STEM & robotics to middle and high school students, providing dictionaries for Boca Raton’s 3rd graders, assisting local foster children and educating families in need. Rotary’s motto is “Service above Self” and our club members live by that every day to “Change Lives and Build Futures.”
Our club was founded in 1957 by a group of local business professional that wanted to give back to the local community. The Rotary Club of Boca Raton is one of over 35,000 rotary clubs comprising over 1.2 million members around the world. Rotary is a non-political, non-religious organization who mission is to provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through our fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders. Rotary’s main areas of focus are:
- Promote peace
- Fight disease
- Provide clean water, sanitation, and hygiene
- Save mothers and children
- Support education
- Grow local economies
We meet every Wednesday at 12:00PM for lunch at The Pavilion Grille in Boca Raton. Our lunches provide a chance for our members to network with other “Service above Self” minded individuals, learn from a variety of outside guest speakers, and work together on planning community service projects. Additional our club has a lot of activities outside of our weekly lunch from community service projects to casual social events. We also host three major events a year including OPAL, Future Stars, and The Pirate Invasion Run. Rotary is more than a service club, it’s a group of your 80 closest friends who are focused on making the world a better place by helping others and living life by the Four Way Test.
Signature Events
OPAL Awards
The Outstanding People And Leaders Awards recognizes citizens in Boca Raton who have demonstrated an on-going commitment to serve their neighbors and our City through Philanthropic, Professional Leadership (Business), Education, Governmental(Civic), Community Service and Medical Service Endeavors. Every January, over 350+ members from our community come together to honor the recipients and raise money for the missions and projects of The Rotary Club of Boca Raton including youth college scholarships.
This one of a kind of event has been recognized by Rotary International receiving a Significant Achievement Award of which only a select few are given out to the over 35,000 Rotary Clubs around the world. Every year the event is a sellout so we recommend purchasing your tickets early to celebrate the people that make Boca Raton one of the best places to live, work, play.
Future Stars
For over 17 years Future Stars has been one of South Florida’s most prestigious middle and high school performing arts competition. In partnership with the City of Boca Raton, the dance and vocal show is hosted live at Mizner Park Amphitheater to over 1000+ people produced by a professional light and sound crew on the same stage some of the nation’s top talent performs. Every year students from across South Florida audition to make the less than 30 finalist acts for the show that will be judged by some of the region’s top talent. Many of our past performers have moved on to the country’s top educational institutions including Juilliard, NYU Tish, and Northwestern and several have become household names in their professional career.
Auditions are open to all middle and high school performing arts students in the South Florida area to compete in our vocal and dance categories. Of the over 100 plus applications we receive every year only the top 25-30 acts make it to become a Future Stars Finalist. We are excited to see this year’s top talent!
Pirate 5K/10K
For over 20 years The Rotary Club of Boca Raton has been helping put on a community Run. Over the years Rotary has partnered with D.A.R.E., the YMCA, XXXX, and many others to promote healthy outdoor fun. This year we have a very special run planned in partnership with the Florence Fuller Child Development Center. Arrrrrrrgh you ready for it?
Grab ye matey, and your favorite parrot, and come run for goodwill and better friendships benefiting the kids of Florence Fuller at our Pirate Invasion Run. Hosted on the world famous A1A Blvd, you will be running along the beaches that centuries ago the real “Pirates of the Caribbean” set foot on. We want to see you best pirate attire and your fastest run times. It’s a friendly family event with special costume contest, live entertainment, breakfast, bounce houses, a special kids run. This professionally timed race by Runner’s Edge is just not for “yar fun luvin running matey” its a beautiful course for professional runners too. Well if be it they like to be chased by pirates! Arrrgh…
Community Projects
Latest Happenings
Noel Guillama, The Future of Healthcare
We were delighted to have Noel Guillama as our guest speaker. Noel is a member of Wellington Rotary and is a nationally recognized expert and lecturer on [...]
Craft Talk – Lisa Talley –Nonprofit Coordinator, District Rotary Peace Committee Member & Mentor
We were pleased to have a Craft Talk with new member Lisa Talley hosted by Jeff Tromberg. Lisa is a recent transplant to Florida. Lisa and her [...]
Veteran’s Day: Major John Havener, US Marine Corps. – Both Land and Air Duties
Introduction by past president Vanessa Havener: Rotary's motto is "Service Above Self" and I can't think of anything more fitting than describing the service a veteran provides [...]
Paul Lopez, Labor Lawyer: Employment Law Turbulence Under Covid-19
Speaker Paul Lopez We were pleased to have attorney, Paul Lopez, join us as our guest speaker this week. He was introduced by Club member Adam Palmer. Paul [...]
Rhys Williams & Jessica Beaver, FAU Tech Runway: Helping South Florida Startups Succeed
We were pleased to have Rhys Williams and Jessica Beaver of the FAU Tech Runway be our guest speakers. Jessica gave the presentation, and both Jessica and Rhys answered [...]
Bryn Styles – Rotary Peace Center Fellowships
Bryn has been a Rotarian since 1986 when he joined the Rotary Club of Barrie Huronia in Barrie, Ontario. He was Club President in 1995-96; served as District Governor. District Conference Chair [...]
Craft Talk – Bill Riddick, Serial Entrepreneur, Past Club President & Mentor to Others
Jeff Tromberg led a Craft Talk with Bill Riddick. William (Bill) Riddick is a second-generation Floridian born in Boynton Beach and raised in Boca Raton, FL. His mother was born in the [...]
Boca Helping Hands Donates Female Personal Hygiene Products to PERIOD, a Local Non-Profit Created by Megan Enriquez a Rotary RYLA Awardee
Shown above is a photo taken at BHH showing the donation of feminine hygiene products to PERIOD, a no-profit that provides these products to 10+ non-profits which, [...]
Mike Mayo, “The Food Critic”
MikeMayo spent more than 30 years at the South Florida Sun Sentinel in a variety of roles before his retirement from daily journalism in early 2020. He spent his final four years [...]
Donna Holland, MD – Psychiatrist Gives Valuable Recommendations on Being a Good Mentor
We were pleased to have Dr. Donna Holland speak to our Rotary Club on the topic, “How to be a Good Mentor.” Dr. Holland graduated medical school [...]
Gilbert Chaidez: Rise Against Hunger in Partnership with Rotary
We were pleased to have Gilbert Chaidez as our guest speaker this week. He works for Rise Against Hunger – an international hunger relief organization that is also [...]
Bernardo Wolfson on The Rotary Foundation and $100 Donation “Every Rotarian, Every Year.”
We were pleased to have Bernardo Wolfson talk about how The Rotary Foundation works and how our Club has a goal of having every member contribute at least [...]
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