The Somerville Rotary Club has accepted the challenge of Rotary International President Ian Riseley to plant one new tree for each Rotarian in the club. The challenge is intended to combat global warming and beautify local communities. Australian native Riseley explained,

“Environmental issues have not featured highly on the radar of Rotary International in a corporate since 1990-91. I was keen to give Rotarians an incentive and the opportunity to show their concern for the environment.” Local Rotary District 7930 and Somerville Rotary donated the native New England trees (25 Sugar Maple & 25 White Dogwood) at no cost to Linda Cornell President/CEO of the Somerville VNA Visiting Nurses Association. The goal is to plant approximately 2,000 trees in the Rotary District by Arbor Day on Friday, April 27, 2018.

About Rotary International & Somerville Rotary Club

Rotary is an organization of business and professional leaders united worldwide who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world. There are 1.2 million Rotarians in 160 countries worldwide. The first Rotary Club was founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1905 by an attorney named Paul Harris and several of his colleagues. The name “Rotary” was derived from the early practice of rotating meetings among each of the members’ offices. The Rotary motto is “Service above self”. The Somerville Rotary Club meets each Tuesdays at 12:15pm at Holiday Inn in Somerville. For more information on the club’s initiatives or to join the Somerville Rotary Club, please contact Kevin Su at kevin.su@commonmoves.com.