Buddy Bench

In July of 2018,
Troy Rotary embarked on a project to help school children cope with loneliness, foster friendships and confront bullying.  We were drawn to the success of Buddy Benches which are safe places for kids to sit, talk and work things out.  Rotary values inclusion, kindness and peace, so we committed to installing Buddy Benches at all of the Troy Elementary Schools (21 total) plus two benches at the Troy Boys & Girls Club.  Troy Rotarian and professional Architect, David Donnellon, donated his time to meet with school Principals, conduct site visits for bench placements, coordinate concrete pad requirements and generate aerial view plans.  Continue with "Read More"
 
Where the Project Stands
We're excited to share that we now have only 6 benches left to sponsor (of which 4 may be sponsored by the time this is published).  Our generous sponsors include Beaumont Hospital, Tim Horton's Troy, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Community Choice Credit Union, Former Hill Elementary Teachers, The Choice Group, Troy Community Foundation and Troy Rotary.  Rotarians PDG Liz Smith Yeats of District 6400, Nick and Lisa Vitale and Sharon Lewis.  District 6380 Rotarians have also made sizeable donations. 
 
We came up with a 3-phase plan to 1) Find sponsors, 2) Promote our sponsors, 3) Celebrate success.
“We’re now in Phase Two of our Buddy Bench Legacy Project, which includes shooting individual sponsor promotional videos for our social media campaign,” says René Pothetes, President of Troy Rotary.
Phase Three will happen in the spring with ribbon-cutting ceremonies at each of the Elementary schools.  We’ll invite students, teachers, city officials, sponsors, the public and of course, Rotarians.
Finally, Troy Rotary will host a sponsorship recognition luncheon in May to say thank you, get another round of round of media attention for our partners, and hopefully sign up some new Rotarians!
Learn more at www.Facebook.com/TroyRotary and like our page so you can monitor Project Buddy Bench.