Club President Message

Jeff Wells

member photo

Welcome to the Rotary Club of Norfolk – a vibrant group of community leaders who enjoy being part of southeastern Virginia’s oldest and largest service club.

Our nearly 100 members come from throughout Hampton Roads and share a passion for community service and fellowship. We value always learning something new, having fun, and working together to make our community and world better. If I can help connect you to Rotary International and our club please contact our membership chair, Mark Shaw.

Club Meeting Information
Leaders Making a Difference at Home & Abroad
Norfolk

We meet In Person
Tuesdays at 12:00 PM
Norfolk Yacht & Country Club
Main Ballroom
7001 Hampton Boulevard
Norfolk, VA 23505
United States of America
Phone:
(757) 622-7971
Email:
rotaryclubofnorfolk@gmail.com
We meet at The Norfolk Yacht & Country Club, 7001 Hampton Blvd., Norfolk, on the first three Tuesdays of each month. Meet and Greet is at 12:00pm, and the meeting is 12:30pm - 1:30pm. See calendar for details.
District Site
Venue Map
In the News

Golf & Social Benefit Charities
Golfers and party goers turned out in full force on September 13 For the Rotary Club of Norfolk's golf tournament and social to benefit Norfolk Rotary Charities and PolioPlus. Despite rain warnings, the skies remained blue as golfers conquered the 18 holes at Cypress Point Country Club in Virginia Beach. Afterwards, silent and live auctions and raffles at the social afterwards helped augment funds raised from sponsorships and golf teams. Thanks go to Rotarian Tom Koller for spearheading such a fun event for good causes, and the volunteers who made everything go smoothly.

ODU Rotaract - Fair Day Success
Kasie and Z’Niyah at the ODU Fair Day where they were introducing students to Rotary's Rotaract Club
 
There they recruited 45 new members! That is NOT a typo. This team of officers is amazing. Kasie (on the left) brought a boatload of school supplies donated by her mother, and Z'Niyah kept the visitors engaged. They brought a wheel that visitors would spin to determine their prize. I suspect they did not have a lull the entire time.

Our Club Is In the News
Have you checked out the Rotary Voices blog published by Rotary International? It features short, first-person articles and photos that help you learn about Rotary's impact around the globe. Our club recently made the blog twice -- on August 15 with a piece about inspiring people to join Rotary and on June 15 with a post about our female club members helping build a Habitat for Humanity home in Chesapeake.
 
You can read the blog posts here: The membership post where several members may recognize themselves and Habitat post where even more club members will see themselves.
 
While you are at it, take a moment to enter your email address in the subscribe box and you will get an email alerting you to new posts that will make you proud to be a Rotarian. They might inspire you to submit your own blog post.
 

Meet Jeff Wells: Golden Rotarian
2023-23 District Governor Kenny Janes (right) presents Jeff Wells the Golden Rotarian award.
 
On July 15, Rotary District 7600 honored Rotary Club of Norfolk President Jeff Wells with the Golden Rotarian award. It honored him for being actively engaged in Rotary for 35+ and embodying Service Above Self. Here is an excerpt from President Jeff's nomination submitted by Past Club President Sally Hartman with supporting letters from 2022-23 President Laurie Harrison and past District Governor John Padgett, who described Jeff as "a Rotarian's Rotarian":
 
Jeff Wells is an active Rotarian who leads by example through community service and constantly promoting Rotary. As the 2023-24 president of the Rotary Club of Norfolk, Jeff leads his third Rotary Club. He is past president of the Rotary Club of Paramus and Rotary Club of Ridgewood, both in New Jersey. Jeff became a Rotarian at age 22 and a Paul Harris Fellow at age 26. He is a Rotary Foundation Major Donor and has made sure that all his family members are Paul Harris Fellows.
 
When relocating his architectural firm to Norfolk in 2015, Jeff immediately joined the Rotary Club of Norfolk and became engaged. As in his other two clubs, while climbing the leadership ladder he has been secretary/treasurer, vice president of programs and president-elect. He also has led impactful community service projects.
 
As president of Norfolk Rotary Charities last year, Jeff oversaw annual grant awards of more than $30,000 to dozens of area nonprofits. In 2019, he co-led a major Rotary District Grant project that revitalized the Hunton Y – a social service Y in one of Norfolk’s poorest neighborhoods. He rallied Rotarians around the Y and helped secure a $25,000 District grant to install a commercial kitchen and renovate a room for a children’s library. This led to the Y having capacity to daily feed 250 children and older residents breakfast and lunch during the pandemic’s first year. His efforts helped the Norfolk club win the District’s 2020 Rotary Connects the World Award in 2020 for its work.
 
In 2022, Jeff spearheaded his club’s participation in Norfolk’s December holiday parade. He built and drove the float and drummed up enthusiasm for a new event that even reluctant club members enjoyed. He also lined up all speakers for 2021-22 meetings and ran audio-visuals at meetings. He co-chaired the club’s 2022 golf tournament that raised $5,000 for Polio Plus. Jeff participates in all club community service projects -- cleaning streets, organizing toys for the Salvation Army, packing backpacks for food-insecure children, landscaping the zoo and stage company prop warehouse, and serving beverages at fundraisers.
 
Jeff is a hands-on leader. In New Jersey he led Rotarians in building playgrounds, planting trees and creating a park for a special-needs home. Starting in 1999, he traveled to Haiti every six months (more than 30 times) with Rotarians to help build schools, homes and medical facilities for an 800-child orphanage. He filled a bus with medical supplies and shipped it to Haiti and also brought a wind turbine to provide electricity at the orphanage. In 2020, Jeff traveled to India to help build a playground and install educational software at an orphanage.
 
Jeff’s enthusiasm for Rotary is contagious.  He is always recruiting potential Rotarians and regularly brings friends, neighbors and colleagues to meetings. In February, he spearheaded his club's Membership Month that encouraged members to invite guests to meetings. By March at least five February visitors had joined the Norfolk club.
 
At the district level, Jeff worked for two years with Rotary Youth Leadership (RYLA) and attended many district trainings and annual conferences. He previously was active in his New Jersey district.
 
Even after more than 40 years as a Rotarian, Jeff remains an engaged and proud Rotarian always ready to serve.

We Are Winners!
 
Rotary District 7600 honored the Rotary Club of Norfolk with multiple awards on July 15. Immediate Past President Laurie Harrison won the Best President award for 2022-23. New President Jeff Wells won the Golden Rotarian award for his 35+ years of commitment to Rotary. And, our club won awards for administration, our Rotations bulletin, education, and its support of the Rotary Foundation. We topped that off with the Governor’s Circle Award given to the top 10 clubs in the district. It was a good day in Rotaryland!
 
 
Speakers
District Governor, Rudy Garcia
Oct 03, 2023
Erik Neil
Oct 10, 2023
Chrysler Museum
Joel Rubin
Oct 17, 2023
Offshore Wind Project
John Padgett
Nov 07, 2023
The Rotary Foundation
View entire list...
Upcoming Events
View Our Last Meeting
Did you miss the last meeting? You can see it on our YouTube channel. 
 

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