Daniel Island Rotary Club celebrates silver anniversary with $2,500 grant giveaway

How would you like to hand deliver a $2,500 grant to your favorite local charity? Or, if you’re under 16, how about scoring $250 to bring your own hometown community service project to life? 

To celebrate 25 years of making magic happen, the "duck race folks" at the Rotary Club of Daniel Island are giving away both. It’s their way of saying thank you to the community that has fueled their mission since the very beginning. 

FROM A MOBILE HOME TO MILLIONS 

It all started on July 19, 2001, when the president of Rotary International hand delivered the club’s official charter to first president Mary Murray and 33 founding members. 

Beginning as informal breakfast chats at the Hampton Inn, the club quickly outgrew its space, moving to Blackbaud and later the UBS building. Their very first fundraiser? Selling pretzels at Daniel Island Park Day. That grew into a three-year golf tournament, which paved the way for the legendary Duck Race. 

From day one, their hearts were locked onto local needs. Their inaugural service project was purchasing a used mobile home for a Cainhoy corridor resident served by East Cooper Meals on Wheels. Soon after, they tackled their first major hands-on project: building a playground from scratch to replace the empty dirt fields at Cainhoy Elementary School, where those slides and climbing bars still stand today. 

BRING ON THE DUCKS! 

In 2005, Rotarian Bart Jackson dreamed up a game-changer to create a sustainable fundraising machine. He bought the first 10,000 rubber ducks, figured out how to safely drop them off the Wando Bridge, corralled them in the river, and sold the community on the concept by hawking adoptions outside Publix. 

Two decades later, the event just celebrated its momentous 20th anniversary! The venue has shifted over the years, from the traffic nightmare of the bridge to Smythe Lake, Guggenheim Lake, and back home to the Wando River, but the community's love for the race has never wavered. 

Most importantly, those little yellow ducks have raised a staggering $3 million for the Rotary motto: Service Above Self. True success, however, is measured in lives changed across five key areas: hunger, housing, literacy, health, and family support. From East Cooper Community Outreach to holiday meal deliveries at the Cainhoy Community Center and local college scholarships, the impact is everywhere. 

LOCAL FOOTPRINTS & GLOBAL REACH 

You can see Rotary’s mark all over Daniel Island, from Commemorative Park on Seven Farms Drive to the Waterfront Park playground, the popular quarterly Daniel Island Speakers Series, and current trail improvements near Credit One Stadium. Globally, they’ve partnered with Water Missions to build clean water systems in Peru and Tanzania, and they continue the fight to eradicate polio worldwide. 

Today, boasting nearly 100 passionate members, the club meets for breakfast Wednesday mornings at the Daniel Island Club, but has also added a monthly lunch meeting option, and a brand-new Clements Ferry corridor sister club. 

SNAG YOUR 25TH ANNIVERSARY GRANT