Our Club

What is the Rotary Club of West Sedgwick County Sunrise?

We are club of 40 men and women of all ages and occupations who enjoy providing service to our community. How do we do that? We are part of Rotary International which has over 33,000 clubs world-wide in 200 countries.

Rotary’s motto is: ‘Service Above Self’

We focus our Service to Communities in four areas:

Vocational - professional development
International - global interests
Community - Wichita and Sedgwick county
Club - programming and social events

Vocational Service

Rotary Clubs provide a great opportunity for members to network with fellow professionals. Our network is not confined only to our club but extends to Rotarians in other clubs in Kansas, the US and internationally.

West Wichita Interact Club

Our club encourages high school student leaders by co-sponsoring the Interact Club of West Wichita, founded in 2002. Interact is a platform for teaching ethics and service to students at west Sedgwick County high schools. Currently, members of the club are students from Bishop Carroll, Eisenhower (Goddard) and Andale high schools. Semi-annually, the West Wichita Interact students take a service trip to Panama which our club co-sponsors. The students stay with Panamanian Rotarians to work on projects for schools in the mountain villages.

High School Senior Scholarship

The Sunrise Rotary Club annually awards two scholarships to high school seniors who have exhibited strong leadership abilities and want to continue their education either at a vocational technical school or college. Qualifications for the scholarship are proven involvement in school, church and community activities, and a 250-word essay on the meaning of the Rotary Four-Way Test: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

“Truth is a difficult word to define. You know it when you hear and know it when you didn’t receive it. Without truth you really don’t have much else. You constantly require truth in all aspects of your life. Truth from your family, truth from your job, and truth from yourself. The last one is probably the most difficult at times to reconcile with.” – Jake (an excerpt from a candidate's essay)

International Service

Rotary is made up of three parts: our clubs, Rotary International, and The Rotary Foundation. Together, we work to make lasting change in our communities and around the world.

Rotary International Teacher Exchange Program (RITE)
Each year our club partners with the West Wichita Rotary Club to send five or six Sedgwick County teachers to Panama in the summer, and in the winter we host six teachers from Panama and Argentina in our homes in Wichita. The RITE program was started by husband and wife, Ralph and Armida Hight, members of West Wichita Rotary and our club. Started in 1996, RITE has impacted 400 to 500 teachers here, Panama and Argentina, who have exchanged methods and strategies for teaching English as a second language.

Polio Eradication
Rotarians have played a major pole in helping to eliminate the scourge of Polio around the world. We have teamed with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Health Organization for many years. Polio, a deadly disease which was a pandemic in the US and world, has been eradicated in all but two countries.

Water Projects
Our club has been active in funding water projects in India, Lebanon and Peru. This in an ongoing international Rotary effort to bring fresh water to people who have never had that luxury.

Community Service

Sunrise Boundless Playground and USD Wichita public elementary schools
The West Sedgwick County Rotary Club Sunrise has accomplished many service projects throughout its history, but two stand out. Our club developed and continues to support of the 1.5 acre Sunrise Boundless Playscape in Sedgwick County Park. We raised a million dollars initially to build the playground and have continued to update the park with the help of many donors.

This park offers children the chance to equally enjoy unrestricted play opportunities no matter what their physical limitations may be.
Visitors to Sedgwick County Park doubled in one year after the playground’s opening – rising from 500,000 to over a million visits per year.
The second major community service project has been our assistance with Wichita elementary schools Dodge Elementary School, Kensler Elementary School, and most recently, Enders Elementary School.

Other community organizations/projects our club has supported:
The Ronald McDonald House
The Wichita Food Bank
USS Wichita
Kansas Children’s Service League
TOP Learning Centers
St. Francis Ministries
McConnell AFB
Wichita River Festival

Club Service - We Meet Weekly
Our club enjoys informative Thursday breakfast meetings at Rolling Hills Country Club. We have an interesting guest speaker and lively conversations at these hour-long weekly gatherings.

We also enjoy getting out to see unique businesses and organizations in our community. We have taken field trips to NIAR (National Institute for Aviation Research), Mark Arts art gallery, Botanica, Starkey, and Intrust Arena, to name a few. About once a year, we hold our meetings (Fireside Meetings) at a host members’ place of business to learn more about them and what they do. We have regular social events throughout the year at local restaurants or members’ homes.

Annually, we host a golf tournament. It is a time for fun and fundraising to support our projects.

The Four-Way Test

OF THE THINGS we think, say or do:

I. Is it the TRUTH?

II. Is it FAIR to all concerned?

III. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

IV. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?