New Brunswick

Our Club was born on May 13, 1920 at the Klein Hotel (where the Hyatt Regency now stands) in New Brunswick, when a group of local business/professionals met with representatives from the Elizabeth Rotary Club (our mother club) to discuss the formation of a new Rotary Club and the result was the first formal meeting on June 3, 1920 of the Rotary Club of New Brunswick. The Club received its’ formal charter #761 from Rotary International on August 1, 1920. There were 23 charter members.

Over the last 95 years, four of our members have risen to the esteemed position of District Governor including current club member Carl Chaityn who served in this post in 2003-2004.
 
In 1988, Rotary International decided to allow  women as full members and our club inducted three female members that year of which , one of them Caroline Meuly, served two terms as club President.
 
The Club’s first project in 1921 was boat rides on the Raritan River for
under privileged kids and since then the Club has actively supported a large number of community projects every year. Some of our major projects include:
 
  1. local Boy Scouts - contributing time and money to this organization every year since receiving the charter.
  2. In 1925, the Club acted to preserve the Moses Guest House and relocate this beautiful stone structure to a site adjacent to the New Brunswick Public Library on Livingston Avenue where it stands to this day.
  3. Because of the proximity of Rutgers University, our Club has supported many international programs. We have hosted international scholars and many group and individual student study/exchange programs.
  4. For many years, our Club has had a sister club relationship with the Rotary Club of Tsuruoka, Japan .
  5. For last 20 years, our club has been organizing an annual golf outing to raise funds for giving scholarships to high school students in New Brunswick, North Brunswick and Highland Park areas. During the last 20 years, our club has given close to $300,000 in scholarships.
  6. Some of our other annual programs include distributing dictionaries to third graders, participation in Big Chill road race, Celebrity Basketball game, clean up projects in local communities, Casino night to support cysticfibrosis society, contribute to Rotary,s Polio Plus Campaign and many other events to raise money and support local and international projects.
In 2014, our Club became the first club in the District to receive Rotary Foundation Global grant for an international project in Delhi , India ( total project cost $55,000) to assist a Children Medical Center by supplying medical equipment to strengthen the services provided to children born with birth defects.
 
In September 2014, the Club sponsored Rutgers Rotaract Club which has been functioning well and gaining strength over the last two years by providing opportunities to the students to develop leadership skills and a passion for community service.
Our Club celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2020 while helping support the Greater New Brunswick community during the Covid19 Pandemic.  Club members made masks, secured donations to purchase ventilators and meals from local restaurants for first responders and both local hospitals.  The club is now focused on projects that support education, literacy and food insecurities.