Mickey Starling
reporter3@greenepublishing.com
On Wednesday, May 17, the Madison Rotary Club opened with discussion about ongoing plans to establish an interactive club in the community. Primary goals for the club include teaching students the importance of serving others and encouraging them to become Rotary members in the future. Students would also have the possibility of qualifying for Rotary scholarships.
Next, the club was honored to have North Florida College’s (NFC) Don Hasson as their guest speaker. Hasson is the CDL coordinator for the college. He detailed how the extensive training program works and the fees involved. Eighty percent of enrollment fees are covered for students who enter the program through Career Source North Florida, in Madison.
NFC CDL students also have the opportunity to gain valuable field experience in log-hauling. Gray Logging was instrumental in helping launch this education and industry partnership at the college that has now grown to include numerous student field experience partnerships with local logging companies. Proceeds generated from the student-logging experience go directly to the NFC Foundation to help future CDL students with scholarships. Truck drivers typically have a starting salary of $60,000. “I love helping people change their lives,” said Hasson.
The Madison Rotary Club meets each Wednesday, at 12 p.m., at the Villa Maria Social Hall of the St. Vincent dePaul Catholic Church, located on Orange Ave., across from Beggs Funeral Home, in Madison. Taking the Rotary motto, “service above self” to heart, the local Rotarians have supported many local service projects, ranging from providing books to local elementary schools to area disaster relief, and more.