By Ralph

A golf tournament. A Wild Game Dinner. Sponsors, volunteers and neighbors showing up to support a couple of local events.

Then something much bigger happens.

This year, those efforts helped the Rotary Club of Brandon distribute $160,000 to organizations serving people throughout our community. The grants were presented June 16 and were funded through proceeds from the club's two signature fundraisers: the Wild Game Dinner and Bill Harper Golf Tournament.

It's a good example of something that often happens quietly in Brandon: money raised locally finding its way right back into organizations helping local people.

Where Did the $160,000 Go?

The organizations receiving support this year included:

• Angel Foundation FL
• ECHO — Emergency Care Help Organization
• High 5 Inc.
• Hope for Her
• Rotary's Camp Florida
• Scouting America

The club also designated $27,000 for its 2027 Rotary Senior Scholarship Program, which will help local students continue their education.

These aren't organizations operating somewhere far away.

They're groups working with families, young people and other residents in and around the Brandon community.

For example, Brandon-based Hope for Her provides support to women facing crises and trauma, including assistance with basic needs, employment, financial coaching and other services designed to help women regain stability.

It Starts With People Showing Up

The $160,000 didn't appear by itself.

Rotary credits the people who organized the events, the committees that worked on them, businesses and individuals who sponsored them, volunteers who helped make them happen—and the guests who bought tickets and participated.

That's what makes this more than a story about writing checks.

When someone attends a fundraiser, sponsors a hole at a golf tournament or volunteers behind the scenes, it can be difficult to see where that contribution eventually goes.

This is where it went.

Back into Brandon-area organizations doing the work.

Who Decides Where the Money Goes?

There's a process behind that, too.

Local charities are invited to submit grant applications in the fall. Those applications are reviewed by the Brandon Rotary Club Charity Fund Board and later presented to Rotary members.

Club members then vote by ballot to determine how much each selected organization will receive. Checks are distributed at the club's final annual meeting in June.

So the recipients aren't simply selected on the day the money is handed out.

The process begins months earlier.

Part of a Longer Brandon Tradition

The Rotary Club of Brandon was established in 1961 and describes itself as the area's longest-running Rotary club. Today it includes more than 50 community leaders.

And this year's giving represents a substantial increase from only a few years ago.

In 2024, the club distributed $111,538 among local charitable causes. In 2025, that figure climbed above $164,000.

For 2026, the club says the $160,000 represented an amount that exceeded the goals it had set, and members are already aiming for $175,000 next year.

The Part We Sometimes Don't See

Brandon has plenty of fundraisers.

Golf tournaments, dinners, raffles and community events appear on calendars throughout the year.

It's easy to see the event.

What's harder to see is what happens afterward.

A ticket bought months earlier may eventually help a family facing a crisis. A business sponsorship may help fund a local youth program. An afternoon spent volunteering may contribute to a scholarship for a

Brandon student.

No single person attending an event produces a $160,000 result.

A community does.

And this summer, Brandon got to see where some of that generosity landed.

For more information about the organization and its community programs, visit Rotary Club of Brandon.