Rotary Club of Tucson Donates More Than $450,000 to Pima JTED
The Rotary Club of Tucson and Tucson Classics Car Show announced that they have exceeded their pledge to Pima Joint Technical Education District of $250,000, Instead, with efforts to “Dream Big” they granted over $456,000.
The Rotary Club of Tucson achieved 100 years of service above self as an active member of the Tucson community in 2021. The club, the oldest Rotary Club in Tucson with more than 240 active members, represents a wide breadth of community leaders who have dedicated countless hours toward community service over the decades and donated close to $5 million to Southern Arizona non-profits, and in the 15-year history of the Tucson Classics Car Show, over $2.2 million has been donated to the community from the proceeds.
This past year, the Rotary Club of Tucson Foundation selected Pima JTED as the sole beneficiary of the funds raised through the efforts of the Rotary Club of Tucson Centennial Celebration Committee and the 15th Annual Tucson Classics Car Show. A donation goal was set in 2020 to help Pima JTED build its new Innovative Learning Center @ The Bridges of $250,000.
Even though the 14th Annual Tucson Classics Car Show was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic, the club proceeded with the raffle ticket sales and was able to donate the first installment to Pima JTED of $74,042 from those raffle ticket sales. A great start toward reaching the donation pledge of $250,000.
In 2021, the Centennial celebrations and the 15th Annual Tucson Classics Car Show, both through strong leadership and volunteers kept the “Dream Big” theme in focus. With the help of local Chevy dealer owner Rob Draper at O’Rielly Chevrolet, the club skipped the line and pleaded its case to Detroit to send a beautiful red mist C8 2021 Corvette to Tucson. The club surged over its goal and sold more than 38,000 raffle tickets.
The club is happy to share that through the help of some wonderful sponsors and donors and the very enthusiastic 38,000-plus raffle ticket purchasers, it was able to present Pima JTED with a check for $382,604.56. The Dream Big Centennial Project became more than a dream, it became an incredible reality. With the 2020 raffle proceeds, the 2021 Centennial and raffle ticket sales plus car show revenues, the club was able to donate $456,646.56 to Pima JTED – far exceeding its original pledge.
The Rotary Club of Tucson Foundation has continued to support Pima JTED and the plans it has to expand the campus @ The Bridges with the 2022 Tucson Classics Car Show. On a recent campus visit Rotary President Mark Irvin said, “We are very proud of not just what JTED has done, but what we know you will be doing. Impactful.”
