TOGETHER, WE

TRANSFORM

TOGETHER, WE

PROMOTE PEACE

TOGETHER, WE

INSPIRE

TOGETHER, WE

CONNECT

TOGETHER, WE

FIGHT HUNGER

TOGETHER, WE

EMPOWER

TOGETHER, WE

SAVE LIVES

Are you looking for an organization where you can meet friends, grow your professional network, and do some good for the community and the world?

 

We’re looking for you, too!

Want to help?

Help us do good in our community. Click the button to the right to see a list of volunteer opportunities.

Have Fun at Casino Royale at the Indian Crossing Casino!

Winter blues got you down? Find some excitement at Casino Royale! The fun begins at 7pm on February 21st at the Indian Crossing Casino in Waupaca! Spin the roulette wheel. Enter the 50/50 raffle. Roll the dice for Craps. Try your hand at blackjack and poker… Take your chances and you could win great prizes!

Hijinx will be performing a mix of classic hits and today’s pop so you can party down, and cocktails and tapas are available for purchase.

Tickets are $20 per person and you will receive free chips to play. Don’t miss out!

To purchase tickets, click the QR code on the image (right), stop by the Waupaca Chamber offices or Office Outfitters, ask a Rotary Member, or simply get them at the door.

 Hosted by the Rotary Club-Waupaca All profits benefit the community and humanitarian causes.

Please help us thank our sponsors listed on the bottom of the flyer (right) for their support of Casino Royale, and for all the good things the Rotary Club of Waupaca is able to do in our community and around the world. 

The Rotary Club of Waupaca

Serving others, promoting integrity, and advancing understanding, goodwill, and peace in the Waupaca area and around the world.

Over 90 members strong, we are committed to acting locally and globally to address the biggest challenges of our time. Together, we work to:

  • Support education
  • Protect the environment
  • Grow local economies
  • Promote Peace
  • Support mothers & children
  • Provide Clean water, sanitation & hygiene
  • Fight disease

In addition to hands-on projects focused on the environment, housing, hunger and other needs, we raise funds through community events to support a range of programs and service projects that improve lives locally and around the world.

Ready to attend a meeting?

Learn more

Thanks to Our Ambassadors

Learn more about Rotary Club of Waupaca Ambassadors here.

Platinum Sponsors

Gold Sponsors

The Good Things We’re Doing!

AED Project Update

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On Thursday April 24th, members of our Rotary Club, students from UW-Oshkosh School of Nursing, and representatives of Thedacare and Gold Cross delivered AED’s to 10 locations in the Waupaca Community. The following 10 locations were selected based on Gold Cross cardiac arrest data analyzed by UW-Oshkosh Nursing and Waupaca Rotary “Local Knowledge.”
  • Clearwater Harbor
  • Wheelhouse
  • The Woods Restaurant
  • Rustic Woods Campground
  • H.H. Hinder Brewery
  • Empty Barrel Distillery (outside location to be installed by 5/15)
  • Simpson’s Restaurant
  • Schueller’s Great Exspechtations
  • Piggly Wiggly
The City of Waupaca is purchasing an outdoor climate controlled AED box, and will be moving their AED outside the main door of City Hall. There will be a total of 10 AED’s now accessible to the public in highly trafficked areas in our community.

The AED committee is now organizing AED training for any of the businesses who are hosting AED’s based on the businesses’ level of interest and commitment to training. 

The AED program will require a minimal level of ongoing support by Rotarians with annual checks of the AED’s to ensure they are in working order, and periodic replacement of batteries and pads. Donations and grants in the AED fund will support replacement parts for the next 10 years. 

The Rotary AED committee would like to thank all Rotarians who supported the program financially, our own Club Board for approving a Community Impact Grant for the project, as well as Rotary District 6220, Farmers State Bank, the Waupaca Area Community Foundation and Gold Cross Heartstart Foundation for funding the program with grants and major donations.


How can I use my retirement accounts to make contributions to the Rotary International Foundation?

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What is a qualified charitable distribution (QCD)?
A QCD allows individuals 70½ years and older to directly contribute from an IRA to a qualified charity without it counting toward your taxable income. For 2025, the maximum annual distribution amount that can qualify for a QCD is $108,000. If you’re a joint tax filer, both you and your spouse can make a $108,000 QCD from your own IRAs, for a potential total of $216,000. If you are age 73 or older and are required to take an RMD from your traditional IRA, this charitable distribution can satisfy your RMD for the year.

Eligible account types for QCDs include traditional and rollover IRAs, inherited IRAs, SEP IRAs (inactive plans only), and SIMPLE IRAs (inactive plans only). Under certain circumstances, QCDs can be made from a Roth IRA. It’s important to note that you can’t make a QCD directly from a 401(k)—but you can roll over funds to an eligible IRA to then make the donation.

You also have the flexibility to direct a portion of the QCD to a charitable trust or gift annuity, potentially splitting the donation between a benefit for the charity and a benefit for yourself or your beneficiaries. In 2025, the lifetime gift amount for an individual is $54,000. The gift counts toward your QCD limit for the year.
 

What are the benefits of a qualified charitable distribution?
For investors who don’t need the funds from their RMD, QCDs offer a unique opportunity to optimize the tax benefits of giving.

Lowering taxable income: Since qualified charitable distributions are not included in your income, it can be an important strategy for those who take the standard deduction, notes Bleustein. “One thing I appreciate about a QCD is for clients that cannot itemize their deductions, they still get a reduction in income compared to taking their RMD,” he says.

Not counted toward donation limitations: QCDs may be particularly appealing if you are already close to your AGI-based charitable deduction limitations. Because the QCD is never reported as income or as a deduction, it is not counted against the charitable limits.

Avoiding tax bracket creep: RMDs can push you into higher tax brackets as well as impact surcharges and surtaxes. If your income is above a specific limit, the federal government adds a surcharge to your monthly Medicare premium.

QCDs have limitations. They are only an option for investors age 70½ and older. Certain charities are not eligible to receive QCDs, including donor-advised funds, private foundations, and supporting organizations.

Finally, it is very important to correctly execute a QCD; the donation must be made directly by the trustee of the IRA to the eligible charity. If the distribution check is payable to you, it can't be counted as a QCD and will instead be considered taxable income.


RYE Scholarship Rummage Sale

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RYE Scholarship Rummage Sale - all proceeds help Waupaca students experience the world!

May 8, 9 (8 to 4) & May 10 (8 to noon)  Come SHOP!!
218 E Lake St  Waupaca

Drop off treasures
May 3 (10-1), May 4 (11-2), May 5 (2 -5) and May 6 (12-4)
We would love your household goods, linens, garden gear, clothing, toys, craft supplies, tools, light furniture.

We cannot take TVs, mattresses, car seats, or heavy furniture.
 


Scholarship Check Presentation

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Recently, our club publicized the availability of $75,000 for Community Impact Grants. After reviewing over 50 applications, our Board approved $80,000 (yes, we increased the amount) to award grants to eight of the applicants. 
On April 2nd, all eight of the organizations receiving grant funds attended our meeting to receive funds and have their photo taken with the "big check." 

Here's a list of the organizations receiving Community Impact Grant funds:
  • $7,500 to the School District of Waupaca for The School Social Worker Good Samaritan fund that provides basic needs for up to 400 3K-12th grade students and families
  • $9,500 to Trinity's Tiny Treasures Preschool to provide additional classroom space to support 10 more children
  • $8,000 to the Victory Child Care & Preschool to improve the quality and capacity of their infant daycare environment
  • $5,000 to CAP Services Family Crisis Center that provides advocacy services for Waupaca County victims
  • $10,000 to Foundations For Living, Waupaca for sustaining Warming Center and Crisis Center
  • $25,000 to the Waupaca Community Arts Hub to provide the digital makerspace in the new Arts Hub facility
  • $5,000 to the Iola-Scandinavia School District to contribute to the school theater lighting improvement project
  • $10,000 to Rotary Club of Waupaca to fund placement of AEDs throughout our community


Volunteer Opportunity – Iola Car Show Courtesy Driver

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For the past three years, the Rotary Club of Waupaca has fulfilled a crucial (and very fun) volunteer function for The Iola Car Show - driving courtesy golf carts. And since the car show provides stipends for its volunteers, it's helped us raise about $2,500 each year to support the good things we're doing for our community and around the world.

The volunteer sign-up sheet is now ready. All you need to do to secure a volunteer spot is:
1.    Click this link: https://www.waupacarotary.org/volunteer-sign-up/?sheet_id=15
2.    Review the times available
3.    Sign up, and put the date and time on your calendar

Driving courtesy carts is really fun. You get to meet people from all over the country (and sometimes other countries) who flock to our area for the one-of-a-kind experience of the Iola Car Show. We are more than drivers, we are ambassadors for Rotary and for our beautiful community.

Click the link, and sign up today!


What’s Coming Up?

Weekly Rotary Meeting

More info

Weekly Rotary Meeting

More info

Weekly Rotary Meeting

More info

Weekly Rotary Meeting

More info