Youth Empowerment Project<\/a> (YEP) of Sharpsburg, a program of Volunteers of America, which operates a free after-school program and summer enrichment camp for children.<\/p>\n\u201cWe know how to maximize a dollar,\u201d Scolieri said. \u201cA dollar in the Rotary comes back nearly three times more through our programs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe try to do as much as possible locally and also help on a global level.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kathleen Stanley, executive director of the Sharpsburg nonprofit Roots of Faith, said Scolieri has been an important part of that nonprofit for years.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has been a strong advocate for Roots of Faith, throughout the Sharpsburg and Aspinwall communities, and has consistently been someone we can count on,\u201d she said. \u201cHe has participated in our Circles USA financial wellness program, faithfully volunteered with our Neighborhood Table dinners and has served on the board of directors for the past two years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scolieri leads the group\u2019s Outreach Committee and also is helping to lead fundraising efforts for Find Our Founder, a community scavenger hunt that will serve as the prequel to next year\u2019s Heinz Caper.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I appreciate most about Gio is that his commitment to Sharpsburg goes far beyond simply serving on a board,\u201d Stanley said. \u201cHe genuinely cares about the people who live here and is always looking for ways to strengthen our community and bring people together.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Rotary meets at noon Thursdays at the Baja Grill at the Fox Chapel Yacht Club. Anyone interested in learning more is welcome to attend.<\/p>\n
Old rules used to mandate attendance at weekly meetings, but Scolieri said the group is trying to keep up with the growing demands of everyday life.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s more valuable: the service or the meeting?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to build our club and are looking at ways to engage service-minded people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Members show up at community events \u2014 such as the Aspinwall Big Night Out or the Sharpsburg Veterans of Foreign Wars cake walk bingo \u2014 to get the word out. They also have reached out to Duquesne University to seek \u201cboots-on-the-ground\u201d go-getters, Scolieri said, and are hoping to engage in joint projects with the Fox Chapel Area Rotary Club to expand the reach of initiatives.<\/p>\n
Scolieri is hoping to establish an Impact Club to draw people who want to make a difference without the traditional meeting constraints. The group would focus on hands-on service projects, flexible gatherings and building strong community connections \u2014 with less emphasis on formalities.<\/p>\n
Members could give time at stand-alone events such as Roots of Faith\u2019s community meals, programs by Southern Allegheny Valley Emergency Services, Second Harvest Community Fridge or Meals on Wheels.<\/p>\n
And, of course, Funnel Cake Fridays.<\/p>\n
The Rotary has become such a draw for its summertime sweet treats in Kennedy Park that members are making appearances elsewhere now. They have been asked to return for the University of Pittsburgh\u2019s Haunted Halloween event, dishing up hundreds of pieces of fried dough for students.<\/p>\n
\u201cThough we\u2019re a small club, we try to do what we can with the capacity we have and then some,\u201d Scolieri said.<\/p>\n
Stanley called him a \u201ctrue champion for our little community.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are incredibly fortunate to have him as part of the Roots of Faith family. I have no doubt that he will bring that same passion, dedication and community spirit to his leadership of Rotary.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The new president of the Sharpsburg-Aspinwall Rotary is humble about the leadership role but generous with his time…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281349,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-281348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}