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Community Service Project:

Foundation, North Carolina

By Robert and Carol Steen – Rotary eClub One

We are both members of Rotary eClub One. Our Community Service projects center around young people and include work with the Single Marine Program at the nearby US Marine Base at Camp Lejeune, a local golfing program for kids, and the Duplin County Education Foundation.

Duplin County is located in the Southeastern Coastal Plain of North Carolina. The Cape Fear River Northeast flows through it. The county was established in 1750, named for Sir Thomas Hays, Lord Dupplin, who was on the English Crown’s board of Trade and Plantations in the 1740s.

Early settlers were drawn to this area by the rich farmland. First were the Welch, then Germans and Swiss, followed by the Scots-Irish. French Huguenots and English resettled from Virginia, and Scottish Highlanders resettled from the upper Cape Fear River Area.  

Since 1990, the population has increased by about 20%. We are part of that increase, having retired here to a gated golf course community. Although the county claims “relatively mild weather with long summers and short winters,” we native Californians think the summers get awfully hot!

Agriculture industries in this area include poultry - both turkey and chicken, blueberries, and, more recently, cotton. Tobacco had been a big crop until recent years.  According to the county website, “It has been estimated that the agricultural output of Duplin County combined with neighboring Sampson County is equal to about 1/6 of the world’s food supply. Agriculture industries in Duplin County today range from family farms to corporate headquarters of major producers.” We moved here from Monterey County in California. The Salinas Valley produces over 80% of the US lettuce and artichokes, so the agricultural base of this county is a very comfortable fit for us.

We live closest to the town of Wallace. Recent restoration of  the town’s railroad depot have given the downtown area a boost. Visitors get a glimpse into a time when the railroad moved freight and people in and out of this area.

One of the county’s claims to fame is the World’s Largest Frying Pan, located in Rose Hill.  (Others claim to have the world’s largest frying pan also: Long Beach, Washington, and Brandon, Iowa, to name two. We just thought we’d mention these so we don’t get cards and letters regarding this. We’ve visited beautiful Long Beach, Washington, but we don’t recall the frying pan.)

The Duplin County Education Foundation serves all public schools, K-12, acknowledging academic achievement and awarding scholarships. There are four small public high schools in the county. While serving on the Foundation board, Carol became aware of the need for more scholarships for the closest high school, Wallace-Rose Hill. By combining special funding available through Rotary eClub One for Community Service Projects, we have been able to establish a scholarship called the Wallace-Rose Hill Rotary eClub One Leadership Scholarship.  This scholarship is awarded through the Foundation.

The scholarship is awarded on merit. The student may use the funds to attend any institution of higher education, and the scholarship is intended to help a student who has excelled in leadership. Special consideration is given to students who have participated in a Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) program.

Students apply through their school counseling department, and the decision on the awardee is made by the Education Foundation’s Scholarship Committee.  Students must present letters of recommendation and records of scholastic achievement. The student’s leadership, character, financial needs, service to the community, and scholarship are all factors that are considered by the committee when awarding the scholarship.

The recipient of the 2009 award is a student who is studying engineering at a North Carolina university.