Ripon Rotary is primarily a service club. As with other similar organizations, part of our service is carried out by fundraising projects through which we gain the means of providing financial support for local, national, and international projects.

But, at Ripon Rotary we also see fundraising as more than just raising funds. Through our Pork Dinners at RiponFest, our food booths selling RotoBurgers and RotoBrats at Maxwell Street Days, RotoBar-B-Ques at the Greening Run, and sno cones and cotton candy at JazzFest, as well as through the Golf Pitching Contest we sponsor at RiponFest, we also support community festivals and events. At the same time our traditional Citrus Sales, Rose Sales, and Scholarship Dinners have become recognized as community events themselves.

But, perhaps even more important, we also feel that at Ripon Rotary fundraising should be FUN. Our events are designed to provide numerous opportunities for club members to spend time together and to interact with friends and other members of our community in ways that offer us as many laughs and good times as do our meetings.

Rose Sale

The rose sale was first conducted in 1986 with Carl Stubenvoll serving as chairman. Price at $12 per dozen, 475 dozen roses were sold that year. Today the rose sale  is a major fundraiser for Ripon Rotary.These are choice long-stem roses, coming in several colors, each dozen of the same color. To avoid infringing upon florists' traditional sales on holidays such as Valentines Day, delivery is scheduled for a date near mid-March each year.

Citrus Fruit Sale

Citrus sales, undertaken by the Club first in 1973, have been well received and the project has been a reliable fund raiser. Orders are taken in advance by Rotary members and from responders to local advertising. Sales were given a special boost with a door-to-door "selathon" in 1976. That year, 1,040 cases were sold and many new customers continued to buy in subsequent years. In recent years, citrus has yielded a profit in the neighborhood from $3,000 to $4,000 a year. Timed for approach of the holiday season, delivery of the fruit is taken in early December.

Scholarship Dinner

Ripon Rotary held its first annual Scholarship Fundraising dinner on Monday, May 6, 2002, at CJ's in Ripon. The homemade baked chicken dinner with all of the "fixings" was served from 5:00PM to 8:00PM while some Ripon High School students provided musical entertainment from 6:30PM - 7:30PM. A "Pick your Prize" raffle and a silent auction was held which helped to reach our net total profit of $1,450.00. This revenue will aid in funding our three annual scholarships: Gordon Minch Technical School Scholarship - $500.00; Bob Exner Citizenship Award/scholarship - $1,000.00; and the Ralph Root Scholarship - $500.00.