MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - The Haslett-Okemos Rotary Club held their Heroes vs. Heroines fundraiser on Thursday, June 11. Many Meridian Township residents attended the event at Fiesta Charra on Park Lake Rd to raise $2,800 for the Harris Nature Center's new Gathering Circle project.

Rotary Club President Malinda Barr was pleased with the turnout of the event.

"The Haslett-Okemos Rotary Club is donating the Gathering Circle out of the Nature Center. We're very excited about that being opened this year as well as having displayed all of our international projects," said Barr.

The new Gathering Circle at the Harris Nature Center will be an open aired theatre for creative performances and presentations. The Gathering Circle will be constructed this year thanks in part to a generous $10,000 sponsorship from the Haslett-Okemos Rotary Club, a $5,000 award from Flagstar Bank's Michigan Makeover Grant, and gifts from Helen and Howard Tanner and the Okemos Kiwanis Club.

Meridian Township Treasurer and Rotary Club member Julie Brixie explained the Heroes vs. Heroines theme as a friendly competition. "We want people to be heroes and heroines in their community and we're having a little bit of a competition to see if the heroes or the heroines can do more money raising for all the terrific things the Haslett-Okemos Rotary Foundation is raising money for."

The event included musical performances, a cash bar, appetizers and desserts, and presentations of past fundraised money allocations.

On display were photos of projects the Rotary Club has donated to in the past, including international projects in Uganda. Other projects the Haslett-Okemos Rotary Club has contributed to include $20,000 to the Haslett and Okemos library upgrades and two annual $1,000 scholarships for outstanding seniors from Okemos and Haslett High Schools.

The Haslett-Okemos Rotary Club meets on Tuesdays at noon and donations for the new Gathering Circle will be accepted for the entire month of June.