Cafe of Life
Food Packing for Community Outreach
Since February 2024, the Bonita Naples Rotary Club has been supporting the Cafe of Life weekly outreach program by providing fresh fruit and vegetables to neighbors in need. Rotarians bag fresh apples, bananas, oranges, potatoes, onions and carrots every Tuesday morning at The Stage in Bonita Springs. The number of bags packed varies each week, ranging from 70 to 100 bags of fruit and vegetables. Volunteers from the Cafe of Life pickup the produce bags and distribute them on Wednesday mornings, visiting a different neighborhood each week. Often members of the Bonita Naples Rotary Club join the Cafe of Life outreach team for Wednesday morning distribution. Outreach clients are grateful to receive fresh fruit and vegetables, along with pantry and household items provided by the Cafe of Life.
Delivering Food to Leitner Park
Once school lets out for the summer, food insecurity goes up for many our area’s school children. To help address this need, our club collaborated with Farmer Mike’s and Cafe of Life. Our club’s volunteers picked up a total of about 5 pallets of produce per week from Farmer Mike’s, and transported it to the Cafe of Life Leitner Park Facility. That’s over 60 pallets of food for those in need!
Community Garden
The Foundation of the Rotary Club of Bonita Naples, Inc. Community Garden, located at the YMCA on Kent Road in Bonita Springs began its history in 2011 as a site for Bonita Springs residents to have a local vegetable garden. Over the years in excess of $50,000 has been donated for the creation and maintenance of its now 20 planting beds (including a butterfly garden) that allows residents of Bonita Springs to grow tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, beans, peppers and other vegetables during the growing season of October through June. All of the beds have been built and maintained by Rotarians or gardeners with all materials bought by our local Rotary club. Each gardener pays a small annual fee and the club supplies annual replenishment of the soil on an as needed schedule. Each gardener selects which vegetables they wish to grow for their consumption. An irrigation system, and a 3 zone, 9 head sprinkler system has been constructed to provide appropriate watering, even during the dry season. All spent vegetable plants are recycled into rich garden soil through our dual bin composting process. All necessary tools are also supplied by our club. There is usually a waiting list for any open growing beds.
YMCA Little Libraries
As you approach the front doors of the Bonita Springs YMCA on Kent Road you will notice two bright blue boxes and a bench beckoning you to sit for a moment. If you stop to investigate you will find two book boxes. Welcome to the Little Libraries Project.
What is a Little Library? Little Free Library is a nonprofit organization based in St. Paul, Minnesota. Its mission is to be a catalyst for building community, inspiring readers, and expanding book access for all through a global network of volunteer-led Little Free Library book-exchange boxes. https://www.littlefreelibrary.org
Working in partnership with the YMCA, the Bonita Springs Friends of the Library, and our Bonita Naples Rotary Club, the YMCA Little Libraries were inaugurated in October 2023 with the belief that literacy is the key that unlocks opportunities. Free access to books allows patrons – both adults and kids - of the YMCA to easily pick up a book. Kids are encouraged to keep their books and build their own home libraries.
The Bonita Springs Friends of the Library collaborates with us to stock books for the boxes, and Rotarians volunteer to serve as stewards each month to keep the books stocked.