Rotary Club of Brooksville gives $25,000 to local Hernando groups

A $15,000 grant from the Rotary Club of Brooksville is helping pay for mammograms in Hernando County right now, as Premier Community HealthCare says its Mammograms for MANY initiative has already served 1,137 female residents this year. Of those women, 621 completed mammograms and 237 were uninsured or low-income, the exact patients most likely to put off screening until a problem becomes harder, and more expensive, to treat.

The club’s annual Day of Giving at Southern Hills Plantation Club on Summit View Drive in Brooksville sent more than $25,000 back into local organizations. Beyond Premier’s breast cancer screening work, the donations reached the YMCA, the Humane Society, Hernando High School football helmets, Brooksville Main Street activities and the club’s long-running dictionary distribution for third graders. Rotary says it gives dictionaries to about 2,000 Hernando County third graders each year.

The 2026 payout fits a pattern that has become part of the county’s civic infrastructure. In 2025, the Brooksville Rotary Club raised $46,021 and funded grants for 15 organizations through the same Day of Giving format. The money comes from the club’s signature annual Radio Auction, held every March for 47 years, with preparation beginning in January.

Ashley Council, the Rotary Club of Brooksville president, said the day is one of the club’s most rewarding because it represents a “full circle of service” and a celebration of partnerships. That theme matters in a county where access to medical care and family services can still depend on ZIP code, insurance status and income.

Premier Community HealthCare says it is the only community health center serving Pasco and Hernando counties, and it relies on grants and charitable donations to support its mission. That makes the Rotary grant especially important for women who may qualify for Florida’s Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, which offers free or low-cost screening to eligible women at least 40 years old who have little or no health insurance and meet income guidelines. The state program provides screening for only a small share of women in need, which is why local dollars can fill a real gap.

Brooksville Rotary’s footprint has widened well beyond one annual event. Along with the dictionaries project, Rotary Clubs in Hernando County helped support the Anderson Snow Splash Park, another reminder that the club’s fundraising now shows up in clinics, classrooms, parks and neighborhood programs across Hernando County.