Rotary Club of Montclair, New Jersey

In 2004, the Rotary Club of Montclair, New Jersey first participated in The Dictionary Project, providing dictionaries to third grade students in Montclair and Verona. The project was chaired by Rotarian Georgia Brown and she has continued to head the project for her club ever since. Her enthusiasm for the project earned her the nickname “Dictionary Peach”. “I was a natural choice to chair The Dictionary Project committee because I have always loved words,” she said. “And I am a curious person, and good dictionaries have thousands of words plus an abundance of useful information.”

Since starting the project, the club has provided more than 15,550 dictionaries to area students. Georgia said, “I have many wonderful memories meeting and speaking with students at each of the local schools. When I hand the dictionary to students, I often see a sparkle of gratitude in their eyes, and that makes all the effort worthwhile.”