Piscataqua Savings Bank is the proud supporter of over 100 Seacoast area nonprofits. We’re highlighting a few of the nonprofits doing incredible, critical work in our Portsmouth, New Hampshire area community with our Seacoast Spotlight Series. Next up in our spotlight is the Portsmouth Rotary Club.
For more than 100 years, the Portsmouth Rotary Club has been bringing people together to make a difference in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and throughout the Seacoast. Founded in 1923, the club has grown from its original group of local business leaders into a community of more than 150 members who share a common commitment: Service Above Self.
Today, Portsmouth Rotary continues that tradition by connecting professionals, civic leaders, and community members with opportunities to turn ideas into action. Whether through fundraising, hands-on service projects, scholarships, or support for local nonprofits, the club focuses on creating meaningful, lasting impact close to home while also contributing to Rotary initiatives around the world.
A Century of Community Connection
The Portsmouth Rotary Club was officially chartered on March 28, 1923. More than a century later, its mission remains rooted in the same fundamental idea: people can accomplish more when they come together in service to others.
Members represent a wide range of professions and backgrounds, including healthcare, finance, real estate, law, small business, government, nonprofits, and the arts. This diversity brings different perspectives and areas of expertise to the club, and creates opportunities for members to use their professional skills to address challenges facing the Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Seacoast communities.
That emphasis on connection is an important part of what makes Portsmouth Rotary unique. The club isn’t simply a place to hear about community needs, it is a place where members can get directly involved in addressing them.
Putting Service Into Action Across the Seacoast
From supporting basic needs to improving community spaces, Portsmouth Rotary’s work takes many forms. The club contributes more than $100,000 each year and has completed hundreds of community projects. Its current grant programs support causes including food, shelter, healthcare, clothing, education, career development, and hands-on projects benefiting local nonprofits.
The Basic Needs Grant, for example, helps organizations serving individuals and families throughout the greater Portsmouth area with essential needs such as food, shelter, healthcare, and clothing. The program has roots that reach all the way back to the club’s early days, when Portsmouth Rotary established a “Milk and Shoe Fund” to help local children.
Other programs focus on building opportunities for the next generation. Portsmouth Rotary provides scholarships to graduating high school seniors from Portsmouth and nearby communities, recognizing academic achievement, community service, extracurricular involvement, and, when applicable, financial need.
The club also supports Seacoast residents pursuing careers in the helping professions, including Licensed Nursing Assistants (LNAs), Home Health Aides, Behavioral Health Aides and more, through its Helping Professions Grant. The Jeremy Alex Grant supports youth programming that uses chess to build decision-making skills and help prevent substance use among at-risk youth.
Hands-On Service Makes a Difference
For Portsmouth Rotary, giving isn’t limited to writing a check. Members are encouraged to roll up their sleeves and participate directly in projects throughout the Seacoast.
The William M. Cash Charitable Fund was created specifically to support hands-on projects led by Portsmouth Rotarians and local nonprofits. Rather than simply providing financial assistance, these projects give members the opportunity to contribute their time, talents, and expertise while working alongside community organizations.
That hands-on approach has been a hallmark of Portsmouth Rotary for generations. Members have volunteered with local meal services, participated in environmental projects and cleanups, supported community organizations, and helped address needs throughout the greater Portsmouth area.
It’s a reminder that community impact can come in many forms. Sometimes it is financial support. Sometimes it’s an afternoon spent volunteering. And sometimes it’s simply bringing the right people together to solve a problem.
Local Service, Global Connections
Although Portsmouth Rotary is deeply connected to the Seacoast, its impact doesn’t stop at the New Hampshire border. As part of Rotary International, Portsmouth Rotary is connected to a worldwide network working to address issues including peacebuilding and conflict prevention, disease prevention and treatment, clean water and sanitation, maternal and child health, education and literacy, and community economic development.
That combination of local and global service allows Portsmouth Rotarians to think broadly while remaining firmly rooted in their own community. The needs may look different from one place to another, but the underlying goal is the same: finding ways to help people and strengthen communities.
Get Involved With Portsmouth Rotary
At its heart, Portsmouth Rotary is about people. It’s about neighbors, professionals, business owners, community leaders, and volunteers coming together around a shared belief that service matters.
The club meets weekly on Thursdays and welcomes prospective members and guests who want to learn more. For those who live or work in Portsmouth, New Hampshire or throughout the Seacoast, joining Portsmouth Rotary offers an opportunity to build relationships, contribute your skills, learn more about the community, and make a tangible difference.
After more than a century, Portsmouth Rotary’s mission remains remarkably simple: connect people, serve the community, and turn ideas into lasting impact. And in a community as active and engaged as Portsmouth and the greater Seacoast, there is always another opportunity to make a difference.
Back to News and Insights