Built to Serve: The Founding of the Rotary Club of Youngsville

As Youngsville grew into one of Louisiana’s fastest-growing communities, so did its residents’ desire to become more involved in shaping and serving their city.

In 2019, Youngsville City Councilman Ken Stansbury began organizing a local Rotary club to give residents, professionals, retirees, and community leaders another meaningful way to connect and give back. While Youngsville already had a strong tradition of civic pride, its continued growth created an opportunity for a new service organization that could bring people together around shared goals.

The result was the Rotary Club of Youngsville.

Creating New Opportunities to Serve

Stansbury envisioned an organization that would be open to people throughout the community—not simply a business networking group, but a place where members could build friendships, develop ideas, and turn those ideas into action.

That vision aligned naturally with Rotary International and its guiding principle of Service Above Self. Rotary connects community leaders around the world to address local needs, promote peace, support education, fight disease, and improve lives.

The Youngsville club held its first official meeting on Dec 11, 2019, with an impressive group of 41 charter members and officers. Together, those members established the foundation for a club centered on community service, fellowship and active involvement in Youngsville.

Among the charter members later recognized during the club’s fifth-anniversary celebration were Ken Stansbury, Matt Romero, Casey Arceneaux and Jenifer Leger Dendy. They were part of the larger group of founding members whose commitment helped bring Rotary to Youngsville.

An Unexpected Beginning

Only a few months after the club was organized, the COVID-19 pandemic changed nearly every aspect of community life. Meetings, events, and service activities throughout the country were postponed, canceled, or moved online.

For a newly formed organization still developing its traditions and identity, the timing presented an extraordinary challenge. Yet the Rotary Club of Youngsville endured. Its members continued to build relationships, identify community needs, and prepare for the time when they could once again gather and serve together.

The perseverance shown during those first years became an important part of the club’s story.

From an Idea to a Community Institution

Since its founding, the Rotary Club of Youngsville has grown from a new civic organization into an active partner in the community. Through service projects, scholarships, youth programs, charitable grants, fundraising events, and partnerships with local organizations, the club works to make a measurable difference in Youngsville and the surrounding region.

The club’s signature Patch at the Park festival brings families, businesses, and community organizations together while helping fund local service initiatives. Club members have also supported food drives, disaster-relief efforts, scholarships, international projects, and hands-on volunteer opportunities.

The club has expanded its commitment to young leaders by supporting Interact, Rotary’s service organization for students. By investing in young people, the club is helping ensure that Youngsville’s tradition of community leadership continues into the next generation.

A Vision That Continues to Grow

What began in 2019 as an idea to give residents more opportunities to become involved has developed into a lasting network of people committed to serving with purpose.

The Rotary Club of Youngsville welcomes professionals, retirees, and community members from many backgrounds. Members are united not by a particular occupation or stage of life, but by a shared desire to make a positive impact.

As Youngsville continues to grow, the club remains committed to the vision that inspired its creation: bringing people together, strengthening the community and turning a willingness to help into meaningful action.

That is the Rotary Club of Youngsville—serving with heart, leading with purpose, and putting Service Above Self.