By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

(May 14, 2026) Students at Showell Elementary School now have access to new and upgraded recess products thanks to a donation by local volunteers earlier this week.

On Monday, May 11, members of the Ocean City-Berlin Rotary Club visited Showell Elementary School, with a truck full of items intended for the facility’s playground.

The donations included ride-on trucks and trikes, sand tables, basketballs and a basketball hoop, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and giant blocks. The new products will replace old, weathered goods used by SES students.

Additionally, snacks like chocolate, veggie straws, and cereal were part of this week’s donation drop-off.

The contributions were made possible by a $5,000 grant awarded to the OC-Berlin Rotary Club by Rotary District 7630, the regional chapter encompassing roughly 40 organizations across Maryland’s Eastern Shore and Delaware.

The funds were distributed to benefit the six northern Worcester County pre-K3 classes at Buckingham Elementary School, Ocean City Elementary School, and Showell Elementary School.

Towards the end of 2025, the local volunteer team “adopted” the young students, and throughout the current school year, members delivered water bottles, thermoses that allow the kids to pack hot or cold lunches, healthy snacks, art supplies, paper products and cleaning wipes, among other things.

A press release provided by OC-Berlin Rotary Club representative Margaret Mudron said this program revealed each school’s continuing necessities and “how many times the teachers reached into their own pockets to supply items needed in the classrooms.”

These observations led the club to offer items to BES, including sidewalk chalk and bubbles, Play-Doh, markers, and other essentials like zip-lock bags and art supplies. The local group also purchased seeds and grow boxes to start a garden at Buckingham.

This week was Showell’s turn to receive the updated play products. Rotary Club members gathered at the facility’s entrance on Monday to present the new items to the pre-K3 classes and teachers for whom the donations are intended.

Mudron said the volunteers also stayed to read to the young learners, an additional aspect of the adoption project. As part of the program, club members periodically read books aloud to the students and leave the stories behind for the classroom library.

The OC-Berlin Rotary Club meets on the first and third Wednesdays of the month at 6 p.m. at the Ocean Pines Library. More information can be gathered by emailing the club at ocberlinrotary@gmail.com.