By JAIME ANTON

The Post staff writer

The various service clubs and organizations throughout the city will meet to touch base, share ideas and discuss upcoming fundraisers and events.

A few members from each group - the North Royalton Historical Society, the Holiday Lighting Committee, the North Royalton Community Band, the North Royalton Lions Club, the Royalton Hills Lions Club, the North Royalton Kiwanis Club, the North Royalton/Broadview Heights Rotary Club and the Garden Club - gather together every three or four months to stay in touch and keep each other informed of current affairs.

Their next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 24 at city hall.

"We'll recap what took place during the holidays, we'll talk about funding opportunities for grants that several of the clubs applied for but unfortunately, none of them were awarded and we'll share upcoming information about different fundraisers going on this year," Mayor Bob Stefanik, who attends the meetings, said.

The big topic of discussion on the agenda will be the grant funding that some of the groups applied for but all failed to receive.

Last year a representative from Cuyahoga Arts and Culture came out to discuss grant opportunities that are available to many of these groups. This organization's mission is to inspire and strengthen the community by investing in arts and culture. A few of the clubs, the community band and the garden club in particular, jumped at the chance and applied but none of them earned funding last year.

Stefanik wants to know what they can do differently when applying this year to give them a fighting chance at grant money.

"I was disappointed when I called down there to see why they didn't get any funding. So I said, 'let's come back out, let's hear what the issues are, so they can try to get it right,'" he said.

Brecksville's Theater on the Square, the Western Reserve Historical Society, the Singing Angels and the city of Orange Arts Center were a few of the groups that received grant funding last year.

"We want to find out what our groups did wrong, hear the issues with the applications and get an update on what to do to make our groups more competitive," Stefanik said.

Most all of the North Royalton service clubs and organizations raise money that is put back into the community in some fashion.

The Holiday Lighting Committee uses dollars to spread holiday cheer and light up the city green at Christmas time; the Kiwanis puts together care bags to help students cope with the death of a loved one and strives to feed North Royalton residents in need; the Rotary and its newly created Interact youth club inspire learning and lift up fellow students in need; the historical society keeps the city's past alive; and the community band shares the love of music with residents.

Bob Stout is the president of the North Royalton/Broadview Heights Rotary Club. He said he plans to attend this meeting.

"We do a roundtable discussion and talk about what the different service clubs are doing, what's going on the in the community, and what the community service needs are. We discuss when we are doing our fundraisers, so we don't cross paths with another group and host it at the same time. And, we help each other out by sharing information that we can pass on to our clubs. Maybe we can pick up a couple of people to help with a fundraiser. It all helps out and forms a big team," Stout said.

Stefanik said these meetings are a great opportunity to foster a spirit of collaboration and to meet certain service needs throughout the city.

"It's good to meet with the service clubs and pick their brains on what kinds of projects they might be looking to do in North Royalton. And, we will bring a list of suggestions we are willing to share with them as well," the mayor said. "It's a great way to stay connected."