Al Licci was recently installed as president of the Farmingdale Rotary Club, and is looking to expand the service organization's already healthy fund-raising efforts.

First introduced to Rotary by his brother, who is a former president of a Florida Rotary Club, Licci expressed a strong belief in the organization during a recent interview. "We don't look to gain anything for ourselves, but to help the community and the world," he said.

To this end, the Farmingdale Rotary Club undertakes several fund-raising efforts to benefit both local and worldwide charities. A major goal for Licci is to expand the fund raising to include a wine and cheese expo. Already existing annual fund raisers include a pancake breakfast, a golf outing and a 5 kilometer run. The main beneficiaries of the fund raisers include St. Kilian Social Ministry; the Gift of Life, a Rotarian program which provides life-saving surgery to children in developing countries; Farmingdale Care, an after-school program; a vocational training program operated by St. Mary's Church of Woodbury; Ronald McDonald House; Long Island's Interfaith Nutrition Network (INN), as well as other soup kitchens for the homeless.

Rotary, which has chapters worldwide, describes itself as an organization of some 1.2 million business and professional leaders who provide humanitarian services, and aim to encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world. Each club meets weekly. "We've grown to a certain point in our lives when we want to give back to the community," he said of the members.

Licci is proud of the 50-member Farmingdale club, and seems eager to continue to uphold its motto of "Service Above Self." "We've contributed a lot of unity, a lot of good people to the community," he said.

In addition to a luncheon club, of which Licci is president, Farmingdale has a Breakfast Rotary club, which undertakes similar service projects. That club meets for breakfast rather than for lunch, but, according to Licci, collaborates often with the luncheon club.

Licci has also seen the Farmingdale Rotary club experience significant growth. In the past five to six years, he noted, membership has increased by 6 percent. Offering a reason for the growth, Licci said, "I think Farmingdale is a family-oriented community where everybody helps everybody else, and there are so many good people out there who just want to be in a club where they can help other people."