Category Archives: Supporting education

Bringing hope and joy to abandoned, neglected Filipino children

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Members of the Rotary Club of Cubao Edsa visit with children at Cottolengo Filipino in Rodriguez, Philippines.

By Maurice Librea, past president of the Rotary Club of Cubao Edsa, Quezon City, Philippines

Recently, we celebrated the fourth year of our signature project by dedicating three hours to a facility that offers residential care for abandoned, neglected, and orphaned individuals with disabilities.

Cottolengo Filipino is located in Rodriguez, Rizal. On our visit, we encountered children with a range of disabilities – autism, cerebral palsy, mental illness, and more. Their frail physiques and innocent eyes conveyed stories of abandonment and longing. It was a gut-wrenching experience that weighed heavy on our hearts.

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A bright future for Singhpura School

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Members of the Rotary Club of Chandigarh Midtown pose in front of the new bathrooms they helped build at Singhpura School on the outskirts of town.

By Jeeten Bhambari, president of the Rotary Club of Chandigarh Midtown, India

In a heartwarming celebration on India’s Independence Day, I witnessed something truly remarkable. Singhpura School, nestled on the outskirts of Chandigarh, began a journey of transformation thanks to the dedicated efforts of members of the Rotary Club of Chandigarh Midtown.

The school had been operating with just two rooms and inadequate sanitation facilities. That day, 15 August 2023, marked a turning point.

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Day at the ballpark supports literacy

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Gayla McDaniel and Alex Kile, members of the Rotary Club of Mattoon, Illinois, USA, read to a kindergarten class as part of a literacy project funded by the Day at the Ballpark.

By Rod Buffington, past governor of District 6460 and a member of the Rotary Club of Springfield, Illinois, USA

“Take me out to the ball game. Take me out with the crowd. Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack. I don’t care if I never get back. Let me root, root, root for the (fill in your home team).”

For the past 20 years, “Family Day at the Ballpark” has been the most successful fundraiser for literacy projects in three districts around St. Louis, Missouri, USA (Districts 6460, 6490, and 6510).

Being a baseball fan (growing up a Chicago Cubs fan in northern Illinois), I called upon two governors-elect colleagues during the months leading up to my governor year in 2003-04 to see if they would be interested in orchestrating a family day at the ballpark. Family was a platform for RI President Jonathan Majiyagbe that year. Tom Micetich, Rotary Club of Olney, Illinois, District 6510, and Rick Tinucci, Rotary Club of St. Louis, Missouri, District 6060, were agreeable so we called the St. Louis Cardinal’s group sales office, after which we immediately decided it would be a good venture.   

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Canoe introduces club to Indigenous culture

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Blake Cowan (from left), Nathan Wilson, and Tom Smith by the Wave Warrior.

By Tom Smith and Blake Cowan, Rotary Club of Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Canada

On a sunny day last September, Blake and I left our stresses behind and paddled Wave Warrior, a 39-foot-long ocean-going, fiberglass canoe designed by members of our local Indigenous community, on its inaugural journey.

Our Rotary club has been working towards Truth and Reconciliation with the local Tsawwassen First Nation (TFN) for the past several years. At last year’s Peacebuilder award ceremony, we honored two Indigenous members with this award. As one of the members, Nathan Wilson, was part of the Delta School District’s Indigenous Teaching Program, all the teachers attended. 

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Fitness project promotes health for Oglala Lakota schools

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By Martin Cohn, Rotary Club of Springfield, Vermont, USA

For more than a decade, members of Rotary District 7870 (New Hampshire, Vermont, USA) have been helping residents of Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The district’s service projects have ranged from making upgrades to the local nonprofit radio station, to providing laptops for students, to delivering materials for traditional quilts. District Rotarians have also partnered with South Dakota Rotary clubs to fund a makerspace for native artists.

This past fall, we were contacted by Doni DeCory, director of health and wellness for the Oglala Lakota County School district. She was looking for a way to help students and teachers get healthy together. She wanted to make wellness a priority. Her idea was to give each student and teacher their own Fitbit.

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