Vernon’s Kal Rotary Club donates $42K to overseas projects

From gas cooking stoves to drinking water filters, the Kalamalka Rotary Club has donated $42,000 to four overseas projects from money raised at last year's Dream Auction.

The annual Kalamalka Rotary Club Dream Auction held in November 2019, raised a staggering $340,000 for projects both at home and abroad. The organization has announced four overseas projects in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Haiti and Mexico as the recipients of some of the money.

"As part of Rotary International, our club is fortunate to be able to participate in these humanitarian projects," Kal Rotary president Carmen Larsen said in a media release. "And it’s extremely gratifying to see the impact the club's donations can make in communities around the world. Once again we thank our very supportive Dream Auction donors and patrons for helping make this possible."

A grant of US$10,000 matched by the Rotary District taking the total to US$20,000 will expand an Ethiopian school and allow students to continue studying until Grade 8. Students at the Tis Abay primary school in the Amhara region of Ethiopia, school, currently finish school at Grade 4. The money will provide education up to Grade 8 and bring the total attendance to 1,200 students.

The club has donated $5,000 to the Olive Branch for Children Foundation, who provide gas stoves to villagers in Tanzania. Currently, women, and almost exclusively girls, spend hours each day foraging for firewood. The money will allow for a distribution centre to be set up in Mbeya, Tanzania, which will create employment for self-sufficient small businesses.

A donation of almost $14,500 will purchase 50 biosand water filters for remote Haitian communities to allow households long-term access to safe drinking water.

A Kalamalka Rotary club donation $10,000 will go towards the Costalegre Kinder School Project to build a kitchen and dining hall for the 200 students at the school. The project is a partnership with the Rotary Club of Costalegre, Mexico.

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