ERIN – Rotary Club of Erin president Nina de Vaal shared how a club of 24 members is making an international impact during a May 23 town council meeting.
De Vaal told council the club had given various international initiatives $13,000 – a chunk of the total $90,000 earned over six years.
One initiative is the Guatemala Illiteracy Program, which brought educational programs to 7,000 students and teachers in the country.
The club pledged to the global grant for the Guatemala Illiteracy Program, along with 189 other clubs, raising over $500,000.
De Vaal also noted the club sent medical supplies to Ukraine last year through The Rotary Foundation.
“We do this, not because we have to, it’s because we really do care about what’s going on in the world,” she told council.
She added the club recognizes the privilege it is to live in Canada, and looks forward to supporting the less privileged.
The Erin club has also teamed up with Rotary International in the fight to end polio, a paralyzing and potentially deadly infectious disease that most commonly affects children under the age of five, according to Rotary International.
“Four cases left in the world, two in Pakistan and two in Afghanistan … we’re almost there,” said de Vaal.
Though the club has expanded its helping hands, it is still focusing on the Erin community, officials say, with $40,000 donated to local causes.
“We want to do more and we know we can do more,” de Vaal said proudly.
