Evergreen Rotary

Kenyan Relief Project

Greetings fellow Rotarians!

You may recall that Joan Spalding has been forwarding to the club membership some e-mails from Dan and Patty Schmelzer, our Kenyan connection involved with the Capstone Project to get kids off the street the Kisumu area of Western Kenya. This area has been one of the hardest hit by the recent political unrest which, at last count, has resulted in over 800 deaths and countless injuries, as well as disruption of everyday life and economic activity.

Your club’s International Committee has been working on a project to some needed relief for the victims of this violence. The Rotary District in Kenya along with the Schmelzer’s (Dan is the Assistant District Governor) have developed a program to purchase the needed food and medical supplies and distribute those items to people most in need in their community. The International Committee is confident that the local Rotary plan will be an efficient and effective way for our club to be involved in the relief efforts.

We are in the final stages of obtaining approval for a $1,000 grant from our club’s foundation. We have also received checks from several of the members of the club and have solicited funds from several other clubs in our District. Since the need is urgent, we hope to wire these funds out within the next week.

If you wish to contribute towards this relief effort, please bring a check to this Friday’s meeting, payable to the Evergreen Rotary Foundation with a note that states it is for the “Kenya Relief Project”. If you are unable to attend on Friday, please send the check to me at: Curt Harris, 2252 Baldy Lane, Evergreen, CO 80439. You may want to send me an e-mail letting me know that you are sending a check so I can be on the lookout for it and make sure it is included in the wire transfer.

On behalf of the International Committee, I want to thank you for your consideration of this worthwhile project. It is because of you that the Rotary Club of Evergreen is consistently one the best clubs regarding international projects in the district. I also want to thank all the club members who have been involved in this project, especially Joan Spalding for all of her hard work in getting this project organized.

If you have any questions, please give me (303-670-9778) or Joan (303-526-0335) a call.

Yours in Rotary,
Curt Harris
World Community Service Committee Chairman