Rotary projects around the globe
March 2025
United States
The Rotary Club of Wellington, Florida, went the distance by staging a military-style race in which competitors wore heavy backpacks filled with donated food items. More than 100 participants, including U.S. Army and Marine Corps representatives, stepped off on 10 November during the Veterans Day weekend food drive, says club member George Kinoshita. The club modeled the event on the military endurance training known as ruck marches that involve carrying weighted backpacks. The club requested a minimum of 8 pounds of food donations, but many runners hoisted nearly double that, filling their bags with canned beans and cranberries, boxes of stuffing, and other foodstuffs. The club later handed over the Thanksgiving meal staples to the town’s seasonally operated pantry. The Wellington High School Interact club conducted a 50-50 raffle, and members hoofed it or served as course guides.
Canada
Fourteen clubs in Ontario are participating in a District 7070 initiative to sew reusable menstrual pads for girls in the Dominican Republic led by Janet Thorsteinson, a member of the Rotary Club of Whitby Sunrise. Among the most prolific is the Rotary Club of Campbellford. Since it introduced “Sewing with Janet nights” in September 2023, club members and friends have sewn more than 1,000 pads using sewing machines and fabric that Thorsteinson provided. Nearly two dozen people participate in each session. “The idea of allowing more members to be involved in an international project was very appealing,” says Rob Pope of the Campbellford club. Thorsteinson agrees. “Sewing events create opportunities for fellowship, creating a Rotary buzz and a draw for new members to get involved,” she says.
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6.70%
Portion of U.S. households that used a food pantry in 2020
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688.00 million
Global value of household sewing machine exports in 2023
South Africa
You never know what kind of proposals will land in a club’s inbox, says Bev Frieslich, a past president of the Rotary Club of Cape of Good Hope. She and her club took to heart an email from a Ugandan Rotarian with an admittedly audacious ask: to help him spring a surprise marriage proposal on his significant other, Barbara Nyakato, while she was touring Cape Town. “When I thought of a romantic proposal to my dear girlfriend, Rotary was an obvious and automatic choice,” says Richard Kalungi. He and Nyakato are members of the Rotary Club of Kampala South. On 3 December, Frieslich brought Nyakato to Fish Hoek Beach under the guise of a club function. “Once she overcame her shock that Richard was there, she wept tears of joy and love,” says Frieslich, who helped Kalungi with the shopping, organized a dinner reception, arranged a professional photographer, and provided Kalungi with lodging for the escapade. “Whoever said Rotary is boring?” says Frieslich.
New Zealand
Members of the Rotary Club of Waikato Sunrise are flying high thanks to an annual hot-air balloon festival where they raise money and community awareness of Rotary. The 2025 Balloons Over Waikato event, slated for 18-22 March in the club’s hometown of Hamilton, will feature about two dozen balloons along with fireworks, music, amusement rides, and food tents, says Willemien Wennekers, a club member and past manager of the festivities. Rotarians serve as crowd ambassadors and help staff the information tent and VIP area. They also sell merchandise and run a “walk-through balloon” that’s inflated but moored flat along the grass, allowing visitors to walk inside, Wennekers says. The $5,800 raised by the club during the 2024 event was donated to True Colours Children’s Health Trust, another of the event’s charity partners.
This story originally appeared in the March 2025 issue of Rotary magazine.
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12.00,874
Tourists from Uganda who visited South Africa in 2023
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1.00783
First crewed hot-air balloon flight