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Charity Spotlight: Cary-Kildaire Rotary Club

By Megan Vick

 

In December, our Charity Spotlight was on the Rotary Foundation and Rotary International. In Cary, North Carolina, the Rotary Club of Cary-Kildaire collaborated with the Rotary Club of Mussoorie, India. These two clubs collaborated to provide sanitation and pure drinking water facilities to three schools in India. I was able to ask Scott Rossi a bit more about the completion of the project.

Fridge Filters:Scott, can you tell us more about the project and its completion?

Scott Rossi: The first phase of the ‘Purified Drinking Water System and Sanitary Facility Project’ undertaken by the clubs was dedicated to the students of MY Saraswati Shishu Vidya Mandir, Gandhi Niwas, Mussoorie on Monday, 27th June 2011. The second phase was dedicated to the students of Mussoorie Girls Inter College, Mussoorie on Thursday, 30th June 2011. The third phase was recently dedicated to the students of Sanatan Dharm Girls Inter College, Mussoorie on Friday, 4th November 2011.

FF: How did your club come to decide on doing such an ambitious project?

SR: Rotary has six areas of focus: peace and conflict prevention/resolution, disease prevention and treatment, water and sanitation, maternal and child health, basic education and literacy, and economic and community development. Our International Service Committee felt that well-planned water projects have the potential to address multiple areas of focus.

FF: What made the club choose India for the clean water project?

SR: Cary-Kildaire Rotary Club was part of three water projects last year. The first project was constructing soak pits or recharge wells in Kolkata City and surrounding rural areas, West Bengal, India. The second project was digging a bore hole well and constructing water storage tanks at a school in Our Lady of Lourdes School, Ozuoba, Rivers State, Nigeria. The third project was providing drinking and sanitation facilities at three schools in India. We chose these projects because of the needs that existed and because their were excellent Rotary partners at each location.

FF: How can other groups do something similar?

SR: They can search for water projects that need partners/sponsors on websites www.waterteaminternational.org or www.startwithwater.org (a website run by WASRAG, the Water and Sanitation Rotary Action Group).

FF: What was the best part about being involved in these projects?

SR: It is tremendously uplifting to be able to help people and to contribute to the alleviation of needless suffering.

Special thanks to Scott Rossi and Carl Ryden of the Cary-Kildaire Rotary Club for their information on this topic.

Check out the video for the Cary-Kildaire West Bengal water project!

Rotary Club West Bengal Project

Charity Spotlight: The Rotary Foundation & Rotary International

By Megan Vick

 

What is The Rotary Foundation?

Rotary began over 100 years ago in Illinois and now has approximately 1.2 million members in over 200 countries. Since its creation in 1917, The Rotary Foundation has grown into a global force for good, thanks to the generosity of Rotarians and friends of Rotary who share our vision for a better world. Rotary is a worldwide organization of more than 1.2 million business, professional, and community leaders. Members of Rotary clubs, known as Rotarians, provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world.

What do they do? How does it help?

The mission of the Rotary Foundation and Rotary International is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education and the alleviation of poverty. Rotary's main objective is service - in the community, in the workplace, and throughout the world.

The Rotary Foundation and Rotary International have many programs set up throughout the world. The programs are funded through grants; most notably the PolioPlus program. PolioPlus is a worldwide initiative to eradicate polio by providing vaccines to those who may not other be able to receive the vaccine. Rotary Foundation and Rotary International also help with eliminating fluoride from water in areas whose people are prone to fluorosis- a debilitating degenerative condition found in parts of India, Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. Rotarians worldwide also help with Disaster Recovery efforts when an area is struck with a natural disaster.

Who does it help?

Rotarians help anyone and everyone. The Rotary Foundation has volunteers to help provide clean water, support education , eliminate hunger issues, and improve health and sanitation both in American and throughout the world. Rotarians are your friends, family, and neighbors who help friends, family, and neighbors.

How can I help?

 

Visit the site for information on volunteering your time.

You can also visit for ways to donate.

You might also see charitable donation collections all around your town in convenient stores, restaurants, and shops. Please feel free to donate anything you can.

Charity Spotlight: Habitat for Humanity

By Megan Vick

 

 

Fridge Filters Cares

What is Habitat for Humanity?

Habitat for Humanity (HFH) is an organization dedicated to providing safe, affordable, decent housing to families in need. Most Americans know of HFH as a volunteer organization. Maybe you’ve even volunteered through your school, your church, or your job! HFH has become an international household name sheltering over 2 million people across the globe.

What do they do? How does it help?

Simply put, Habitat for Humanity builds homes for people. Home ownership is a very important part of life for many. It creates personal wealth by dealing with equity, savings, and personal credit. In areas with safe and secure housing, schools and community groups will thrive. It’s a win-win for everyone. HFH also has ReStore. You can take your gently used furniture, home appliances, and home accessories to any ReStore where they will be sold to the public at a fraction of its price. ReStore is similar to a Salvation Army or Goodwill.

Who does it help?

Habitat for Humanity helps as many people as they can. HFH operates on nearly every continent and in dozens of countries. Over 1.5 billion (yes, with a “b”) people live in substandard housing and nearly 100 million are homeless worldwide. In the United States alone, approximately 95 million people live with housing issues.

Why we love Habitat for Humanity:

Fridge Filters loves Habitat for Humanity because they don’t take the easy way out. Sure, any organization can collect money and give it to those in need. HFH is different. HFH gets people like you and me, who want to make a difference, to go and help build homes for others. It’s not only something the family living in the house can be proud of; it’s something we can all be proud of. We also love HFH because they make it easy to donate to them. If you can’t donate your time, you can donate dollars, building materials, or water and air filters.

How can I help?

Nearly every region and/or county in the USA and Canada has a Habitat for Humanity branch or chapter. Please visit www.habitat.org for more information about monetary donations or to search your region for a volunteer chapter. Also, you can check out www.habitat.com/restores to see about donating different items to help others in your community.

Fan Feedback: How can we improve our filter reminders?

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• What change would make the email reminders even better?

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