The Little Club With A Big Heart

President Isaac

Des Moines Rotary Club, President Al Isaac, has coined the term “The Little Club with a Big Heart” to describe our club.  I think that’s not only a nice turn of phrase, it’s also an accurate label for all we do to carry out our mission: “to make our community and the world a better place to live, learn, work and play.”  We all know the club does a lot, but it wasn’t until I actually got a list together that I realized just how deep into the community and how far around the globe our mission takes us. 

Look at the lists below of what you, Des Moines Rotarians, have been doing. 

Through our International Avenue of Service we have partnered with:

• …Rotary Clubs in Bellevue, Renton and Kirkland and with Rotary Clubs in Pokhara Fishtail and Itahari, Nepal on a wheelchair manufacturing project.   
• …Rotary Club of Bagmati, Nepal to promote equal educational opportunities for children with disability in India.
•  ....Federal Way Rotary Club to purchase and install solar panels that are now powering pumps to move clean water to villages in northern Ghana.
• …Rotary Club of La Molina Vieja, Peru to pilot 10-15 low-cost, low-maintenance biosand water filters in a section of Lima.
• …Rotary Club of Cabanatuan East in the Philippines, to build a new health center now open in Siclong.   



Shelter Boxes

 In addition, we have:        

   Purchased three Shelter Boxes, which can be air-dropped to supply a tent and essential equipment to families who are displaced by disasters.  Our Shelter Boxes were deployed to El Salvador after hurricane Ida and to Haiti after that country’s devastating earthquake last year. 

    Bought enough point-of –use Lifestraws, to provide safe, filtered drinking water for 154 people for a year.

    Supported the Seattle-South African Scholarship Foundation, which raised $8,000 to offer 12 scholarships to students in South Africa. 

    Donated $1,000 for costs to deliver a 16-passenger bus to a girl’s orphanage in Zagazig, Egypt to get them safely to school.

        Added money to Mt. Rainier High School’s Rotary   Interact Club to be used for microcredit loans. 

Rotarian Pat Bosmans and daughters

And through our Community and Vocational Avenues of Service, we have:

Continued our Backpack Program for the Des Moines Food Bank.

 Conducted another Roto-Mow, providing house and yard maintenance for the elderly and disabled in Des Moines.          

President-Elect Mark Rusnak

Distributed illustrated children’s dictionaries to every third grader in the Des Moines area.                             

Signed on to support Music for Life, an initiative to provide musical instruments for students in the Highline School District.                                                            

Continued to sponsor an Essay Writing Contest to encourage creative writing for middle school authors. Supported the after school program for students at Pacific Middle School.                                                           

Funded scholarships for local scholars and athletes.    Maintained weekly financial contributions to support the Des Moines Food Bank.                                    

Supported the Rotary Interact Club to help them send boxes of toys and school supplies to children in Nairobi, along with money to make furniture for preschoolers.

“Our little club with the big heart is beating strong,” President Isaac confirms.  “We’re doing a lot, but we’ll be looking for other good work to do, wherever in the world that may be.”

Article contributed by Michael Allan, Public Relations Committee Chair for the Rotary Club of Des Moines.