Downtown Everett Rotary Club donates $11,000 to Haitian relief

EVERETT — When a devastating earthquake hit Haiti in January, Kevin Morris and other members of the Downtown Everett Rotary Club started a conversation about how they could help.

They asked questions about how much money the club needed to hold in reserve and how much they could possibly donate.

“The board got together and set a reasonable amount,” said Morris, who is the club’s president. “We said, ‘We’re a service club, let’s do something with that money instead of just having it sit there.’”

Board members finalized their decision earlier this month and donated a total of $11,000 to Haitian relief efforts. The club divided their donation between two projects: a $6,000 donation to the ShelterBox organization and a $5,000 donation to the Rotary Haiti Relief Fund.

ShelterBox is a relief organization, supported by Rotary clubs around the world, that is known for giving out boxes that contain a tent, tools, water purification equipment, blankets and other necessities a family of 10 needs to survive in a disaster area. “It’s pretty cool,” Morris said. “(The box) is all self-contained, with tools for cutting wood or for fixing things. They also cater to places with malaria by putting mosquito nets in the boxes.”

The club’s World Community Service Committee set aside money for emergencies at the beginning of the club’s fiscal year in July. The committee donated $1,000 — enough for one ShelterBox — and the club’s board added another $5,000 to the ShelterBox donation.

“The purpose of the committee is to identify and find ways the club can support others outside our own country,” said Fred Safstrom, chairman of the club’s World Community Service Committee. “These boxes are ready to go immediately, and what we’re hearing is the people (in Haiti) are clamoring for tents as their rainy season approaches and only have tarps and ropes. The need is immense.”

The $5,000 donation to the Rotary Haiti Relief Fund will go toward funding long-term needs in Haiti, Morris said. Contributions to the fund within the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International will go toward charitable organizations that are aiding recovery efforts in Haiti.

The 170-member club has a history of giving away thousands of dollars in scholarship money annually to graduating seniors, Morris said, and while the club wants to continue awarding scholarships, members are also interested in doing more locally and abroad.

“We’ve done a lot of giving away scholarships, and this year, as result of economy, we kind of pulled a little bit away from giving scholarships and decided to do more in our community, and we also wanted to do more worldwide, as far as Rotary International is involved,” he said.

Morris was part of an April 2006 trip to Mexico with other Rotarians. The group provided wheelchairs to people who needed them. He hasn’t forgotten how the experience made him feel and hopes the club can form a relationship one day soon with a club outside the United States and travel to the area to help with needed projects.

“When you write a check and send it it’s good, but when you can actually be there and you can see it firsthand it kind of hits you,” Morris said.

Money for the donation came from all the Downtown Everett Rotary members, Rotarian Jim Haugen said. Members gave money through raffles, fundraisers and at weekly meetings through “happy buck” donations that mark events in members’ lives.

The $11,000 donation didn’t come as a surprise to Safstrom.

“This is an impressive club that’s doing a lot of good,” he said. “There’s not much that surprises me about this club.”

Amy Daybert: 425-339-3491, adaybert@heraldnet.com.

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