June 12, 2020 – West Bend, WI – The West Bend Sunrise Rotary made a generous donation to the Albrecht Free Clinic in West Bend this week.
Presenting the check were Rotarians Jon Sacks, Todd Vance and Mary Beth Seiser.
The Rotary Foundation has a Disaster Response Fund. When the coronavirus pandemic began, the foundation set aside $1 million for Disaster Response Grants for districts, maximum $25,000 each, with the goal of enabling clubs to help their local communities combat the virus.
That was quickly dispersed, they added another $2 million, and with the help of donations and an online telethon, they added another $2 million.
To date nearly $5 million has been dispersed and applications are still pending.
(There are more than 500 districts in the world so $5 million would have benefitted 200 districts – the need is still great.)
District 6270 – 54 clubs in Southeastern Wisconsin:
When this program was announced, several clubs in our district contacted me about applying for one of these grants. We are able to identify four clubs with Covid-19 related projects and filed our application. We were in the queue for about a month, however as more funds became available we eventually received word we would receive our $25,000 grant. Four clubs in our district are now purchasing and delivering food to those in need, donating to Feeding America, and purchasing face masks, face shields, and other PPE’s for local first responders and fire departments.
West Bend Sunrise Rotary
The West Bend Sunrise Rotary received one of those grants and is using its share to provide Personal Protective Equipment for the Albrecht Free Clinic. This will include a Splash Guard for the reception area, and face masks and shields for the safety of staff members and clients.
Rotary District 6270 also had funds available from an earlier Rotary Foundation grant and we were able to utilize that money for Covid-19 related projects. Thirteen clubs in Southeastern Wisconsin applied for and received smaller amounts and were able to provide food, PPE’s, and other equipment and devices for their local communities. The Rotary clubs of both West Bend Sunrise and West Bend Noon received funding under that program as well and used the funds to provide care packages to children in the Casa Guadalupe program.
Rotarians are People of Action !
Mary Beth Seiser
Past District Governor
Rotary District Foundation Chair 2018-2021
