The Rotary Club of San Felipe

Poverty engenders physical and mental abuse, teenage pregnancy, drugs, and prostitution.
With all 9s and 1Os on a report card, one would think such a hard-working young San Felipe student would be bound for college in a few years. Unfortunately, many outstanding students do not even finish junior high or high school here because their parents cannot afford the tuition, supplies and uniforms. Children like these may never realize their potential because they have no idea of the opportunities that await.

Diminished expectations breed a sense of hopelessness.
The San Felipe Rotary Club has discovered that hundreds of children in our community need glasses. Adults also line up whenever there is the possibility of obtaining pre-worn glasses. In addition to vision, there is a need for hearing aids and therapy equipment for children with special needs. Unaddressed disabilities produce feelings of inadequacy and failure.

How Are We Helping?
Our three major projects are:

The Gracie Sanchez Educational Program
At present the Rotary Club, with the help of schools, other organizations, and individuals is sponsoring 60 students in junior high school.
Book Buddies
The Book Buddy project provides books in Spanish to the schools of San Felipe. Through a Rotary International grant, it is helping to furnish libraries and provide computers for the poorest schools.
Vision Project
Testing children for visual problems and providing them with prescription lenses is being paid for through a variety of fund-raising activities. We have also applied for a matching grant from Rotary International.

How Can You Help?
Encourage schools, other organizations, and individuals in your area to sponsor a student for $100.00 per year. Purchase school supplies: spiral and bound notebooks, crayons, markers, colored pencils, geometry tools, etc. Obtain books in Spanish for children and also for adults. Purchase bookmarks at People's Gallery and the San Felipe Title Used Book Store. Donate to any of the projects or to Unspecified Funds which are used to help with unexpected crises and needs.

The Rotary Club of San Felipe North (English) meets each Monday at 8:00 a.m. at the Corona Restaurant on the north end of Mar de Cortez.

The club is actively seeking new members. If you are interested please contact:
Stan Shifflet
Phone: (686) 576-0104
E-mail shifflet@direcway.com

Upcoming Events

Steak-in-the-Park Silent Auction

Another exciting year has started for the San Felipe Rotary Club on October 5, 2009. Our members are busy working on projects to help this community we all love. Some of these are; ESL (English as a Second Language), The Cancer Walk, Student Scholarships and the orphanage in the Ejido, Casa de Fe. We hope that one of these efforts has touched you or one of your loved ones. In order to keep contributing to these efforts each year, we have several fund raisers. The one I’m writing to you about today is our Steak-in-the-Park event on March 12, 2010.

At this event, we sell steak dinners, have live music and a silent auction. We usually have 300 to 400 participants that come and enjoy the afternoon. This event continues to be one of our major fund raisers for our projects. There are several ways that you can be involved.

First, we are looking for sponsors for the event. These sponsors contribute money directly to us for the event and we are able to cover our supplies and expenses. Second, we ask businesses to contribute items to our silent auction. We have items donated ranging from art from local artisans to tools donated from hardware stores. Of course, the third way to contribute is to buy tickets and attend the event.

We hope we can count on you to support us this year.

Sincerely,
Barbara Fox
Silent Auction Coordinator

Phone: U.S. cell 559-303-2655, Mx Cell 686-255-5548
Email: dosvolpes@yahoo.com
Address: PMB 1505, P.O. Box 9011, Calexico, CA 92232

Visit our website at: www.rotarysanfelipenorth.org