Rotary Projects Around the Globe

Guatemala

The Rotary Club of Guatemala La Reforma’s Upcycling Art Festival featured whimsical sculptures and paintings created with cast-off materials such as paper and cardboard, wood scraps, glass, plastics, metal, rubber, and electronic waste. Like many countries, Guatemala struggles with solid waste management, notes Esther Brol, a past club president who pioneered the event in 2023. “Pushing artists out of their comfort zone by challenging them to create works of art from waste has generated wonderful results,” including raising funds for club projects and The Rotary Foundation, she says. The club partnered with the Rotaract Club of Guatemala La Reforma and the Rotary Club of Los Altos Quetzaltenango to organize the three-week exposition and sale that concluded 5 June.

Canada

The annual Concert to Feed the Need has raised nearly $90,000 since 2018 to offer meals in the Durham region in Ontario, through a network of food banks, meal and snack programs, shelters, and other social service providers. Feed Ontario reports an increase of 47 percent in the number of employed people using food banks since 2018. “With the rising cost of food and the impact of the pandemic still being felt, food bank use is soaring,” says Joe Solway, a member of the Rotary Club of Bowmanville, which initiated the event. Members of six other Rotary clubs also sell sponsorships and tickets and promote the show, an eclectic mix of pop, folk, country, rock, blues, gospel, “and maybe this year some opera,” Solway says. Media attention surrounding the concert and its acclaimed performers helped it yield nearly $23,000 in 2023. The 2024 event will take place on 8 December.