DOING GOOD EVERY DAY!
After almost 80 years, the Rotary Club of Coral Gables could fill up volumes with the number of activities and projects all focused on service. Below is a sampling of activities the The Rotary Club of Coral Gables has created, supported or contributed to currently and in the past.
Amber's Room at Liberty Village
Amber's Room, an after school, aftercare program is designed to assist children living in affordable housing projects with developing good learning habits. The program is underwritten by the Urban League of Greater Miami. Our Club has partnered with the Urban League to assist in the development of Amber's Room. We have provided them with a free reading program, developed by Canadian Rotarians and tested worldwide.
Nicklaus Children's Hospital Rehabilitation Center
The Coral Gables Rotary Club has left a lasting mark on Miami Children’s Hospital, donating funds for the remodeling of the hospital’s Rehabilitation Gym, which was completed in February 2008. “Thanks to the generosity of the Rotary Club, children have a beautiful refurbished space offering the latest interactive equipment for physical, occupational and speech therapies,” said Marlenne G. Burt, MS, PT, Director of Rehabilitative Services.
Coral Gables Rotary Centennial Park
In 2005, Rotary celebrated it's 100th Anniversary. To mark that occasion, Club Presidents throughout the world were requested to address a need in their community that would bear the Rotary name and commemorate this auspicious event. President Chris Morrison decided that Rotary would build a community park for the use of our residents in the north end of the City. The Rotary Centennial Park is located in the 600 block of Ponce de Leon Blvd. It is a constant reminder of our devotion to the City Beautiful and it's residents, and the part that our club plays in the fabric of the community
The Goat Project - Haiti
Improved the lives of smallholder mountain farming families who live in extreme poverty: the community has no water, sewage, or power. With training and support, they have opened an agricultural cooperative, which they own, control, and manage. As a cooperative, they chose for their first project to increase their goat herd. A goat serves as a “four-legged savings account”. We purchased 13 female goats and 2 male goats. Farmers pay 20% of the price per goat, which goes to the new cooperative to build-up capital. Each family gives the first-year kid to another family who also pays 20% to the cooperative. Families’ financial security increased while alleviating their fear of ruin when a large sum of money is needed for important life-events.The entire community of 20,000 benefited from this project as each year the local herd doubles, and the distribution of kids continues.
The Chapman Partnership
Our involvement with Chapman Partnership goes back to 2002. We support the mission of Chapman, "To empower the homeless to build a positive future through a comprehensive suite of programs and services, critical to growth and self sufficiency. They are the model program for the rehabilitation of the least and lost of our society. We support Chapman throughout the year by providing funds to send the children to camp, providing school supplies for the start of every school year, and toys for Christmas. We even donated the decorations for their Christmas trees. We are the only Rotary Club to have membership in the CPH Empowerment Circle. The Rotary Club of Coral Gables name is proudly displayed on the wall at the Homeless Assistance Center. One of our most beloved service projects is on Thanksgiving when we donate the money for Thanksgiving dinner and then volunteer our time to prepare and serve the residents at Chapman.
U.S. Military | Homes for Homeless Vets
In 2014, then Community Service Chair, Lorraine Sheldon, an interior designer by trade, got the Club involved in setting up households for veterans who had been homeless and were finally provided an
opportunity to have a home of their own and get off the streets.
Lorraine secured a grant from our Civic & Charity fund. and raised money to help provide much needed basics from cookware, linens, dishes to furniture.
Veteran's Bingo at Miami VA Hospital
Join us the third Saturday of each month when we volunteer at the Miami VA Hospital. We play Bingo with the Vets. We provide the prizes, the snacks and two hours of entertainment for the Greatest Generation. They love us and we love them, and this is the best way we know to show it. Even our Interactors volunteer their time!
Coral Gables High School Interact Club
Interact is one of the largest and most active service clubs at Coral Gables High School. The purpose of Interact is to provide the opportunity for young people to work together in a world fellowship dedicated to service and international understanding. Interact is sponsored by Coral Gables Rotary. It is Rotary's Service organization for young people between the ages of 12 and 18.
Coral Gables Rotarians like to have FUN together.
We do it as often as we can. We have fun raising money. We have fun doing service projects. Rotary is supposed to be FUN. And so we decided to modify the traditional Rotary Four Way Test of the things that Rotarians Think, Say and Do ... we added a Fifth Way Test, "Will it be FUN for all concerned".
YMCA Infant & Toddler's Learning Center
For two years, the Club donated the proceeds of our annual Promenade to the YMCA of Greater Miami for the construction of The Martin Luther King Infant & Toddler Development Center. We raised a total of $68,000 to build and furnish the center which is still functioning today.
Guatamala Light-A-Village Project
Our Club partnered with a Rotary Club in Guatemala to Bring Free and Clean Energy to 25 families/125 people living with ZERO electricity in the town of Aldea Esmeralda located near the municipality of San Pedro Carcha in the department of Alta Verapaz in the north central part of Guatemala. Project donated Solar Lanterns, Installed, and Trained how to use. OurTeam visited the village to deliver the solar lanterns and helps train the families and install solar lanterns throughout the homes, trained them on using the lanterns and Helped familiarize them with the solar lantern so they can use the lanterns whenever needed. The Team remained in the village for several days and held a "lighting celebration".
The Scholarship Program
Has been helping students at Coral Gables Senior High School achieve their higher educational goals since 1987. We generally award scholarships to 10-12 seniors, in amounts ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 per student, annually. Over the past ten years we have grown a sizable endowment fund with the Coral Gables Community Foundation. That fund, when matched with other such funds by the Foundation, resulted in our awarding $105,000 in scholarships for 2024.
Club Fund Raisers
Just a few of the great parties our Club has to raise money for all our great projects.
Alfalit Ecuador
Our Club works with Alfalit to strengthen the educational and school reinforcement activities of children, youth and adults affected by the earthquake of April 16, 2016 in Pedernales, Ecuador. We have Offered training in hygiene and nutrition to young people and adults from urban-marginal neighborhoods that were affected by the earthquake; Vocational training for young people between 13-25 years old, in trades with which they can generate income for themselves and their families; Provided part of the materials to the participants of the vocational courses and for the elaboration of a first production of articles for sale; Give stipends to the teachers of the literacy centers located in villages. Our humanitarian outreach includes: Providing school reinforcement to children who attend public schools, but who have gaps in their knowledge. Children who are in the 5th grade of school, but who cannot read or write are leveling their knowledge and improving their school performance reducing the rates of school lag and unfinished schooling. Training children, youth and adults in nutrition and hygiene, which will help improve their health and that of their families. Also providing Vocational training to improve the economic situation by giving them an additional source of income. We are focusing this vocational training on young people from 13-25 years old, as it is important that they have a productive occupation, enabling them to forego addiction and criminal activities to support families.
The Honduras Project
Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Coral Gables watched as a woman in an indigenous mountain community of Copan made a tortilla and cooked it on an eco stove, which she had just received one day before. The Rotary Club of Copan, the Rotary Club of Coral Gables and the Stove Team Organization, http://www.stoveteam.org/ have recently completed a project to bring these stoves to remote areas where cooking is done on either open fires or stoves which destroy the environment by utilizing the tree canopy as fuel and create a lot of smoke which the families and children breathe. The Eco Stoves cook with small branches and generate heat for cooking without smoke and with small branches which are a renewable source of fuel.
Rotary Youth Exchange
Builds peace one young person at a time. Students learn a new language, discover a new culture, truly become global citizens and develop friendships that last a lifetime. Exchanges for students ages 15 to 19 are sponsored by Rotary Clubs in more than 100 countries. Owen Freed, a former Rotary Foundation Scholar, President of our Club in 1968-69, District Governor in 2005-06 is credited with founding the Rotary Youth Exchange Program. He was one of the first outbound students when he was in high school in 1946. As a Coral Gables Rotarian, this is something of which you can be very proud. Pictured here is Danilo Masson was our last Exchange Student, from San Paolo, Brazil. Danilo attended Coral Gables Senior High and was an active member of our Interact Club. Now graduated from college, Danilo has become a Rotarian in the same club that sent him to Coral Gables. His host family, Madeline Mendez, was the mother of our Club's outbound student that same year, Ashley Fuentes, who went to Sao Paolo.
The Martin Hughes Coral Gables Citizen of the Year Award
This award is named for our beloved late member, Martin Hughes, who passed away in 2006. Martin, had resided in Coral Gables with his wife and two sons for many years. He was a career banker, spending 20+ years with the Royal Bank of Canada. He was a quiet man, and a kind and gentle soul. He was a friend to everyone and a dedicated husband and father.
He was also dedicated to our City. He loved Coral Gables and he loved this Rotary Club. In 2005, Martin came up with the idea of an annual Award to recognize outstanding Citizens from Coral Gables. Following up on his idea, the Club made its first Citizen of the Year Award in 2006, a few months before Martin passed away from cancer. The next year, the award was named after him. Since then, there have been 18 recipients.
In the annual making of this award, we celebrate not only the person (and company) selected, but also our great City, Rotary, our Club and the gentle man who conceived it, Martin Hughes. We pay tribute to those who have excelled at service to our community, and who have made a life out of serving mankind.
ROTARY INTERNATIONAL CAUSES
Promoting peace
Rotary encourages conversations to foster understanding within and across cultures. We train adults and young leaders to prevent and mediate conflict and help refugees who have fled dangerous areas.
Fighting disease
We educate and equip communities to stop the spread of life-threatening diseases like polio, HIV/AIDS, and malaria. We improve and expand access to low-cost and free health care in developing areas.
Providing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene
We support local solutions to bring clean water, sanitation, and hygiene to more people every day. We don’t just build wells and walk away. We share our expertise with community leaders and educators to make sure our projects succeed long-term.
Saving mothers and children
Nearly 6 million children under the age of five die each year because of malnutrition, poor health care, and inadequate sanitation. We expand access to quality care, so mothers and their children can live and grow stronger.
Supporting education
More than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate. Our goal is to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy.
Growing local economies
We carry out service projects that enhance economic and community development and create opportunities for decent and productive work for young and old. We also strengthen local entrepreneurs and community leaders, particularly women, in impoverished communities.
Protecting the environment
Rotary members are tackling environmental issues the way they always do: coming up with projects, using their connections to change policy and planning for the future.