Our club has participated in matching grants

Matching Grants

The goal of Rotary Foundation Matching Grants is to assist Rotary clubs and districts in carrying out Foundation humanitarian projects in cooperation with Rotarians in another country. The following are projects that our club has participated in, benefiting those in need.

1992-93    Guadalajara, Mexico
In a remote mountain area of Guadalajara, very few people are able to hold steady jobs and there are no school buses that will drive up the rocky, winding roads to pick up the children. A school,  run by nuns with little financial help, is now held on the mountain top. We furnished computers for the school. This project gives the students skills that will enable them to obtain a job. In 1997-98, a group from our district, including a Mineral Wells Rotarian, visited this project and district projects in the area.

1993-94    Izmir, Turkey                  
Looms, supplies and training were given to women to develop a carpet weaving cottage industry.

1994-95    Sao Paulo, Brazil   
The solution to rid the city of street children who had been abandoned by their parents was to kill them or totally ignore their plight. A school was started giving housing and meals to these children. To give them an opportunity for future employment, we supplied a computer classroom.
 
1996-97    Sylhet, Bangladesh 
In 1996, the Group Study Exchange was between our district and D-3280. We asked them to bring us a matching grant proposal. One of their greatest needs was for clean water and better sanitation. Our grant provided 25 tubewells and 125 sanitary latrines to the area.

<!--[if !vml]--> As a result of that same visit, the team leader's club, the Rotary Club of Sylhet, asked us to apply for a Discovery Grant to fund a team to visit Bangladesh for the purpose of studying the feasibility of establishing a in- and out-patient physical rehabilitation center. PDG Janet Holland of Mineral Wells led the team which agreed the facility was needed and possible with our help and advice. This facility became the Jalalabad Rotary Disabled Rehabilitation Centre and Hospital, the first of its type in the entire country.  The Mineral Wells Club and D-5790 helped fund following three grants.

1999-00    Sylhet, Bangladesh    Rehab Center - Electrical Equipment and Supplies
1999-00    Sylhet, Bangladesh    Rehab Center - Hubbard tank with lift, other equipment
2000-01    Sylhet, Bangladesh    Rehab Center - Ambulance

2000-01   Mar del Plata, Argentina 
Audio/Visual Equipment was furnished to the Department of Architecture of the National University of Mar del Plata.  The opportunity to participate in this grant arose when a Rotarian from that area was visiting a Rotarian friend in Mineral Wells and our club became aware of their need.

2007-08    Honduras       
Our club participated in the district Clean Water Project in eastern Honduras. Clean water was not available until we began to furnish sand filters to purify the water and the training on how to take care of the filters. Teams have visited areas where they had been installed in previous years to learn how dramatically their illnesses had decreased and their quality of life improved.

2008-09    Mexico                  
Our club joined others in the district to provide a container of wheelchairs to Mexico.

2009-10    Guatemala              
We are assisting in funding a van for a community assistance organization similar to the Ronald McDonald Houses in the USA, but with expanded services.