Since 2007, the Yorktown Rotary Club has being assisting in two projects in Quito, Ecuador which provide aid for disadvantaged children. Although we originally worked on our own, we are now partners with the Metropolitano Rotary Club in Quito. The two projects support the Refugiode Los Suenos (Refugio) and COVI. These projects have included painting the Refugio, installing hot water heaters, showers, updating the electricity, updating the kitchen, and many other tasks.
The current
project provides
funding for the
Jim Sawhill live
skills room (Jim,
who passed
away suddenly
in 2012, was a
founding member
of this project and remembered fondly by the Quito Rotary club and the Refugio.
Quito, Ecuador Support
other past projects
Rotary Club of
Yorktown Virginia
Rotary International, District 7600
Disabled veterans fishing trips
EDMARC Weekend
EDMARC is a hospice for
terminally ill children --
providing support to both
the children and their
families. Each year, the
Yorktown Rotary Club hosts about four families from EDMARC for a weekend of fun activities. The families are put up at a waterfront motel in Yorktown for the weekend, will all meals provided. A picnic is held on the Friday evening where the EDMARC families can meet club members and our families, having a good time. On Saturday, the families are taken out on the York River fishing in a couple club member's boats. It is a special treat for this children and their siblings to be able to help "drive the boat". After some pool and beach time in the afternoon its time for dinner. The parents are taken out for dinner for a rare adult only time for them. The children go to a members house for more fishing, games, food, and fun. Sunday comes too early, but the families leave with free Busch Garden's tickets to extend their weekend or having another day of fun. This weekend of fun provides a respite from an unimaginably tough time in these families lives. It is done every year in late spring. The next outing will be in June 2014.
The Yorktown Rotary Club was chartered in 1969 and has a long history of conducting projects beneficial to the community. Following are some recent projects:
- Built a picnic shelter on the York River waterfront
- Installation of medical equipment at Lackey Free Clinic
- Literacy programs at local schools
- Youth Exchange programs
- Sponsor local high school attendance at youth leadership programs
- Sponsor Ambassadorial Scholars
- Construction of a shelter on the York River in New Quarter Park
- Installation of the Trim and Doors in the New Fifes and Drums Building
- Scholarships for exceptional seniors from local high schools
- Support for the Grafton High School community service Interact Club
- Funded supplies for a wall-sized ceramic periodic table constructed by Advanced Placement chemistry students at Grafton High School.
Twice a year the Club
conducts an outing for
paralyzed veterans from
Hampton and Richmond
Veterans Administration
hospitals. This Daily Press
Article describes a typical event and the picture above shows some of the veterans fishing from the pier while others are taken out on a club member's boat into the York River. The groups switch places later in the day, and we all have a big picnic with the help of the Yorktown Woman's Club. A special lifting crane was constructed to load and unload the veterans in their heavy wheelchairs or gurneys
onto the boat. Club members
assist with operating the boat,
helping the veterans fish (both
on the boat and pier),
providing lunch, and other
activities. This fishing outing
is provided to paralyzed
veterans in the late spring and
late summer of each year. The
next outing will be in September 2013.