Announcement of HECD Global Grant

The D5360 Microcredit Task Force is pleased to announce the current phase of HECD will invest over $600,000 CDN in Microcredit. This came about with the approval of the Rotary Club of Calgary West, Honduras Economic and Community Development Global Grant, Phase III. We were notified of this exciting news by The Rotary Foundation (TRF) on August 9, 2016. The grant total from Rotary International is $99,990.00 USD. We also received another $98,872.00 USD from the Government of Canada.

 

At this time, we would like to recognise and thank Opportunity International Canada for their generous matching donation of $200,000 USD to add to the total project funding.  We also would like to thank and recognise all our Club donors from all across Canada, private donors, international Club donors, the Government of Alberta with CIP grants, our own District 5360 with District Designated Funding, TRF(Canada) and the Government of Canada funding and finally TRF with Global Grant funding.

 

Total funds raised will be just under $500,000 USD from all sources. The leverage ratio for each club is over 6:1, after accounting for all the matching we received. Truly amazing!!!

 

Each club that contributed makes up a huge part of this successful project, so we again would like to thank you and ask that you spread the word around your own club about this.  Celebrate this with your club members.

 

We could not have made it to this point without the hard work of the Phase III committee lead by Chris Ritter with members Steve Rickard, Duncan Stanners, Judy Cochran, Don Campbell, Tazim Asaria, and Judith Sinclair all from RCCW; Wally Gardiner from High River Club, Jim Louttit from Toronto Sunrise Club. On the International side Victor Gutierrez, Julio Rivera, Miguel Sanchez and Jose Rosales all from the Real de Minas Club in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. A special and warm thank you goes to Jannalee Anderson from OIC. She has a passion and a belief we can make a difference. Her knowledge and tireless work ethic is a valuable asset to the team.  Thanks too to Francisco Banegas and Victor Funes who work for our NGO in Honduras at the Institute of Development (IDH). Thousands in Honduras will now have the necessary funding and business tools to be able to raise themselves from poverty. They can provide a better way of life for themselves, their families, their communities, and their country in so many ways.  As Phase 3 gets underway, we look forward to keeping you apprised of the progress and impact. 

 

We look forward to working with many of the same committee members as we go into Phase IV with Ken Montgomery of RCCW taking the lead.   

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Another noteworthy mention is we have signed a Strategic Alliance Memorandum of Understanding (SA MOU) with the Host District 4250, the International District 5360 and our Cooperating Partners OIC and IDH.  This is a first for our projects, beginning with Phase III, and will continue over the remaining six Phases. This adds to the consistency and impact of the program with each year building on the next. Kudos go to Steve Rickard, Jannalee Anderson and Bonaventure Fandohan for putting this document together. This allows for a different flow of funds which is beneficial to all stakeholders involved; increasing efficiency and effectiveness as well as the scope of the projects while at the same time decreasing financial risks to the Host Club all the while still ensuring Rotary engagement on all fronts. The monies will now flow from TRF directly to the International Club (RCCW), then to OIC and then to IDH. OIC will now be taking a major role in grant reporting. The partners’ roles and responsibilities are defined within the SA MOU. This will increase engagement at all levels, the International Project Committee being the prime example, and continue to increase the level of monitoring, reporting and governance.

 

Thank you again for your support.

 

Chris Ritter, Project Lead Phase III,