Women use Hippo Water Rollers in South Africa to transport clean drinking water.

By Rotary Voices staff

Rotary members in Juneau, Alaska, USA, are using their loose coins to create big change in different parts of the world.

The Rotary Club of Juneau-Gastineau collects nickels, dimes, and quarters from members in glass jars placed around the room during its weekly meetings. More than $8,000 has been collected since the program began. But more amazingly, the spare change has been turned into more than $39,000 in micro loans, by working through the microfinance website Kiva.

Several club members meet eight times a year to select loans to fund on the Kiva website, choosing loans that are connected to Rotary’s areas of focus. The default rate on the loans has been just .84 percent.

The project is just one of many that Rotary members have shared on Rotary Showcase. Other notable ones include:

• Rotary members in Gibsons, British Columbia, Canada, are raising money to purchase Hippo Water Rollers, barrel-shaped containers that hold 25 gallons of water and can be pushed like a lawn mower, for women in rural Africa to transport water back and forth from distant clean water sources.
• Rotary members in Switzerland partnered with the International Committee of the Red Cross to supply free prostheses to people in Cambodia and Afghanistan who have lost legs to land mines.
• The Revival Center Clinic in Chernihiv, near Chernobyl, Ukraine, treats children with genetic and neurological complications from nuclear radiation release. Rotary clubs in Greater London, England, and Kyiv, Ukraine, are partnering to replace a worn minibus used by the clinic so staff can reach more clients and spend less time repairing the vehicle.
• The Rotary Club of San Antonio South, San Antonio, Texas, USA, collected coats for teens taking part in a drug and alcohol recovery program sponsored by Teen Challenge.
• Rotary members in Calcutta, West Bengal, India, are raising funds to provide equipment for a school for autistic children.