International Service

The Wheaton Rotary club has a history of partnering with other clubs around the world with a variety of humanitarian and sustainable projects. A host club will identify a local community need and provide the oversight, financial management and project implementation. Our Club, considered the International partner, provides the majority of the financial resources, and often may visit the project either to assist and/or more clearly understand the critical importance of the project identified. Financial resources committed by the Wheaton Rotary are often matched with funding by the Rotary Foundation. 

 

During the past 10 years, the Wheaton Rotary has directed matching grants ranging from $11,000 to $45,000 to a number of Host clubs in the rural areas of Uganda, Peru, and Dominican Republic. In Uganda, the Wheaton Rotary Club was involved with four projects that provided an ambulance, a school bus, concrete floors, water purification systems, libraries and science equipment for 8 local schools, and health equipment (such as microscopes and incubators) for a local hospital. The microscopes assisted with identification of blood diseases and the incubators served to reduce the infant mortality, where 1 in 5 newborns did not survive. In the Dominican Republic, assistance was provided for furniture, appliances, and books for an orphanage home at Kid's Alive Center. In Peru, the Wheaton club has a long history, initially a medical mission there, 30 years ago, and subsequently numerous projects that benefit single women and provide education and vocational training. One local Rotarian, Gordon Schrubbe has participated in 25 projects in Peru. 

 

Locally, the Wheaton Rotary has provided an annual International Student Dinner for Wheaton College students allowing fellowship between Rotarians and the students in a social setting. In 2020, the Wheaton Rotary provided a $2,500 scholarship to a Wheaton College international student and provided $2,500 towards a library in rural Guatemala.