George Bowden of the Rotary Club of Everett visited our Club on Friday, February 12th to thank us for partnering with their Club and others on the greenhouse garden project in the Dominican Republic. Pictured above is a garden gathering: Manuela Rodriguez, the first garden owner in La Vigia, speaks with (left to right) Ed Petersen of Everett Rotary; Ana Carrasco, Dajabon Rotary Project Leader; Dr. Jose Luis Garcia, agriculture specialist at Washington State University; and Anthony Gromko, WSU microloan specialist.
The Rotary Club of Everett raised USD $107,000 for the project from other Clubs including ours as well as other Rotary resources. It was a successful five year drive to fund gardens for the impoverished people in the Dominican Republic. This included eight visits by the Rotary Club of Everett members and will now yield crops for needy farmers in the Dajabon region of the Dominican Republic. The seeds were planted in 2015. George reported that it wasn't only the gardens that brought the Clubs together. Dominicans love baseball and he recalls that the gift of Seattle Mariners baseball caps helped cement the connection between the Everett and Dajabon Clubs.