YOUR ORINDA ROTARY ENDOWMENT - THINKING LOCALLY, ACTING GLOBALLY

Posted by Barbara Bontemps

on May 14, 2013

Susan Wait reported on our Orinda Rotary Endowment:

Our Endowment Fund now stands at $383,000. Each year we have been taking the amount we have raised the previous year and making contributions to community and international projects for the current year. The funds come from fundraisers and your contributions.

This year our budget for Endowment contributions was $26,000. From that amount we have directed $18,600 to projects and programs in the Orinda community, including:

Spring Egg Hunt
Opera in the Park
A merit-based scholarship for a Miramonte High School senior
Underwriting of students to attend Camp Royal (2) and Camp Venture (1)
A new electronic scoreboard for the Wilder Playfields

In addition, we are providing $1,450 to the Oakland Boys and Girls Club and funding our own Tom Fitch Fishing Day.

As part of Rotary International, Orinda Rotary occasionally has an opportunity to make its mark on the global front. This year, we are designating almost $6,000 for three international projects. These include support of the district-wide "Kenya Smiles" African dental project, our own Orinda Rotary Grant for needed equipment at St. Jude's Hospital eye clinic in Lebanon (sponsored by member Charles Mounzer), and a fire engine for Valle de Guadalupe in Mexico. This last is a joint project with all five of the Lamorinda clubs.

These projects would not be possible without your support of Orinda Rotary's endowment fund. If you have not yet made the recommended $400 annual contribution, please consider doing so before our fiscal year ends June 30!